INFLUENCE OF FISHING ACTIVITIES ONPUPILS’ SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: ACASE STUDY OF KAGWARA LANDING SITE SERERE DISTRICT

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Consistent school attendance is critical if students are to build and maintain a foundation for ongoing learning and academic success throughout life. When learners are not in attendance, they miss essential instruction, which often cannot be replicated. They miss the incidental learning that takes place during classroom discussion. “Students who are not in class have fewer opportunities to learn the material that enables them to succeed later in school,”(Teasley, 2004).

The study will therefore investigate the influence of pupil’sparticipation in fishing activities on their school attendance and academic achievement.This chapter will cover the historical, theoretical, conceptual and contextual perspectives, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, objectives, and research questions, significance of the study and the scope of the study and the justification of the study.

1.1  HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Schooling was perceived as the key to success for individuals and to the excellence of society(Rose et al., 2008). Free and compulsory education came to England and Wales following the Elementary Education Acts of 1870 and 1876, although not always on a full time basis. The Education Act of 1918 finally abolished half time schooling, and made elementary education entirely free and compulsory until the end of the term after the child’s fourteenth birthday. Nevertheless, in most parts of the United States the problem of illegal absence dates from 1876(Morrish, 2013). In the 1850s urban schools suffered from an extremely high turnover of students. Many students were needed at home to do many of the chores, especially if they lived on a farm. Other students worked outside of the home to help support the family. Poor attendance was a problem to teachers and parents well before school attendance became compulsory(Reese, 2011). Pallister notes that enthusiasm for education varied with the standards of the school; good schools quickly obtaining the support of parents, and similarly bad schools, least in the eyes of parents, quickly losing support(Galloway, 2014).

School administrators were immediately faced with new concerns considering that in 1900 only 6 percent of Americans had a diploma. It is clear that attendance rates varied little between 1904 and 1938, except in 1920 when lower average attendance followed the social upheaval of the First World War. Galloway noted that there is little evidence that attendance rates over the last ten to fifteen years (1970-1985) differ very much from those earlier in the century (Goldin & Katz, 2009). Even with the increased attendance and the increased graduation rates over the last 100 years, education is relatively the same. A glaring example of this is the release of students for farm work in extremely industrialized society. American culture has changed but the reasons for excused absences have not changed(Bowles & Gintis, 2011).

The statistics related to school absenteeism arestaggering. Each school day, 2,500,000 students were reported absent from school. The dropout rate is estimated at 27 percent nationally and over 45 percent in some cities. The 27 percent dropout rate equates to 65 busloads of students who leave United States schools each week and do not return. In a year’s time, 700,000 students will be lost. In two years, the number will exceed one million(Mordechay, 2016).

However in African countries, learner absenteeism rates are much high. Absenteeism rates have been found to vary approximately from 5% to 15% in most of the African countries. In South Africa, education act of 1958, states that its compulsory for any child of school age to regularly attend school as reasonable excuse is provided(Koledade, 2009). The education act high lights the school attendance as part of three way accountability system where by learners below a given age are obliged to regularly attend school, parents are accountable for maximum school attendance, and the schools are obliged to provide the basic education possible given the circumstances of each learner(Kennelly & Monrad, 2007). Moreover this failure to meet legal obligation to meet legal attendance, represents a challenge not just to pupils, parents and education systems but to communities and societies in general(Dembo & Gulledge, 2009)

In the Ugandan context formal education started in a colonial era in 1878 whereby teaching and learning was carefully structured and Uganda being a third world country, emphasizes on primary education because the basic skills of successful living in the community are acquired at this level. Most of the house wives, craft men, agriculturalists, for example, badly need this education. The government of Uganda is one of the countries that has taken strategy to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of education for all, through Universal Primary Education(Collins, 2011). The main idea is to provide basic education for all Ugandan children of primary school going age(6+ years), with the aim to fulfill its mission to eradicate illiteracy while equipping every individual with the basic skills and knowledge with which to exploit the environment for both self and national development. It is noted that most schools in Uganda also registered a good number of learners but as learning continues, some learners’ attendance becomes irregular. In the research study on absenteeism conducted in Ntoroko and Rwangara fishing villages in Bundibugyo District, it was established that pupils irregularly attended school as was evidenced by the high absenteeism figures of 64.2% that was recorded daily(Guloba, Wokadala, & Lawrence, 2010). Children almost go to school when they so wish. Absenteeism and dropout cases were higher in upper primary (p.5-p.7) than in lower primary(Nakabugo, Byamugisha, & Bithaghalire, 2008). According toSerere DistrictEducation office report, 2016, Kadungulu County registered the highest absenteeism, learners absentee themselves rampantly to a rate of 25% in a term.It’s upon this background that this researcher is seeking to carry out the study to establish the problem as many educationists believe that regular attendance goes hand in hand with academic achievement.

