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THE INFLUENCE OF CHILD LABOUR ON  LEVEL OF ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

ACASE STUDY OF KAYONZA SUB-COUNTY SCHOOLS OF KAKIIKA PARENTS SCHOOL, KIRIMATOOGO P/S AND NACHESTER CHURCH OF UGANDA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

This Chapter presents the background, problem statement, purpose specific objectives, research questions, scope and the significance of the study.

1.1 Background

In the year 2000, the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated that there were over 200 million child labourers worldwide. Of these 200 million, 180 million are suspected to be engaged in the worst forms of child labour, which can be summarized as, ‘those activities . . . [that are] inexcusable under any circumstance and must be eliminated without delay” (ILO, 2002: 1). That is to say, approximately 90 percent of working children are engaged in labour that is, by nature, detrimental to their psychological and physical well-being. These include, labour that is performed by a child who is under the specified minimum age for that type of work,hazardous work and, children engaged in types of child labour to be abolished. The elimination of the worst forms of child labour has come to be recognized as crucial for sustainable social and economic development and most of improvement in the academic performance of children in schools to enable them have good future and transform the country.  By 1 February 2002, 115 countries had ratified the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention No. 182. The convention recognizes that those forms of child work defined as hazardous to a child’s well-being or unconditionally at odds with a child’s basic human rights should be absolutely prohibited by any person under the age of 18 (ILO, 2002: 11).

The issue of pupils’ performance at schools has been of concern ever since modern education was introduced. Many countries have come to realize that pupils are the heart of educational process and that without good performance, all innovations in education are doomed to failure. There is a wide dissatisfaction with the current situation of schooling in many countries and parents come in for the share of the blame. This is because majority of parents involve their children in garden and other domestic work. This makes pupils have limited time with their teachers and no time for revision, therefore, affecting their performance. The Uganda Primary School Curriculum (1999) clearly spells out what Primary Education is. It also spells out the broad aims and objectives of Primary Education. The Curriculum in both Volume One and Volume Two was designed to address the National Aim of Education as specifically stated in the Government White Paper on the Education Policy Review Commission Report (1992). Therefore, all school efforts should be aimed at high quality pupils’ learning. Parents as active stakeholders in schools should ensure that they are cooperative, participate fully in school activities, provide children with essential needs, check pupils’ work, encourage and enforce good behaviour among pupils and to consult with school authorities to foster good performance of their children. Theoretically, according to Maicibi (2005:169), a good environment should be provided by the home if our children in school must learn such activities like domestic work at home have an influence towards the academic performance of pupils in schools, Maani (1990) observes that pupils’ success at schools is closely related to their home backgrounds since children are given a lot of work at home like washing clothes grazing cattle and taking care of the old these factors affect a pupils academic performance in schools. According to Skinner (1945) “Learning Theory” achievement vary among individuals due to several reasons. Level of performance and aspirations of pupils depend on factors linked to the level of education of parents, family income and marital status of parents. Pupil’s performance, defined as, the ability of pupils to do something (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 1994).

1.2 Problem Statement

The purpose of primary education is to develop quality of life of the learners so that they can properly serve the society according to their roles and responsibilities as good citizens. To achieve the aim and improve pupils’ performance in primary schools, Primary Teachers’ Colleges are to prepare high quality and sufficient teachers to provide quality education in primary schools (Ballon and Podgursky, 1997). The learning process must be guided and controlled; and the learning environment must be conducive and supportive (Skinner, 1945). In other words, learners need to be motivated by their parents in whatever they do. Given this role, Government has deliberately made effort to improve on infrastructure and other educational inputs. Despite this, pupils’ performance has been persistently and alarmingly low in Kayunga district with specific reference to the primary schools of kakika parents, kirimatongo primary school and Nachester c/u p/s.  this study therefore intends to investigate into the influence of child labour on the level of academic performance with specific reference to Kakika parents, Kirimatongo and Nachester in kayunga district.

1.3    Objectives of the study

1.3.1 General objective

The overall purpose of this study is to investigate into the influence of child labour on the level of academic performance with specific reference to Kakika parents, Kirimatongo and Nachester in kayunga district.

• Specific objectives

1. To examine the influence of child labour on pupils.
2. To identify factors that affect academic performance.

• To establish the relationship between child labour and academic performance.

1.4    Research Questions

1. What is the influence of child labour on pupils.
2. What are the factors that affect academic performance.

• What is the relationship between child labour and academic performance.

1.6       Scope of the Study

1.6.1        Study Scope

The study will cover the influence of child labour on pupils, factors that affect academic performance and the relationship between child labour and academic performance.

1.6.2 Geographical Scope

The study will be carried out at kayunga district.

1.6.3 Time scope

The researcher will be carried out from September 2016 to

1.7       Significance of the Study

The will help future researcher with information regarding the influence of child labour on pupils.

The study will also help academicians in understanding the factors that affect academic performance.

