Factors affecting access to secondary education in Mityana District.

Abstract

The study assesses the factors which affect access to secondary education in Mityana District. This study is a result of the concern for the low enrolment to secondary education in Mityana District. It intended to establish the effect of parents’ attitude, spatial location of schools and parents’ economic status on access to secondary education in Mityana District. A cross-sectional survey design was used; the sample involved 370 secondary school students enrolled in senior one in 2008 as respondents drawn from 24 secondary schools in Mityana District. All data was collected using a questionnaire and descriptive statistics was used to analyse it. The results revealed that when parents value education, when an area is favoured in school establishments and when parents are able to meet education costs, access to secondary education is easy and the reverse is true where these are lacking in Mityana District. It was recommended that; (i) The curriculum and school year programme should be updated to meet the community needs. (ii) Conducting school mapping and new schools to be built in underserved areas. (iii) Public – subsides should be provided to private schools to facilitate access to secondary education.