THE INFLUENCE OF DECENTRALIZATION POLICY ON SERVICE DELIVERY ON TEACHING AND LEARNING IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

IN OTUKE DISTRICT

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Education has a fundamental role to play inhuman development, which is about creating an environment in which people can develop their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accordance with their needs and interests. Education is not amiracle cure to achieve all ideals in the world, but it is a principal means to foster deeper and more harmonious human development and thereby to reduce poverty, exclusion, ignorance, oppression and war. These situations are still real phenomena in many countries and influence to a large extent people’s opportunities and life chances, especially that of the marginalized groups, (OECD, 2004).

Low-quality education is an endemic problem in most developing countries.International tests of student achievement consistently show that developing countries score at the bottom of the performance scale.  In many countries, raising education quality has replaced expanding coverage as the principal challenge facing education ministries, (Naidoo, 2002).

Developing and developed countries are decentralizing their education systems. In some countries, especially developing countries, educational decentralization is part of alarger exercise of devolving all public services. In sub-Saharan Africa the factors that encourage centralization include positive effects such as political stability and economic development, as well as push factors like existing regional inequalities and inadequacies, real and perceived, of central governments. Multilateral and bilateral donor communities are encouraging countries in the South to decentralize and/ or privatize public services. Among these countries Uganda has proceeded quickly in an almost all-at-once decentralization strategy (Steiner, 2006).

Uganda just like many African governments decentralized education with an aim of improving efficiency, effectiveness, promoting social equality and just- ness within the education system as per Gershberg and Winkler(2003). Golola(2001) and Asiimwe et al,(2000) argue that the decentralization of Universal primary education(UPE), in Uganda was initiated with five major goals; to have the involvement and empowerment of local populations indecision making and problem resolving, democratization of the decision making process, enhanced mobilization of funds and resources atthelocallevel,reducedcostsonservicedelivery,andraisingclearaccountabilityandefficiency at the local level. The overall purpose of decentralizing UPE by the central government was to improve education provision in Uganda, hence 16years after the implementation of UPE under decentralization presents an interesting assessment of quality education in rural Uganda under a decentralized education system.

TheUgandaneducationsystemwasoneofthebestinSub-SaharanAfrica(Ssekamwa, 1997). During the economic and political instabilities it was resilient to the inadequacies of central government, (Paige,2000) and to political and economic difficulties that ensued. As in other former colonies, Christian missionaries introduced formal schooling in Uganda decades before British control over Uganda was signed in 1890.Missionariesand other foreign groups  such as East  Indians were in charge  of founding,  administering and funding schools. Local Ugandans, mainly traditional chiefs had a role, in the spirit of self-help, to provide building materials, land and labor (Ssekamwa,1997).

The willingness of communities to contribute in cash and kind is a traditional strength of education in Africa. The missionary-founded schools were built on various Western models of education. Amajority of these schools had coherent structures and strong religious traditions. The missionaries supplied human resources, adopted curriculum and provided textbooks and equipment. It is after one of the traditional kingdoms, the Kingdom of Buganda became aBritish Protectorate that all schools became the domain of the  British Empire, with English as the official language of instruction, (Odaet,1990).   But the colonial government did not yet involve itself in establishing, financing and administering schools.

Education decentralization in Uganda was not an educational reform, as it was in other countries such as SriLanka and Australia. The Ugandan process of decentralization, devolution of primary education, was mainly driven by national political will rather than by educational reform (Stasavage,2005).

The education sector in Uganda has changed dramatically over a period often years. The most notable change is in access to primary education.

In 1992, 2.4millionchildrenenrolledwitha gross enrolment ratio,(GER) of68 percent and a net enrolment ratio(NER) of less than 40 percent. Today more than7 million children are enrolled, theGER is over120per cent, and the NERover80 percent. There have also been significant changes in the number of and proportion of trained teachers, the classrooms  built and available and the textbook purchase and distribution system. The implementation of the UPE program has meant an increase in resource flows from higher government interms of grants, materials and construction funds.(Murphy,2005).

Otuke is a town in northern Uganda which consists of four sub-counties including;Adwari, Okwang, Olilim, and Orum sub-counties in northern Uganda, it has 23 parishes and 318 villages.

In a bid to promote free education an education policy review commission was inaugurated in 1987 to review all sectors of education in the country. This commission after extensive consultation with the stake holders  promulgated the idea of universal primary education (UPE , The commission recognize that only when every pupil’s is enrolled at the right age and does not leave school without completing of primary education would all citizens be equipped with basic education they would need to live a full and productive life.

Universal Primary Education was also seen as a way of helping to transform the society, fostering great unity among the people high moral standards and accelerated growth of the economy the policy objectives of providing UPE in Uganda were to establish, provide and maintain quality education to promote human resource development and to make basic education equitable and relevant to the nation hence ensuring that education is affordable to the majority. These ideas were sensitized to the white paper.