The study will also provide information on the relationship between child labour and academic performance.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Influence of child labour on pupils

Child labour is a global problem, and its elimination is being called for in the world. According to a recent International Labour Organisation (ILO) report, it was estimated that there are 250 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 years working in Developing countries – 120 million are working full time while 130 million are working part time (Chakravarthi, 1997, January 26). These children are involved in such activities like picking coffee or tea regardless of whether it is a school term or holiday (Staff, 2000, October 30). They are also involved in fishing activities, salt harvesting, and sugar cane cutting. Gugler and Gilbert (1992) reported that child labour is a serious concern because large numbers of children are trapped in highly exploitative and abusive employment relations such as domestic work and bonded labour. In the dangerous and hazardous categories of work, brick making, commercial sex, mining, and carpet making are the most cited. Bequele and Boyden (as cited in Gugler & Gilbert 1992) reports that many children work for excessively long hours and do not receive adequate nutrition, health care, and education.

In Uganda , the exact number of children in the labour market is not known. This is because no statistics exist to show how many children are in the labour market. What exist are mere estimations from individuals. For instance, the ILO program co-ordinator claimed that there were three million children in the labour market (Staff, 1997, July 29). The Minister for Labour while addressing 1998 Labour Day, reported that three million children of school going age were out of school and the labour force would grow to 16 million by the year 2010 (Staff, 1998, May 2). More recently, the minister said that there were more than four million Kenyan children engaged in child labour. This figure puts the country in sixth position in Africa in the prevalence of the practice of child labour. The minister attributed the problem to rising levels of poverty, population explosion and unemployment. He further added that the introduction of cost sharing in primary education 15 years ago had seen enrolment of children in schools drop from 95 to 75 per cent. This he noted has compounded the problem of child labour (Njue, 2000, July 28). Otieno (1995) states that some child labourers in Kenya hawk or beg a long the streets, while others work in agricultural and domestic sectors. Moreover some of these children work in the fisheries, quarry, forestry, and in the commercial sex industry. Two surveys in Homa Bay and Suba districts by Training and Advocacy for Community Initiative {TRACOI; as cited in Staff, 1998, July 29} and Homa Bay District Children Advisory Committee {HDCAC; as cited in Oloo and Ojwang, 1994} showed that school children were heavily involved in fishing activities. The surveys indicated that children participated in these activities to the detriment of their health and education. The literature review conducted in this study did not find any studies in Kenya, which have investigated the effects of fishing activities on academic achievement of primary school pupils. This study therefore concentrated on those children who work in the fishing industry. Onyango’s study (as cited in Shah & Cantwell, 1985) points out that child labour can be seen as both participatory-beneficial and exploitative activity. As participatory-beneficial activity, child labour is a way children can share in the redistribution of wealth by earning wages.

2.2 Factors that affect academic performance

As an exploitative activity, Onyango argues that child labour is a way by which children under the age of 16 years are exposed to conditions of work that may be harmful to their physical, emotional, mental, and moral welfare. In addition, Onyango notes that observations made among children working in factories show that work can stunt development during the period of growth, prevents children from going to school, and creates cheap labour. The current study investigated whether or not fishing activities have an influence on academic achievement of primary school pupils. The child presence in the labour market carries many implications. The most important being his absence from school as observed by Dogramaci (as cited in Shah & Cantwell, 1985). Dogramaci notes that most ILO studies in different countries like Kenya, Thailand, India, and Bangladesh have shown that most working children do not go to school. Dogramaci asserts that lack of schooling perpetuates a bleak and hopeless status quo, barring the way to any sort of advancement, or better life. He adds that those who work and go to school may not succeed in education. This is because the long hours spent on the job result in fatigue, listlessness, and lack of concentration in class. This in turn leads to poor performance, failure, and high school drop out rates. However, such claims lack empirical evidence to support them. In the absence of this empirical evidence, people may not make informed decisions about the effects of child labour on education.

Michel et al (1999) suggest that allowing pupils to make video clips can develop their powers of observation and open new perspectives for their understanding of scientific concepts. This is because pupils need to think about exactly what should be recorded in order to explain concept. This type of enquiry-based teaching involves pupils in deciding which problems to investigate, searching for alternative solutions, collecting and tabulating data, reporting conclusions, and suggesting new related problems for further investigation. The technology also gives teachers the flexibility to demonstrate scientific concepts through a method other than a live demonstration. In one example from this study, a high school biology teacher produced a CD-ROM of short clips digitized from tapes made by pupils during along-term experiment to grow various plants. The pupils later incorporated the clips into scientific presentations. Reid et al.(2002), in an evaluation of a pilot study of digital video in 50 schools in the UK, reported that teachers found that filming and editing a video about forces helped pupils to assimilate scientific concepts more effectively, quickly and substantially than would have been achieved with handouts or textbooks.

Barton (1997), in a review of research on data logging, concluded that the main benefit is the time saving, but suggests that the important factors of interaction with peers and intervention by the teacher need further research. Linn and Hsi (2000) found that pupils are much better at interpreting the findings of their experiments when they use real-time data collection than when they use conventional techniques for graphing their data, and that this greater understanding is carried over to topics where they have not collected the data.

