Barriers to effective acadermic performance of pupils in Universal Primary Education Schools in Kakiri, Wakiso District, Uganda

Abstract

Education is an important mechanism for achieving social and economic development. Governments in many countries in the world have therefore enforced compulsory education to enhance people’s life chances, income, and well-being. Although many children in developing countries have enrolled, many leave primary schools without gaining good academic performance because of the challenges they experience. The purpose of this study was to examine barriers to the effective academic performance of Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools in Kakiri, Wakiso district, Uganda. The study was guided by the following specific objectives: to examine how individual-based barriers undermine the effective academic performance of pupils in UPE schools in Kakiri; to examine how family-based barriers undermine the effective academic performance of pupils in UPE schools; to examine how community-based barriers undermine the effective academic performance of pupils in UPE schools; and to examine how school-based barriers undermine the effective academic performance of pupils in UPE schools in Kakiri, Wakiso district, Uganda. The study adopted a case design with multiple cases, whereby two UPE schools were studied, particularly in the Kakiri sub-county and Kakiri town council. I conducted in-depth interviews with 15 children and 4 key informants to obtain their perspectives on the performance of UPE schools. I also reviewed secondary documents to obtain more information on the academic performance of UPE schools. I analyzed the data using thematic analysis. I used Microsoft Office (Word) to organize different chunks of data under specific categories and themes. The findings are subsequently presented and discussed in reference to existing literature, themes, sub-themes, and quotations generated from the data set. Findings reveal ways in which barriers undermine the effective academic performance of pupils in UPE schools in Kakiri as follows: individually, through demoralization and demotivation, absenteeism, school drop-out, and indiscipline. Secondly, family-based barriers include negative attitudes of family members, child labor, mobility in schools, and malnutrition. Thirdly, community-based ways include vandalism of school property, undue competition in private schools, attractive business opportunities for pupils, and unregulated entertainment in the area. Fourthly, school-based ways are inadequate teachers, inadequate building facilities, and poor remuneration for teachers.