In education in 1992 this ultimately lead to the introduction of free universal primary education in 1997 initially the provision of free primary education for up to four pupil’s per family however  the  government quickly realized that this restriction would be too completed to implemented therefore the a decision was meant to change a policy so that all pupil’s wishing to access education would qualify for free tuition to concretize the policy capitation grant was introduced and it was to be used for the purchasing of instructional material such as text books with the amount contingent on the number of people enrolled in each school. a school facilitation grant was also introduced to be used for infrastructure namely the construction of class rooms and teachers houses with the decentralization policy in place the financing arrangement allowed funds to be transmitted by the central government to the local govewrnment ( via the CAO, who in turn would pass the money to the school.

The 2013 PLE results indicated that six of the eight districts in northern Uganda of Alebtong, Kole, Amuru, Amolatar,  Dokolo, Lamwo , Okole and Otuke got only 401 first graders lower than most other districts in Uganda in fact one of the district like Tororo had 425 first graders the same year bigger than the six districts combined, (Talemwa, 2013), this poor performance has posed a lot of questions to the stake holders over what could be the problem , this study therefore tends to investigate into influence of decentralization policy on service delivery on teaching and learning in primary schools with specific reference to Otuke district.

1.2 Statement of the problem

In the context of Uganda, decentralization is taken to mean the reassignment of some decision-making (management) authority, responsibility and tasks from the central government to local governments. Legal, financial, administrative and political management of public functions has become the responsibility of the local community, under the leadership of Local Councils (LCs), (Asiimwe et al(2000).

Elementary schools report to the District Education Officer and receive communication from the District Headquarters, but secondary and tertiary schools still primarily report to the Director of Education at the central government who then is answerable to the Permanent Secretary.(Wamala, 2004). However despite of the fact that decentralization in Uganda Otuke district is one of the poorly performing districts in Uganda that according to the recently released UNEB, 2014 most of the schools in the district failed to get first grade. This study therefore intends to investigate into the influence of decentralization policy on service delivery on teaching and learning in primary schools in Otuke district.

1.3 Purpose of the study

The study intends to investigate influence of decentralization policy on service delivery on teaching and learning in primary schools in Otuke district.

1.4 Objectives of the study

The study will be guided by the following objectives;

1. To investigate the benefits of decentralization in teaching and learning.
2. To examine the different ways of achieving efficiency in service delivery in teaching and learning.

• To determine the challenges of decentralization and service delivery in teaching and learning.

1.5 Research Questions

1. What are the benefits of decentralization in teaching and learning?
2. What are the different ways of achieving efficiency in service delivery?

• What are the challenges of decentralization and service delivery in teaching and learning?

1.5 Scope of the study

This will include the content scope, time scope and geographical scope.

1.6 .1 Content Scope

This will include; the benefits of decentralization in teaching and learning, the different ways of achieving efficiency in service delivery and the challenges in decentralization and service delivery in teaching and learning.

1.6.2 Geographical scope

The researcher will consider some of the schools in Otuke district; this will be specifically in Orum p/s, Oget p/s, Oluru p/s.

1.6.3 Time scope

The study will consider organizational information from 2012 to 2015, and the study will be carried out from October to July 2016.

• Significance of the study

The study will help the educational stake holders like Head teachers, DEO,district inspector of schools, and Ministry of Education and sports have information regarding the benefits of decentralization in teaching and learning.

The study will help the leaders of the community have information regarding the different ways of achieving efficiency in educational service delivery in teaching and learning.

The study will also help the academicians have information regarding the relationship between decentralization and service delivery in teaching and learning.

1.8 Limitations of the study

Financial constraint, cash flow may not flow as   expected

Languages may be a problem to the researcher but this will be solved by encouraging the iuse of English

1.9 Delimitation

To eliminates financialconstraints, the researcher will ensure that there is proper budgeting

The research will encourage the use of English

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

• Introduction

This chapter reviews the literature in relation to other authors’ accordingly.

2.1 Decentralization in Uganda education systems.

Uganda’s decentralization processstartedwiththeenactmentofthe1987resistancecouncil/ committees,(RCs),with powers over resource management in their areas of influence basedonregion.Inthemid-1990s,constitutionalre- forms to decentralize power from Kampala to the districts were initiated, a response to the global order for well-organized, equitable and responsible service delivery. The government thereafter embarked on the implementation programmeofdecentralizationin1993,which was later enshrined inthe1995.

Constitution of the republic of Uganda and legalized in the 1997 Local Government Act where local governments were authorized with responsibilities for lower level local councils, sub-counties and divisions. Local governments were therefore given powers through devolution with responsibilities of finance, legislation, political, planning and personnel matters (MFPED2005).

The central government in the current UPE system has retained the central role in management of UPE for efficiency and equity especially setting standards, textbook production, teacher training and provision of funds as the local governments and school level actors are mandated by central government with authority over resource management at the school level for example paying teachers’ salaries ,teacher hiring and firing, but with less involvement of the local communities. Some powers have therefore remained at the centre within the central government, administrative responsibility has been handed overto line ministries through de-concentration, authority and responsibility have been transferred to local governments by devolution hence lower governments perform functions that used to be done by the higher authorities like teacher hiring and firing (Prinsenetal2008:153).

2.2 Benefits of decentralization in teaching and learning

According to WorldBank(2000), decentralization involves ameans of putting resources where they are needed with the immediate beneficiaries in charge. The quality of UPE in Uganda therefore depends on an all-around interaction between the government, schools, communities, households and the students working together for general purpose, which will be measured using various output indicators.

