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Abstract
Many students find the learning environment overwhelming especially when they enter a higher institution of learning for the first time. They are always in reactive mode and are unable to complete their tasks in time. Time management plays an important role in student academic life. The students struggle in the absence of mentors, supervisors such as parents, family, and teachers. This paper probed the lack of time management skills on undergraduate student's academic performance at a rural university in Limpopo Province, South Africa. A qualitative approach was used to collect the data. A purposive sampling solicited data from six (6) students selected from level one to third-year. The findings confirmed that there was a serious lack of time management on the part of students. Work overload and stress made it difficult to address tasks adequately, and hence their poor academic achievements.
Keywords: Time Management, Academic Skills, Risk-Taking, Interpersonal Skill, Academic Performance.
Introduction
Time is a valuable resource which is limited to the learning activity. Time management is one of the major challenges that students face at tertiary institutions and this has a bearing on their academic performance and social life. According to Kaushar (2013), poor time management and lack of organizing skills start at the secondary level. Learners are taught everything by the teacher including supervision of work, whereas at university or college, students take responsibility for their tasks.
Charumata, Anusha and Josephin (2013) view time management as closely related to organizing tasks considering one's personal trait through maximization of time usage. Higher Education Research Institute (2014) found that 37.7 percent of students in Los Angeles are wasting their time through socialization with friends for approximately 10 hours per day. The report indicates that 23.3 percent of the students could not manage time to learn on their own but depended on their friends for notes and study group discussions. The study showed that students' lack of commitment and plan of action contributed to their poor academic achievement.
There are multiple reasons for high failure rate and drop-out in most South African universities. Van Zyl (2015) argued that 50 to 60 percent of students at high learning institutions dropout during their first year of enrollment. It was found that 67 percent of new enrolments...