Assessing the impact of sports on students’ academic performance in Kakira sub- county, Jinja district.

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between sports participation and academic performance of students in Kakira sub-county, Jinja district. Three main objectives were measured for this research and these were; 1) to establish the relationship between the time spent on sports participation and academic performance of students in Kakira sub-county, Jinja district, 2) to establish the effect of demographic factors of those involved in sports on their academic performance. A case study of Kakira sub-county, Jinja district.3) to establish the effect of socio- economic factors of those involved in sports on their academic performance.. The study targeted to collect data from a sample size of 123 students where a well-designed pretested questionnaire was used. The analysis was done using SPSS software and findings indicated that time spent on sports (0.001), age of students involved in sports (0.005) and parents’ income of students involved in sports (0.000) influenced academic performance of students in Kakira sub-county, Jinja district. The study concluded based on ANOVA results that time spents on sports, demographic factors and socio economic factors affect academic performance of students in Kakira sub-county, Jinja district. At a multivariate level, time spent on sports (P=0.001), age of students involved in sports (P=0.007) and parents’ income of students involved in sports (P=0.000) affected academic performance of students in Kakira sub-county, Jinja district. The Ministry of Education and sports should set up a policy guiding the sports games in line with academic performance in schools so that students can know how to balance time spent on sports and their learning time. More financial support should be provided to students who are actively involved in sports in order to improve their academic performance. This can be done by MOEs and NGOs awarding scholarships and scholastic materials to talented students from humble backgrounds. Schools should focus on demographic characteristics of students such as age in order to improve their academic performance. This can be achieved by giving extra learning hours inform of consultations and coaching to those students who are older.