A phenomenological approach to uncovering the influence of parental death on the academic performance of secondary school students

•Parental death affects the academic performance of orphans negatively.•Maternal orphans perform more poorly when compared with their paternal counterparts.•Self-determination is the most important factor in determining academic performance among orphans.•Some orphans even do better academically after the death of their parent(s). The death of one or both parents is one of the most traumatic incidents that can occur in childhood which may affect a child's life course in many ways. This study uses firsthand data as against several studies that have employed secondary data to investigate the consequences of parental death on orphans. Unlike this study, previous studies that have involved directly the study population and important key informants are very limited. Two Secondary Schools and their students were purposively selected; the sample for the study was twenty respondents consisting of ten orphaned students, five School teachers, and five parents. Data were collected using in-depth and key informant interviews. Qualitative data were analysed using the Interpretative Phenomenological Approach aided by the use of NVivo software. The findings of the study revealed that parental death across the board affects the academic performance of orphans negatively; maternal orphans perform more poorly. Conclusively, self-determination is the most important factor in determining academic performance.