Factors affecting the performance of pupils in government aided primary schools in Uganda: a case study of Kabingo Sub-county, Isingiro District

Abstract

The study was conducted in Kabingo sub-county, Isingiro district. The study aimed at finding out factors responsible for the poor performance of government aided schools in Kabingo sub county, Isingiro District. The study specifically looked at the impact of education of household heads, marital status, distance from schools, level of government facilitation, income of parents and their contribution towards performance of the school children and the school at large. Study findings indicated that 54% of study respondents were males and 46% were females. This can mean that most of the study respondents were males. The average age of respondents was 15.9 with a standard deviation of 1.58 years. Results indicated that 36% of the household heads were peasants, 26% were salaried employees, 30% were traders and 6% were boda boda riders. The study found out that 49% of the respondent had good performance, 36% had not good performance, 13% had very good performance and the rest had very bad performance. Findings of the study indicated that 46% of the household heads had attained primary education, 26% had not finished any level of education and only 16% had finished secondary education. There is a significant relationship between Education of household head status and performance of the child at a 0.05 level of significance (p-value<0.05). The study indicated that 35% of the respondents were earning UGX. 100,001 – 500,000, 25% were earning UGX. 500,001 – 1000,000, 23% were earning UGX. 50,001 – 100,000 and only 5% was earning above UGX. 1000,000shs. There is a significant relationship between parent’s income and performance of the child at a 0.05 level of significance (p-value<0.05). Majority of the respondents (52.5%) agreed and strongly agreed that the government provides teaching and learning materials for the school and only 21.3% disagreed. The findings also indicated that 66.2% disagreed that monitoring and evaluation of teaching and learning is done in the school. There is a significant relationship between level of government facilitation and performance of the child at a 0.05 level of significance (Pvalue<0.05). The study concluded that education level of household heads, level of government facilitation and income of parents significantly contribute to the performance in schools whereas distance from the school and marital status of parents do not significantly influence performance of children at school. The study recommended that government should tighten and strengthen the program of monitoring and evaluation of primary schools to ensure that all staff who do not accomplish his/her duties and responsibilities are eliminated.