According to Geo and Macleans(2004), many parts of the world today  have been decentralizing and privatizing publicly provided education with the central government giving the regional and local governments responsibility over the education system with  aclaim that it will enhance quality education. Uganda likewise has put up  measures to achieve quality education at all regions through adecentralized system and unified curriculum. Based on my findings Uganda decentralization system has given politicians the greatest powers in the country to the extent that they do influence the way and arrangement in which funds and resources are to be allocated.

Different actors in the implementation of UPE in Uganda have different roles to play, to the extent that local government is tasked with providing and implementing primary education services to the communities while the central government takes on management of the system. Noclear lines have been drawn on what kinds of power particular actors in the system have since the middle and upper tiers of government have an overriding role andresponsibility,thereasonthesepowerinteractionsunderdecentralizationinUPE impact on the provision of education differently, Mookherjee(2000).

The district councils usually create education committees that develop work plans together with the education departments communicating directly to the most powerful financial committees at the districts that handle financial re- sources.This has created the underlying function of bringing about asystem of patronage for political enlistment with politicians having a degree of control over administrators as discussed by, (Francisand James2003).

This kind of arrangement only involves members at the district with less/norepresentationfromlowerlevelcommitteemembershencepriorities go mainly to the municipal, urban and city schools, more to the advantage of the politicians and less to the rural primary education system in Uganda. The district councils through the district service commission have been given the mandate to recruit, remunerate, discipline and fire their own staff, asetting that has promoted tribalism, favouritism and regional imbalances through selective recruitment and replacement.

With such struggles for power against interests, the making of inclusive and completely favourable decisions still remains achallenge under the decentralized UPE system in Uganda with urban UPE schools always at an advantage of getting their plans and budgets approved against the far away and hard to reach rural schools of Uganda. This indeed offers a frustrating education system to the extent that actors inthe system only work to survive and not to provide quality education, always working for personal gains and not to serve beneficiaries.

Interests of weaker factions in the general public have been damaged since the intended goal of having communities participate in UPE under de- centralization has been played down  by the political dimensions, Gilbert(1987)

This kind of system is linked to the Madisonian presumption explained by Bardhanand Mookherjee(2000), which holds that the“ lower the level of government, the greater the extent of capture by vested interests and the less protected minorities and the poor tend to be considered” since politicians as an interest group have kept on oppressing the rural areas through the decentralization policy in various ways,Which is a short fall of mixing up development and politics together with a stiff comprehension of the later involving the interplay of politics and development.

Policies in Uganda today are formulated by the parliament with the highest stake to decide on how apolicy is  to be implemented in collaboration with the central government as actors at the higher level who finance, delegate powers and enforce policy. Samoff (1990).

The decisions of community representatives under UPE in Uganda(SMCs and PTAs) are not heard or donot get to the top management at the district and national levels for policy consideration. Their ability to influence decisions and to sell pre-conceived proposals of the community as far as development is concerned is minimal .Lower tiers of the system are left behind.

Theorists like Botes and Van(2000)argue that many countries that implement community participation simply persuade the beneficiaries to agree with their proposals on what they think is best for them which is not agenuine attempt to allow communities choose valid development options freely.

Therural-urban and private–public school   divide inquality primary education has not been bridged in Uganda as one of the goals of decentralising UPE for equal and quality education. The current UPE in Uganda consists of two parallel formal systems with apublic pitiable system mainly attended by the rural and urban poor orther majority, and aprivate / well managed system for the more affluent households especially in the urban areas of Uganda, Stiefel and Wolfe (1994).

The central government  through the public officers is mandated to work closely with local communitie sat the lowest level especially those in the remote areas of Uganda since they are more vulnerable and most in need of improved social services. Under the goal of achieving community participation and creating ownership, the interaction of local political leaders and other different level actors work towards increasing the effectiveness of service delivery. Although the provision of services to communitie sought to be an agreement between the service implementers and the policymakers, findings from my research indicate that UPE in Uganda has seen service implementers especially at the lowerlevels beinginvolvedonlyintheserviceimplementationbutnotplanningsincetheyonlyfollowsetuppolicyguidelines.

Based on the current trends of decentralization in many developing countries, there are challenges in uniform service delivery and provision, with lack of empirically viable realistic outcomes as far as decision making and responsibility allocation are concerned. According to Bardhan and Mookherjee (2006).

Delegation of powers in many systems is restricted to service delivery withless financing authority with the central government deciding on how much is to be given to which sector/region based onthe approved budgets from high level actors at the central government. Decision making at the lower levels is also less felt  as discussed by Paul, F and R.James, (2003).

Resource planning and allocation, Government of Uganda adoptedamediumtermbudgetframeworkin1997 where priorities are consistently formulated towards Uganda’s poverty eradication alleviation program(PEAP).The current planning process in Uganda depends on the2010-2015NationalDevelopmentplan(NDP) with sectoral allocations in ministries being provided global budgeting ceilings. In the budgeting, the medium term budget framework sets the sector and district spending ceilings where priority areas(education inclusive) are taken into consideration. Priorities in primary education are developed by the education sectoral working groups  comprising  of  the finance ministry, the ministry of  education  and sports, technical advisors and some civil society representatives. The budget as per the NDP is result-oriented, determines the costs ofrespectiveinterventionsthatneedtobeundertakentoachievespecificoutputs.

