Analysis of the determinants of performance of primary schools at primary leaving examinations in Uganda: a case of Rushenyi County Ntungamo District

Abstract

Under this study there was an introduction and background that looked at global, continental, regional and national status of education. It also had the problem statement, objectives, hypothesis, significance and scope of the study. The study also compiled literature review that gave highlights about the previous studies related to the topic. The purpose of the study was to investigate the determinants (such as nature of the schools, class size and number of teachers) of the performance of primary schools at PLE in Uganda, a case study of Rushenyi County in Ntungamo with a view of recommending on how to improve on PLE performance. The study was carried out in that county in particular because there was unstable and unreliable PLE performance. Specifically, the study was intended to achieve the following objectives (1) to find out whether the nature of the school influences PLE performance, (2) To analyze the influence of class size on PLE performance and (3) To determine whether the number of teachers has an effect on PLE performance. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design. Quantitative and Qualitative approaches of data collection were employed. cluster sampling technique was employed and a total of 108 respondents constituted the sample which were exclusively head teachers. The researcher basically used questionnaires as research instruments. Data was captured in MS excel and analysis was done using SPSS at three levels; univariate, biavariate and multivariate. A multiple regression model was fitted to help in analysis and predictions. The results revealed that; there was a weak positive relationship between nature of the school and PLE performance, there was a strong positive correlation between class size and PLE performance and there was a substantial positive correlation between number of teachers in the school and PLE performance. The conclusions were that nature of the school influenced PLE performance specifically changing from private to public improved PLE performance. Class size and number of teachers as well significantly influenced PLE performance. The recommendation was that more qualified teachers should be recruited so as to improve on PLE performance.