Factors affecting literacy levels in Fort Portal city, Uganda

Abstract

The objective of the study was to assess the major factors responsible for the low literacy levels in Fort portal city, to assess the relationship between socio economic variables and the literacy levels and to examine the relationship between the socio- demographic variables and the literacy levels attained. Data from UDHS 2016 survey was used. The analysis was done using frequency distribution, bi variate analysis and multivariate analysis in Stata In the results, more than half of the respondents were able to read the whole sentence (55.19%), majority were aged between 25-34 (40.00%), majority never read newspapers/ magazines at all (80.37%), never use the internet (91.48%), did not complete primary education (43.33%), and more than half belonged to the poor wealth index (59.63%). In the bivariate analysis of this study, it was found that, age of respondent, frequency of reading newspapers/ magazines, use of internet and educational attainment had a significant effect on the literacy level (p<0.05). From the multivariate analysis of this study, it was found, that age of respondents was significant for people aged between 35-44 , p=0.000 and (P=0.028) for people aged between 45-49. (p<0.05). It was also clear that those who attained higher education increased their ability to read by 35.53 compared to those with no education and in reference to those who cannot read at all. This was the same case for those that use internet more frequently and those who frequently read news papers and magazines whose ability to read a whole sentence increased by 15.02 and 16.78 respectively compared to those who do not use internet and those who do not read newspapers frequently and in reference to those who cannot read at all. From this study, the findings indicate the need to increase the level of education for individuals in Fort portal city. There is need for the right measures to be taken to increase sensitization among individuals in Fort portal city about the essence of attending primary, secondary and higher education in order to increase the literacy levels in the city.