1.2 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE

This study will be guided byUrie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system’s theory of 1979 which holds that learners encounter different environments throughout their lifespan that may influence their behavior in varying degrees. These systems include the micro system, the mesosystem, the ecosystem, the macro system, and the chronosystem.All these systems influence child development and adjustment(Bronfenbrenner, 2005).Bronfenbrenner stressed the importance of studying a child in the context of his/her multiple environments, also known as ecological systems in the attempt to understand his or her individual development. A child finds him/herself simultaneously enmeshed in different ecosystems, from the most intimate home ecological system moving outward to the larger school system and the most expansive system which is society and culture. Each of these systems inevitably interact with and influence each other and every aspect of the child’s life(Luvmour, 2009).

Following a thorough analysis of the theory concerned, it emerged that child development and adjustment are neither controlled by environmental circumstances nor driven by inner dispositions only.

By studying the different systems that simultaneously influence a child, the ecological systems theory is able to demonstrate the diversity of interrelated influences on the child’s development. Awareness of contexts can sensitize one to variations in the way a child may act in different settings. For example, a child who frequently absents him/herself from school may portray the role of a terrified victim at home(Bronfenbrenner, 2009). Due to these variations, adults concerned with the care of a particular child should pay close attention to behavior in different settings or contexts and to the quality and type of connections that exist between these contexts.Instead, it appears that children are both products and producers of their environments, within the network of the interdependent systems as described above. Therefore, the researcher contends that Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory is not only an appropriate theoretical framework for the overall understanding of the nature and intensity of learner truant behaviour. It also provesto be of great value in promoting positive parentchildrelationships, secure and supportive homeenvironments for children and in fostering meaningful parent-school cooperation(van Breda, 2014).

Although generally well received, Urie Bronfenbrenner’s system theory has encountered some criticism throughout the years. Most criticism center on the difficulties to empirically test the theory and model and the broadness of the theory that makes it challenging to intervene at any given level. Some examples of critiques of the theory are:-It’s challenging to evaluate all components empirically, Its difficult explanatory model to apply because it requires extensive scope of ecological detail with which to build up meaning that everything in someone’s environment needs to be taken into account and failure to acknowledge that children positively cross boundaries to develop complex identities(Bitter, 2013).

1.3 CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVE

According to Encarta dictionary, attendance can be defined as an instance of beingat an event, or the practice of regularly going to a school, church or other institution and for this study attendance refers to pupils regular going to school to learn.

In this study,the definition of absenteeism is adopted from Gentle-Genitty(Gentle-Genitty, 2009), who defined absenteeism in the context of school as the habitual or intentional failure to attend school while a learner may miss school activities now and then, absence becomes a problem when the pupil is away from school for many days.

The learner will be referred to a child who is enrolled in formal school to study at a given level under the instruction and guidance of a trained teacher in and outside the classroom(Harris & Sass, 2011).

On the other hand academic achievement refers to a student’s success in meeting short or long term objectives of education.

Crow and Crowdefine academicachievement as the extent to which the learner is profiting from instructions in a given area of learning that’s to say achievement is reflected by the extent to which skills and knowledge have been imparted to him/her(Kochito, 2013).

Arul further argues that,academic achievement is a level of actual accomplishment orproficiency one has achieved in academic area as proposed to ones potential in educational goals measured by examinations(Nassir & Firwana, 2013).

Fishing is a form of primary production which is distinct from core agriculture. Traditional fishing is still basically conducted along the ancient patterns of hunting the wild living stocks in water as nature provided them. However, according to Anderson “fishing consists of integrated activity directed towards fish production”(Udoh, Achike, & Mkpado, 2013).

1.4 CONTEXTUAL PERSPECTIVE

The study will be carried out in Kagwara landing site found in Kadungulu County, Serere district on the shores of Lake Kyoga.It is in the eastern part of Uganda.Many people there are involved in subsistence crop farming(cultivation), livestock rearing and fishing activities. There is a large Ethnic mix in Kagwara. The largest group are the Iteso and other groups include the Bakenyi, Langi and Karimojong.There are also 12 schools in KadunguluCounty with the population average of 500-600 learners in each school. Despite all the UPE policies, improvement plans for education, initiatives currently being utilized in Uganda, Learners still miss school for reasons that may not be sanctioned by the school officials.

