Family background, self esteem and students attrition in private secondary schools in Wakiso Town Council

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between family background, self esteem and students` attrition in private secondary schools in Wakiso Town Council. The study was guided by three objectives that are; to establish the relationship between (i) socio-economic status (ii) parenting style and (iii) students` self esteem and attrition in the said schools. Quantitative data was collected and a correlation research design was carried out. A sample of 180 S.4 Students was purposively selected to participate in the study. Frequencies and percentages were used to show the distribution of respondents on different variables. Pearson’s Chi- square test was used to determine the level of correlation between the variables. The study findings showed that (i) socio-economic status, (ii) parenting style have a relationship with students’ attrition, while (iii) students’ self-esteem has no relationship with attrition. The researcher therefore concluded that (i) there is a relationship between socio-economic status and attrition; (ii) there is a significant relationship between parenting style and attrition; (iii) there is no relationship between students’ self-esteem and attrition in the private secondary schools in Wakiso Town Council. The researcher recommended that the Ministry of Education should revive the secondment scheme and also provide private schools with scholastic materials as this may make these schools affordable and thus controlling attrition. Parents should neither be so strict nor should they lack control over their children for either way affect the attrition rate. Regular counseling and guidance should be given to students to help them develop the self worthiness. Administrators should also work on institutional factors in order to reduce on the attrition. Further research may be carried out on; the influence of institutional factors on student`s attrition, the impact of school environment, peer influence and students` attrition.