The occurrence of deficits in financial and human resources at the local levels (local government in this case) present agap between what is planned at the lower levels and what is provided both from central and local governments. Naidoo(2002:18),in a comparative analysisofdecentralizededucationsystemsinseveralsub-SaharanAfrican countries argues that accountability to the grass roots is never done by the service providers thus the location of power has not really shifted from the centre to the periphery but instead a reinforcement of central control oftheperiphery”withthecentralgovernmentusingdecentralizationasatoolto manage lower levels.

2.3 Different ways of achieving efficiency in service delivery in teaching and learning

Promotion of good health among pupils in schools, this can be done by ensuring that pupils are immunized to make them free from the six killer diseases, Health and nutrition have been considered a critical factor for pupil to stay in schools and complete education cycle and accordingly a number of scholars assert that proper nutrition is critical for the pupil’s stay at school, Studies carried out at primary school level indicate that well fade and healthy pupil’s perform better in school, (Kamoga, 2010).

Achoka et al, 2012 asserts that long term effects of health and nutrition status of young pupil’s affect their retention in school. To him the health of a pupil’s is very important if a pupil’s is to be retained in school the pupil’s must be healthy in order to learn as the saying goes healthy mind in a healthy body, while alderman et al, 2011, carried out a survey in parkistan rural pupil’s and found out that pupil’s health and nutrition had a greater impact on retention of pupil’s in school, further research by , onzima, 2010 indicates that school age going pupils who suffer from protein energy malnutrition, hunger or who luck certain micro nutrients in their diets do not have the same potential for learning as healthy and well-nourished pupil’s.

Pidmore contends that pupil’s with poor health attend school less frequently and are more likely to repeat grades and less likely to remain at school this affects them because they don’t learn adequately and don’t have enough time to stay at school due to poor levels of retention, motivation, cognitive functions.Irregular attendance is often the result of poor pupil’s health.

According to the probe report 2000 there is a link between illness related absence and retention as resuming studies after prolonged studies after prolonged absence from school can be difficult for a pupil’s on the other hand HIV/AIDS is also another issue slowing down the growth of the school aged population this has lowered enrollment in primary schools and caused low retention rates which are accelerated by effects originating from the deadly disease, (Kasonde, 2013).

Parents shows discrimination to send HIV infected pupil’s to school because they feel little is occurring, teachers, few learning materials and employment prospects are slender to those pupil’s arguing that they will die before they Finnish school.

HIV infected and affected pupil’s UPE in practice seems unfair to orphans and HIV/AIDS infected and affected pupil’sr as it does not cover them enough. Due to lack of incentives, these pupil’s are excluded from the whole system. The extent, to which they access schools and survive in them once they come to know their HIV status, is not known very well. Their participation in school might imply some additional costs and at the same time, their families might be in need of some subsidies that would encourage school attendance on the part of the infected pupil’s as well as enable them cover some of their medical costs and other healthy needs, (Kamoga, 2010).

Improving on Parents’ economic status,Parents’ economic status is imperative for a pupil’s to be in position to stay at school this is due to the fact that when a parent is economic doing well they have the ability to pay for school requirements, like books, pens and school fees this therefore enables a student to stay at school, unlike poor parents who can’t afford the pupil in this case will be forced to leave school without finishing, (UNICEF, 2012).

Despite the fact that the implementation of UPE came with the abolition of school fees and PTA charges, many pupil’s still fail to access school while others dropout because of the hidden costs borne by parents. The 2005/2006 Uganda National Household Survey found that 8% of households hardly had a meal a day due to poverty. At this rate, it is obvious that such family would rather spend little income they have on food rather than meeting hidden costs of education and especially the uniform which is compulsory. In cases where parents have a problem in meeting these costs, pupil’s are sent away from school until they get such money contrary to the Education Act (2008) provisions. To some extent, this causes some pupil’s to drop out of school while those who manage to go through to primary seven are likely to perform poorly due to time wasted and humiliation faced as they are always depicted as poor and unable to meet these costs.

According to Fantana, (2012) poor living conditions and the un stimulating environment experienced by many lower socio-economic families may hinder the educational progress of pupil’s. Also such pupil’s said that they had nowhere at home to sit and read quietly or do their homework. And this led some pupil’s not to complete primary education.

Watson (2010) pointed out that pupil’s did not complete primary education due to some family reasons. Because of poor economic status of families, parents did not have much to support their pupil education. And the priority was given to boys and girls were made to leave school and began to do home activities all the time.

Fantana, (2012) says that, success in learning a subject by pupil’s relates closely to the learner’s home background. He goes further to state that pupil’s of the white collar job and middle class parents have a greater chance of success while those of the blue collar jobs have the least. Pupil’s who exhibit a high level of motivation tend to come from higher socio-economic status families and perform better. Several studies, point out that socio-economic status is a significant independent variable that affects completion of primary level.

