The factors contributing to low a-level biology performance in selected secondary schools offering a-level biology in Mbale district Eastern Uganda

Abstract

With the seemingly increasing Global technological advancement, biology education is believed to be a vital tool for individual and societal development at large as it equips people with necessary knowledge and skills to thrive and solve existing problems in society relating to the human health and environmental sustainability. Biology deals with the study of living things, their ways of life and how they associate with each other (Kirima & Kinyua, 2016). This field of science focusses on understanding the fundamental principles governing life, uncover evolutionary patterns, and unravel the mechanisms behind biological phenomena. Biology entails a deep knowledge of biochemical processes, genetics, cell biology, anatomy, physiology, ecology, and evolution, among others (Campbell & Reece, 2008). Research shows that Biology is a fundamental subject in the education systems of many countries as it lays a foundation for careers in health, education, agriculture, environment as well as a precursor of biotechnology which is a tool for industrial and technological development required in the modern world (Kirima & Kinyua, 2016). Basing on the above relevance of biology, students thus need to really do well to pass and excel in biology as a wide and cross-cutting discipline that focus much on human life matters and its surroundings. (Purves et al, 2004), and consequently many countries have put forward measures to try to offer quality biology education. However, the performances of students in Biology National examinations of many countries especially in Africa, Uganda inclusive is not satisfying. Research shows that there is no standardized definition of performance existing. Nevertheless, some scholars have tried to put up descriptions of “performance” arguing that it is related to effectiveness and efficiency; effectiveness as an indicator of the degree of a goal attainment, and efficiency as an indicator of the resources that were consumed to reach the level of achievement (Ata GHALEM et al., 2016). He further affirms that performance is the level/degree of achievement of a certain goal by an organization or department. In this study, performance can be measured by the grade obtained by a learner in an exam. In the Ugandan setting, performance in an exam is graded as A, B, C, D, E, O and F at Advanced level. Globally, there is a low performance in biology as a subject. Results by international assessments such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). For example, in the 2018 PISA assessment, only 21% of 237,919,533 students worldwide scored at or above the proficient level in biology due to many factors that are contributing to low performance in biology in developing countries. For example, students in rural areas may have less access to quality education than students in urban areas. Students from poor families may not be able to afford the necessary resources for learning biology. And students with disabilities may not be provided with the support they need to succeed in biology (UNESCO Institute of Statistics, 2020). In Africa, Grange (2016) noted that there is a low biology performance due improper assessments and ineffective testing methods that don’t align with local cultural and social contexts to improve student performance. Mwiria (2020) argued that there is a significant gap between the learning outcomes of students and the testing methods used in schools in most developing countries in Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a region most affected by low biology performance. According to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018, only 14% of students in SSA scored at or above the proficient level in biology. This is significantly lower than the global average of 21% (Alfonso Echazarra et al., 2019). This is due to shortage of qualified biology teachers. This indicates that the low biology performance in SSA is a serious problem that needs to be addressed (Global Partnership for Education (GPE), 2021). In Uganda Out of the 17,994 students who sat for the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) Biology examination in 2022 (UNEB records,2022), only 28.8% passed the Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) Biology examination in 2022. This means that 71.2% of students failed the examination to obtain the minimum entry requirement to join other tertiary institution. This is a significant proportion of students, and it raises concerns about the quality of biology education in Uganda meaning those students are unable to join the tertiary institutions of learning. A study conducted by Shamusi et al (2022) in Mbale eastern Uganda district indicated that the biology performance still is low attributed by some factors like lack of teacher motivation, poor school environment, poor teaching methods, low student interest towards biology that they indicated in their findings. This study therefore seeks to find out why there is persistently low Biology performance in secondary schools in Mbale District Eastern Uganda since this area has limited literature in the field of academia.