Assessing primary education sub-sector performance in Uganda: case study: comparison of regional performance using 2016 education sector MIS Data

Abstract

The study was aimed at examining the performance of key indicators under Uganda’s primary education sector, comparing regions, indicators, and outcomes in education. Indicators included; education funding, enrolment, pupil-teacher ratio, pupil-stance ratio, poverty and pupil-classroom ratio. The study was based on quantitative secondary data which was collected from various sources. It comprised of schools from four regions (Eastern, Northern, Western and Central). Analysis was done using frequencies, pivot tables and Ordinary Least squares. Results also showed that all indicators except enrolment into primary education schools (P value =0.04) insignificantly influence primary education performance. From the results, more than half of the pupils in central (55%) passed primary education leaving exam and the region had the most favorable indicators of performance (adequate sit-write space of 65%, the lowest number of pupils attended to by one teacher of about 45%). Northern region had the highest pupil-stance ratio and Eastern had the highest number of pupils handled by a teacher. It was concluded that factors such as enrolment rate, poverty rate, pupil- teacher ratio, pupil-stance ratio, pupil classroom ratio and sit- write space negatively influence primary education performance. However, education funding positively influences primary education performance. Therefore, the government needs to acknowledge and address overcrowding, make funding schools a priority and also raise standards for teachers so as to attain better performance.