Mullar (2010), found out that, home background affects pupil’s completion of primary level in Uganda. He revealed that males from poor homes perform better than those from rich ones. The reason given was that the poor boy’s rough home life becomes a source of encouragement and inspiration to perform better for a bright future. Meanwhile, girls from good homes were found to perform better than those from poor ones. The reason here was that rich girls have less economic worries and therefore stabilize on books while poor girls waste time looking for money from men and consequently some end up dropping out of school.

From the above literature it’s therefore evident that financial capacity of the parents is very essential for the pupil’s to stay at school as observed therefore apparent with good economic status is able to sponsor his pupil’s to stay a school.

Fighting against  Gender inequality in rural areas,  The gender of the pupil’s has always been considered as far as a priority of who stays and leaves school is concerned in most societies across African continent male pupil’s has always been given priority as far as staying at school is concerned, (Atekyereza, 2010).

In Uganda like in many African countries patriarchal characteristics are still strong, some parents and teachers favour boys more than girls. The reason is that many parents especially those in the rural think that girls get educated in order to know how to read, write and then be better daughters, wives and mothers, rather than equipping then with skills and knowledge that can enable them to handle their lives well as human beings and progressing their career of choice. A study by Atekyereza, (2010), showed that married daughters are less likely than married sons to remit cash income to their parents. For such reason,

In cases where parents cannot afford to meet educational costs for all pupil’s, boys are favoured over the girls (Juuko and Kabonesa 2007). This among others remains a big concern in the practice of UPE which causes disparities in access and survival in education system for both girls and boys.

In times of diminished food resources, girls and their mothers are often last to be fed, resulting in a diet low in calories and protein. An estimated 450 million adult women in developing countries are stunted as a result of lack of pupil’s protein for energy.  Iodine and iron deficiencies have significant consequences for pregnant women and their off springs. The alarming increase is the number of girl’s infected with the HIV virus. Adolescent girls are at high risk of contracting HIV because their low social status often pressures them into situations where they are forced to have unprotected sexual intercourse with men. Girls are often treated as inferior to boys, both within the home and by society at large. They are socialized to put themselves last, which in turn undermines their self-esteem and their ability to reach their full potential as human beings. When a girl is prevented from going to school or is too exhausted to pay attention in class because of her work load at home, she is being denied her right to education. Girls carry the bulk of responsibility for the house work while boys study play or attend to their interests and hobbies, so girls are discriminated (Njeuma,:2010)

According to Odaet et al, 2010), domestic affairs effected girl’s completion of primary education because girls did a lot of work than boys in many societies because of culture. They get involved in food preparation, pupil’s care, grinding millet and so on. And this situation worsens as the girls grow older, and denied rights of getting enough time to rest and read their books for a better performance and later on does not complete primary education. They compared groups of successful and unsuccessful learners and found out that parental re-enforcement positively correlates with academic performance and achievement. Socially girls were believed to do much work like helping their mothers in home activities and this led them to have less time to concentrate on their studies compared to boys. And this affected their concentration and later on dislike of schooling.Mullar (1982).

The National Action Plan on women, (1999) shows that the low priority given to the girls education, their heavy domestic work load, demand for girl pupil’s labour have significant effect on the girl’s education. Since they bear the burden of additional household work and may be withdrawn from school altogether.

Njeuma, (1993) shows that sending girls to schools has high opportunity costs especially for rural parents who depend on girl’s domestic work. Education costs for girls (fees and uniforms tend to be higher than that of boys thus limiting their education). This is because most parents can afford sending a daughter to school in torn or ill fittings clothes. Bawn, (1985) found out that the curricular and most educational materials in schools were designed with interests of boys.

Promoting of  Pupil’s progress , Most schools set a certain amount of scores which they believe it’s the one a pupil’s is supposed to score to be in position to continue to the next class however this has proved to prevent pupil’s from staying in schools, (Kane, 2011).

Schools in many countries especially in Uganda require that student’s successfully complete primary seven before allowing them to gain access to higher levels  with situations were absence and temporary withdrawals are high the quality levels are low and retention rates are high, for example kane, 2004 drawing in UNESCO states that in over half of all the African countries more than one in ten students repeat at least  one grade  of primary there are added difficulties with these pupil’s repeating especially if they were late entrants since it extends the age range.

if pupil’s repeat more than once this may lead to low retention of pupil’s in school Lewin, 2007 asserts that lack of progression might also lead to pupil’s and some parents to question whether they should remain in school or not, further more rose 2001 further contends that if pupil’s repeat it deters them from completing the grade because they will be older and this increases the opportunity costs of their time and reduces their chances of finishing school.

Educating parents about the benefits of education, Parental education has been observed to be in position to influence the pupil’s ability to stay in school, since most pupils observe their parents as their role models, (Ersodo, 2011)

Ersodo, 2011 further observes that parental education is the most important consisted determinant of pupil’s education, high parental education is associated with increase in access, high attendance and high attention of the pupil’s in school, grant further states that parents who have attained a certain education level might want their pupil’s to achieve at least same level. Another set of reasons are put forward for the link between parental education and retention of pupil’s in school by some researchers indicate that none educated parents cannot provide the support or even don’t appreciate the benefits of schooling. There is evidence that educational level of the parent can influence which pupil’s is more likely to access and remain in school for a long time.

