Factors Affecting the Quality of Girl Child Secondary Education in Kamuli, District-Uganda

Abstract

The study on factors affecting the quality of girl child secondary education in Uganda was done considering eight Kamuli District secondary schools; based on the following objectives; establishing the effect of teacher competence on the quality of girl child secondary education performance, determining the effect of family background on the quality of girl child secondary education performance, and examining the effect of school environment on the quality of girl child secondary education performance. The study used a case study research design and was both qualitative and quantitative, and involved a sample of 08 head teachers, 159 teachers, 349 girl child students, 296 parents, and 23 community leaders. Data collected using questionnaires were analyzed quantitatively (using frequency tables and correlation) with the help of SPSS while data collected through interviews were analyzed qualitatively (descriptively). There was positive effect of teacher competence on the quality of girl child secondary education performance, because the correlation between experience in teaching and state/level of academic performance of girl child students in school was weak, denoted by 0.035 Spearman’s correlation value. This implies that, reduced experience among teachers leads to poor academic performance of students. Furthermore, there was no significance relationship between teaching experience and state of academic performance at 5% level of statistical significance. There was positive effect of family background on the quality of girl child secondary education performance, in that, culture to a great extent influenced the academic performance of girl child students, though to some extent it was not sufficient in Kamuli secondary schools. There existed positive effect of school environment on the quality of girl child secondary education performance, because there was existence of policies in school to a great extent leading to improvement in academic performance of girl child students in Kamuli district secondary schools. Also, security was offered to the girls in Kamuli district community by leaders and security officers; and security of students in the place was ensured. And the environment of Kamuli district secondary schools was favorable for learning. The following recommendations were made: continuous training and upgrading of teachers, continued offering of counseling and guidance services, construction of cultural development centres, remuneration of teachers, promotion of gender balance in the community, provision of enough instructional materials, and monitoring schools.