Abstract The general objective was to establish the factors influencing low academic performance of students in rural secondary schools, The objectives were; To find out the factors that determine the academic performance of students in rural secondary schools and to discover how the above identified factors affect performance This study involved the use of an exploratory research design to explore the causes of low academic performance of students in rural secondary schools. One-hundred (100) respondents were interviewed. The study population comprised of teachers, students, parents and local leaders. There were 20 parents, 15 teachers,60 students and 05 selected local leaders. The study considered various interventions and the cost effectiveness of the interventions. In improving performance it must be stressed that there are no general rules, what is most important to invest in is the quality of management. Therefore the main conclusion of this study is that it is important to invest in the quality of management. When the quality of management improves, the effectiveness of other interventions will increase as well. Investing in the quality of management means training an effective support structure at the district level and an effective inspection apparatus. The researcher recommends that Children with severe physical, sensory or speaking behavioral deficits must not be educated in regular mainstream schools (inclusive schools). Advocacy by parents, teachers and community organizations is needed to promote institutional changes to foster these students’ academic success, Support structures like outreach programmers, family- school collaborations need to be established to educate and acquaint parents with their children’s school system and importance of educating children.