Kirugi (2005) said that, so often girls are intentionally trained to be selfish through the strict upbringing and roles that they are often given at home. The parents who educate their girls want to dictate what type of subjects or courses to be done. Many poorly educated parents want their girls to study subjects which will give them good prospects for marriage.

Mukibi (2005) clearly shows the need of parental support and encouragement in enhancing retention of pupil’s at school. He contends that parents should provide all the necessary materials and good environment for girls’ education. England (1957) found out that abnormal home backgrounds are disruptive factors in enhancing retention of girls in school. Parents who are poor single parents and illiterate parents are in most cases unable to support their pupil’s in their studies thus; they fail to buy books, pens and other materials for their pupil’s.

2.5 Challenges in decentralization and service delivery in teaching and learning

Instructional materials include textbooks, teachers’ guides, blackboards, chalk and other class facilities that are necessary to ensure good quality education. Although the Government seems to have purchased a large number of textbooks as part of UPE programme implementation strategy, accessing them is limited to few schools which are well equipped. Worse still, due to high enrollment rates, these books are never enough; for example in (2004), it was reported at national level that textbook copies for primary four were on average 238,475 to 1,045,514 enrolled pupil’s, which is equivalent to 1:23 pupil’s, followed by primary three with an average of 214,217 to 1,150,525 pupil’s and then primary five with an average of 187,725 to 923,709 pupil’s enrolled (Juuko and Kabonesa 2007).

Pupil’s with Disabilities  in most schools; One of the paramount motives in implementing UPE programme in Uganda was to make primary school education accessible to all and pupils with disabilities were encouraged to join the mainstream schools. Though this looks a good entry point to the disabled in accessing education and especially to those who had been stigmatized before UPE program, it appears that special arrangements for these pupil’s are missing (Ssekamwa, 1999). For example in UPE schools, pupil’s who are visually impaired lack white canes and Braille machine paper, pupil’s who are physically handicapped lack wheelchairs, crutches and other facilities that they may need depending on their level of disability. Pupil’s who are deaf have little or no access to skilled teachers in sign language and interpreters. Further impacting problem is lack of transport due to the costly maintenance of vehicles and daily transportation of pupil’s to school (ibid). In addition, lack of adequate knowledge and skilled teachers to handle pupil’s with traditional disabilities is a factor worthy considering as a strong case against the success of UPE in ensuring equality survival in school for these pupil’s.

Implementation of UPE programme has had a lot of challenges in the Northern Uganda. For over two decades; this area has experienced a devastating civil war waged by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) against the Government. This war did not only result into massive displacement of the entire population to camps, but seems to have been pupil’s-targeting and depriving their right of education. For example, the recent report of the abducted pupil’s amounts to about 26,662 (MoES 2007). UPE programme in practice has not taken into consideration the needs of pupil’s from this part of the country as there are few schools/classes within camps.

Quality of Education ;  Under UPE, good quality of education is reflected on pupil’s’ ability to read, write and speak English (MOFPED) 2002: In order to improve the quality of primary education, the government has devoted some resources to procure some textbooks and construct some classrooms. The increase in education inputs explains the gradual improvement of some education quality indicators from the time UPE was introduced. Nevertheless, these improvements have not always translated into better outputs and outcomes of UPE programme education as evident in the results of a National Assessment of primary education Performance taken between 1996 and 2000, that education performance in terms of pupil’s’ numeric, reading, science, social studies knowledge and skills have deteriorated following the introduction of UPE programme, (Bategeka and Okurut 2006). Some parents look at UPE with poor quality which makes it a sound reason for some of them to take their pupil’s to private schools. Some of the reasons behind poor quality education are for example automatic promotion policy that came with introduction of UPE as a way of minimizing Government expenditure. This has greatly undermined the quality and skills acquired by pupil’s as well as encouraging both pupil’s and parents to wrongly assume that what matters in order to gain promotion is to do exam and not necessary to pass (MOFPED 2002).

Corporal punishments and harassment destabilize pupils and prevent them from completing their school. They do not lead to school dropout alone but also expose them to physical and psychological dangers. It is however sad to note that even after introduction of UPE programme, corporal punishments like heavy beating, digging ant-hills and slashing bushes still exist which compromise equality of survival for pupil’s in schools. This is just a sample of the incidents in UPE schools but the story is that corporal punishments threaten many pupil’s in schools which make them run away forever and never to return in school anymore.

Although sexual abuse and harassment is a crime and discouraged by law in Uganda, several reports in the press still show sexual abuse by male teachers on female students. This makes many young girls to get unwanted pregnancies and others get intimidated by their teachers, a reason that explain girls’ dropout more than boys (Kakuru, 2003).

Bandura (1973) studied and discovered that there is significant relationship between parents’ characteristics (both educational and occupational status) and the pupil attitude, values, feelings and guidance towards learning. This was indeed true because some parents particularly village parents were responsible for spoiling their pupil’s against regular attendances of school days, later on dropout of schools.

