Factors Influencing Literacy Levels Attainment in Karamoja Region, Uganda

Abstract

The study examined the factors influencing the literacy levels attained in Karamoja region. Methods: The study used the 2016 Uganda Demographic health survey data set which indicated that for Karamoja region, 57.7% were males and 42.3% were females of these respondents 16% lived in the urban areas and 83.7% in the rural areas of Karamoja. The majority of the respondents were poor with 89.3% belonging to the poor wealth quintile and 10.7% to the rich category. A number of factors that included age of the household member, the sex of the household member, the place of residence, marital status and the household wealth index guided in obtaining the final findings of the study. Results: The findings indicated that the family’s wealth index greatly determines the household member’s level of education attained. The wealth index of the household and the place of residence also determined highest level of education attained as there existed a strong relationship between the wealth index of the household and the level of education attained. Education attainment in Karamoja was therefore influenced by Age, sex, residence, marital status and wealth among others. The age of the respondent showed great relationship with the measure of significance using the p-value at 0.000. Sex of the respondent was also a major determinant in that the males tended to attain more education compared to the females. An individual’s marital status greatly determined the level of education attained in Karamoja whereby majority of the people who were not married at all were in the level of education attainment category of secondary education and above more so it was a very significant variable in influencing the level of education attained in Karamoja with the p-value at 0.001. Conclusion: It should be noted that for Karamoja region to increase on the average level of education attained, great sensitization about the importance of education should be done.