Ssewamala states that for any institution to achieve the set goals well, there must be regular attendances of the participants. According to many researchers, absenteeism of learners from school has remained a problem in most primary schools worldwide. In Uganda this is supported by the statement made by the Minister for Education and sports during the release of the Primary Leaving Examination results of 2016 (New Vision of Friday, January13th, 2017 p 5). The minister lamented on the number of candidates who absentee themselves during exams. There were 640,853 candidates registered nation-wide for 2016 PLE but only 623,540 sat for the exams, meaning 17,293 were absent; which the first lady said, “Is an acceptably high “ she also proceeded to state that, “The districts contributing to this high number of absentee pupils must be informed and follow up action be initiated.” (New Vision January 13^th 2017 p 5).

She noted that the central and eastern regions had the highest number of absentees in the country and the worst performing districts were from eastern region; Serere district happened to be the last which is most likely to have been caused by absenteeism. Absenteeism causes gaps in the learning process in that absentees miss what is learnt during their absence and yet learning proceeds from known to unknown and thus an absentee therefore interjects or interrupts his or her learning and at the end may not be able to answer examinations well and thus high failure rate of innovation in education. The same applies to Serere where by learners absentee themselves randomly. Looking at the academic achievements of the learners in the sampled schools the researcher plans to engage in this study, below is the compiled PLE results for the last five years. The results portray poor academic achievement, there are no grade one achievers even in grade two they are very few.

PLE PERFORMANCE FOR THE LAST FIVE YEARS GRADE

This is most likely to cause negative impact on the future of the youth of today. There is need therefore to conduct a systematic investigation into the root cause of this absenteeism, collect views from the stake holders and establish the possible measure to track, monitor and improve on the learners attendance.

1.5 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Regular attendance at school is crucial in raising standards of education and in ensuring every child can meet his / her full potential. Missing out on lessons leaves children vulnerable to falling behind. Children with poor attendance tend to achieve less in both primary and secondary school(Jensen, 2009).Many countries are struggling to see that school age going children get educated through Millennium Development Goal of education for all (world bank,2006).It is believed that when all get educated they will be able to become self-reliant and alsoexplore their environment responsibly and sustainably for the continuity.

Whereas the government of Uganda enacted universal education through the UPE- Universal Primary Education policy in 1997 to improve the access, equity and quality education, there is still much concern in the rampant absenteeism of the learners which is likely to affect the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal of education for all(Zuze, 2008).

School attendance is not much encouraging during the periods between August andSeptember when there is bumper catch of fish. This has been a problem confronting the educational sector of the region.Due to the above, the researcher has chosen to research into fishing related activities and the extent to which it affects school attendance and academic performance in primary schools in Kagwara landing site(Owusu, 2009).

1.6   PURPOSE OF STUDY

The purpose of this study is to establish the influence of pupil participation in fishing activities on school attendance and academic achievement; a case study of Kagwara landing site primary schools.

1.7  OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The study will be guided by the following objectives:

1. To find out the fishing activities that the pupils are engaged in.
2. To find out how the fishing activities influence the level of attendance of the pupilsin the primary schools.

• To find out how the fishing activities influence the level of academic achievement of pupils in primary schools.

1.8 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What are the fishing activities that the pupils engage in Kagwara landing site?
2. How do the fishing activities influence the pupil’s school attendance in Kagwara landing site?

• How do the fishing activities influence the pupil’s academic achievement in the sampled schools in Kagwara landing site?

1.9 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The results of the study are likely to benefit those who are responsible for the pupils’ regular attendance of classes. This will include the following group of people;

1. Pupils:

The Pupils admitted to such schools should be able to understand themselves, be aware of the activities that can contribute to their absenteeism and equip themselves with views and measures that can motivate them to attend classes regularly and meet the school objectives and education generally.

1. Teachers:

The study is expected to help the teachers to understand the main problems and causes of pupils absenteeism and draw stringent measures to detect, monitor and control learner’s absenteeism and enhance effective teaching and learning in the school

• School administrators:

The results of the study will help the school administrators in planning and designing measures and strategies that can help improve on pupils’ school regular attendance and also have them complete the school cycle.

1. Parents and community leaders

The result of the study will help the parents and community leaders to become partners with the school administrators in implementing the government policies on education, school rules and regulations and improvement of pupils’ school attendance and academic achievement.

1.10 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study will be carried out in the four sampled primary schools in Kagwara sub-county in Serere District basically. The study specifically seeks to establish the fishing activities that pupils are engaged in, and the influence of pupil participation in fishing activities on school attendance and academic achievement.