According to Durojaiye (1972), we must recognize the factors that are usually conditions of many African homes and everyday-living conditions as probably inadequate for our pupil’s to acquire large parts of their potentialities. The quotation implies that in our African setting, we had numerous problems that contribute to the poor performance of our pupil’s. For example lack of enough funds to manage our home problems like pupil’s education, health matters, feeding methods dressing and sleeping habits. Also these and many others caused a lot of imbalance in a pupil’s attitudes towards school life, hence making him/her for school life nothing but an academic prison. Finances might therefore be directed to boys at the expense of girls.

Durojaiye (1972) recommended that plans might exist for home-school contacts where parents get to know their pupil’s teachers for the effectiveness of their pupil’s. And this helped teachers to know more about the learner’s backgrounds and then discuss some learning problems where parents were able to help. The school’s major responsibility was to transmit knowledge to pupil’s; parents also must concern themselves with the work of the school and what are being taught to their pupil’s.

According to Fantana, (1981) poor living conditions and the un stimulating environment experienced by many lower socio-economic families may hinder the educational progress of pupil’s. Also such pupil’s said that they had nowhere at home to sit and read quietly or do their home work. And this led some pupil’s not to complete primary education.

Watson (2002) pointed out that pupil’s did not complete primary education due to some family reasons. Because of poor economic status of families, parents did not have much to support their pupil’s education. And the priority was given to boys and girls were made to leave school and began to do home activities all the time.

Fantana (1981) says that, success in learning a subject by pupil’s relates closely to the learner’s home background. He goes further to state that pupil’s of the white collar job and middle class parents have a greater chance of success while those of the blue collar jobs have the least. Pupil’s who exhibit a high level of motivation tend to come from higher socio-economic status families and perform better. Several studies, point out that socio-economic status is a significant independent variable that affects completion of primary level.

According to Odaet and Buye, (1997), domestic affairs effected girl’s completion of primary education because girls did a lot of work than boys in many societies because of culture. They get involved in food preparation, pupil’s care, grinding millet and so on. And this situation worsens as the girls grow older, and denied rights of getting enough time to rest and read their books for a better performance and later on does not complete primary education. They compared groups of successful and unsuccessful learners and found out that parental re-enforcement positively correlates with academic performance and achievement. Socially girls were believed to do much work like helping their mothers in home activities and this led them to have less time to concentrate on their studies compared to boys. And this affected their concentration and later on dislike of schooling, Mullar (2012).

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.0Introduction

This chapter presents the methodology which consists of the research design, area of study, study population, sample population and selection, sampling technique, data collection method, data quality control, data collection procedures and limitations of the study.

3.1 Research design

The research will use cross sectional survey research design. The function of a qualitative and quantitative research design will ensure that the evidence obtained enables the researcher to answer the initial question as unambiguously as possible

Qualitative approach: this approach gathers information based on an in depth understanding of human behavior and the resources that govern the behavior depending on the why and how of decisions making based on theoretical analysis and assumptions of the respondents.

Quantitative approach: this approach will be used to collect information that is in numerical form; This approach that deals with numerical expression in figures in terms of quantity which involves measurement of quantity and amounts, However quantitative approach will be used because of the following reasons; this approach eliminates behavioral biases were by the behavioral beliefs are done away with, the approach leads to accuracy were by results are not guessed, operational risks are reduced. This approach will be used in a way of getting actual figures and taking on calculations then getting answers.

3.2       Area of the study

The study will be carried out at Otuketown council specifically covering the schools of Orum p/s, Oget p/s, Oluru p/s.

3.2       Study Population and Sample Size

The study will target school administrators, teachers, parents, and pupil’s.

  Table: Sample size of the respondents

Source: Primary data

3.3       SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

According to (Amin, 2005) sampling involves selecting a sample of the population in such a way that samples of the same size have equal chances of being selected.

The respondents will be selected using purposive sampling techniques. Berg (2006) purposive sampling, the researcher chooses the sample based on where they think would be appropriate for the study. A Purposive sampling technique will be used because it’s cheap.

3.4 DATA SOURCES

Source of data will be from both primary and secondary sources.

• Primary data

Primary data will be obtained from the questionnaires administered on the target respondents to gain opinions and information on the study topic.

• Secondary sources

Secondary data is data which has been collected by individuals or agencies for purposes other than those of a particular research study. It is data developed for some purpose other than for helping to solve the research problem at hand (Bell, 1997). Secondary data will be sourced because it yields more accurate information than obtained through primary data, and it is also cheaper

3.5 Data Collection methods and instruments

The major instruments for data collection will be questionnaires and interview guide. Surveys will be just one part of a complete data collection and evaluation strategy. The major method of data collection for the study will be the survey, which will be done using selected instruments like questionnaires. The questionnaire will provide respondents with ample time to comprehend the questions raised and hence, they will be able to answer factually.

3.5.1 Questionnaires

The questionnaire will be used to collect quantitative data. The researcher will administer the questionnaires to different respondents in School administrators, Teachers, Parents, Pupil’s, which will be designed basing on study objectives and questions. Respondents will read and write the questionnaires themselves. The questionnaires will be close ended and will be considered convenient because they will be administered to the literate and its anonymous nature will fetch unhindered responses.

The researcher will distribute questionnaires to the respondents and then respondents will answer the questionnaires themselves after wards the researcher will collect the questionnaires from the respondents.

3.5.2 Interviews

Qualitative data will be collected from the participants using interviews. The interview guide will be structured. The interviews will be held with head teachers and teachers, and will take approximately thirty to sixty minutes. This will be used since it’s the best tool for getting first-hand information /views, perceptions, feelings and attitudes of respondents. Both formal interviews will be used to get maximum information from the different respondents to participate in the research.

3.6 Reliability and validity of research instruments

3.6.1Validity and Reliability

The two terminologies emphasis data quality control

3.6.1. Validity

This refers to the extent to which results can be accurately interpreted and generalized to other populations (Oso and Onen, 2008). These writers further define validity as the extent to which instruments measure what they are intended to measure.

The researcher analysed the data collected and were need arises, the instrument was to be re-adjusted and re-design to improve reliability and validity.

3.6.2. Reliability

Reliability refers to the extent to which an instrument is able to measure one thing over and over again while producing the same results.

3.7 Data processing and analysis

The raw data will be coded, edited, and arranged ready for analyzing only completed raw data will be analysed using statistical tables and graphs.

Qualitative data will be used to analyse the response from the data

3.8 Anticipated limitations of the study

Financial constraint, cash flow may not flow as   expected but this will not affect the study. Respondents may delay in filling the questionnaire and fear to give information, but they will be persuaded that the information will be kept secret.

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS AND HEAD TEACHERS

Dear sir/ madam

I am a student of Kyambogo University currently collecting data for compilation of my dissertation as partial fulfillment for the award of bachelor’s degree of Teacher Education.

You have been selected to take part in the study because of your unique expertise and experience as a stake holder at Otuke District.

You are kindly requested to spare some time and give your honest opinion or judgment on the questions or statements in the questionnaire. Note that all response including your identity will be treated with utmost confidentiality and shall be used exclusively for the purpose of the study I wish to thank you in advance for your co-operation.

Tick where applicable

SECTION  A:            PERSONAL DATA

SEX:              Male                            Female

Experience as teacher:

0-5 years

5years and above

Qualifications: Grade 11            Grade 111            Grade V                     Graduate

Where do you reside? At school                     At home

Renting in town

Others (specify) ……………………………………….

SECTION: B Benefits of decentralization.

PART B 1

1. Mention five key factors that affect service delivery in teaching and learning ?
2. i) …………………………………………………………………………………….
3. ii) ……………………………………………………………………………………..

iii)        ……………………………………………………………………………………..

1. iv) ……………………………………………………………………………………..
2. v) ……………………………………………………………………………………..
3. Mention five things that discourage pupil’s in your school from learning?
4. i) …………………………………………………………………………………….
5. ii) ……………………………………………………………………………………..

iii)        ……………………………………………………………………………………..

1. iv) …………………………………………………………………………………….
2. v) ……………………………………………………………………………………

8) BENEFITS OF DECENTRALIZATION

SECTION C: Different ways of achieving efficiency in service delivery

SECTION D: Challenges in decentralization and service delivery in teaching and learning

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PUPIL’S

QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear sir/ madam      

I am a student of Kyambogo University currently collecting data for compilation of my dissertation as partial fulfillment for the award of bachelor’s degree of education.

You have been selected to take part in the study because of your unique expertise and experience as a stake holder at Otuke district.

You are kindly requested to spare some time and give your honest opinion or judgment on the questions or statements in the questionnaire. Note that all response including your identity will be treated with utmost confidentiality and shall be used exclusively for the purpose of the study I wish to thank you in advance for your co-operation.

Tick where applicable

SECTION A:             Personal Data

SEX:                           Male                            Female

How old are you?

8-9 years                                              b) 10-15 years

Distance from home to school:

Very far                                 b)    Near by

Location of your home:          Town               Village

SECTION B

1. Do you normally fall sick during school?

Yes                                                  No                           Not sure

2. Does your school allow you to participate on the same activities both male and female?

Yes                                                  No                           Not sure

3. Give three things that encourage you to learn.

1. i) …………………………………………………………………………………….
2. ii) ……………………………………………………………………………………..

iii)        ……………………………………………………………………………………..

4. Do your parent know how to read and write

Yes                                                  No                           Not sure

5. Do your parents come to attend meetings at school?

Yes                                                  No                           Not sure

6. Do your parents tell you of the benefits of finishing school?

Yes                                                  No                           Not sure

7. Do your parents encourage you to do your home work?

Yes                                                  No                           Not sure

SECTION: B Benefits of decentralization.

PART B 1

1. Mention five key factors that affect service delivery in teaching and learning ?
2. i) …………………………………………………………………………………….
3. ii) ……………………………………………………………………………………..

iii)        ……………………………………………………………………………………..

1. iv) ……………………………………………………………………………………..
2. v) ……………………………………………………………………………………..
3. Mention five things that discourage pupil’s in your school from learning?
4. i) …………………………………………………………………………………….
5. ii) ……………………………………………………………………………………..

iii)        ……………………………………………………………………………………..

1. iv) …………………………………………………………………………………….
2. v) ……………………………………………………………………………………

8) BENEFITS OF DECENTRALIZATION

SECTION C: Different ways of achieving efficiency in service delivery

SECTION D: Challenges in decentralization and service delivery in teaching and learning

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