McKinnon and Nolan (2000) describe a distinction course on cosmology for secondary-aged gifted and talented pupils in a ‘learning community’ supported by ICT largely replaced the traditional role of the teacher. Instead the course co-coordinator and astronomers acted as learning facilitators, mentors and discussion partners. This allowed pupils to manage their own learning.

Becker (1988) has pointed all the viewpoints by delineating the following philosophical and educational considerations, which surround the justification for the inclusion of computers in the school curriculum: Computers in education must reflect the belief that computer literacy is a fundamental requirement for participation in the society of tomorrow. Computers in education must reflect the power to compute as a prerequisite for the success in higher education and subsequent careers. Computers in education must be grounded in the belief that programming computers or using certain programs might develop more generalized intellectual capabilities. Computers in education must maximize the productivity gains by integrating computer applications (e.g. spreadsheet, word-processing software) into the existing curriculum.

According to Ssekamwa, (1997) the current education administration structure in Ugandan schools, presupposes a participatory approach to decision-making.  In Uganda, school councils were introduced to enable students participate in school administration.  In addition, Parents- Teachers Associations (PTA) brings together teachers, parents and administrators to plan for the school, and evaluate its performance.  Similarly, in universities and tertiary institutions, students, academic staff and non-teaching staff all are represented on governing councils.  All these developments facilitate participation in school management.  However, participation has a potential to cause discrepancies in schools.  For example, well intended students councils can lead to strikes when students’ representatives become pressure groups to influence management decisions.   Chip et al, (2013) argue that participation and representative decision-making organs manifest benefits resulting from different points of view.  In such a collaborative system, Henkin et al, (2009) noted, school leaders can no longer assume that it is desirable or possible to order the behaviour of staff and other stakeholders.

2.3 Relationship between child labour and academic performance

From the Philippines to Burkina Faso and Bolivia, child labour is widely used in quarrying and mining activities that are unequivocally hazardous in nature, with children working long hours, carrying heavy loads and facing exposure to dangerous condition. Estimates of the numbers involved are inherently imprecise. Almost all of the children involved in mining work in artisanal, small-scale mines which are not well covered either in work-force surveys or wider household surveys (ILO 2005).

Hazardous labour overwhelmingly dominates the activities of children working in artisanal mining. They are involved in digging tunnels, working underground or panning for gold and precious stones. There is also a widespread use of child labour in the collection and carrying of construction materials, and in breaking stones. While boys dominate some aspects of employment – such as tunnelling – young girls are also actively engaged in hazardous activities such as crushing rocks, transporting rubble and panning for stones (ILO 2007).

Both boys and girls involved in mining face acute health risks. One survey in Niger found that over one-third of children working in artisanal mines had been the victim of an accident at their work site (ILO 2007). High levels of respiratory tract and musculoskeletal problems are widely reported among children engaged in artisanal mining. Contact with lead-bearing ores has also been associated with lead poisoning among child miners, with the WHO having documented an epidemic in Nigeria (WHO 2010).

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

This chapter presents the methodology to be used in the study. It will  include; Research design, population and sample of techniques, Target/Accessible population, Sample, Sample Techniques, data collection, quality control, data analysis, assumptions and limitations.

3.1 Research Design

A research design is a plan of how the researcher will conduct the study (Kothari 2004). In this study, a cross-sectional survey research design will be adopted where both qualitative and quantitative research approaches will be used. This design will be useful as it will be the most appropriate way to gather data from a large population at a particular time (Amin, 2005). Qualitative methods will be used to collect, present, interpret and analyze verbal data (descriptive and narrative). Whereas quantitative methods will be used to interpret and analyze numerical data and this will be  done inform of tables, frequencies and percentages. The design will be chosen because it generates quick self-reports from the participants under the study, (Creswell, 2005). Also, cross sectional survey design will be chosen because the study will  involve collecting data from a relatively large number of respondents in its geographical setting, cheaply and in a short time (Elliot 1999). This design is also chosen because of the nature of the study as it requires cutting across a representative sample of all respondents in the study population.

3.2 Population and Sampling Techniques

According to Mugenda (1999) population is a large group of people or objects from which a number of individuals are selected for a study. The target population for this study, will be teachers and head teachers of secondary schools because head teachers are directly involved in the management of school. This study will involved 15 teachers, 9 members from school management committee, 6 head teachers and deputies and 30 pupils  selected from kayonza sub-county.

3.2.1 Sampling Procedure

Sampling is the process of obtaining information about an entire population by examining only part of it (Mingers, 2005 & Myers, 1997). The target groups will be primary school teachers, head teachers, school management committee members and  school teachers and Head teachers.

Simple random sampling will be used because it prevent bias and ensures that all members have an equal chance of being selected in the study. This technique will be used in selected pupils and teachers to participate in the study, while purposive sampling technique will be used in selecting Head teachers and deputies, school management committee members.

Purposive sampling technique will be used to select the above respondents because their target population is small and is known.

3.2.2 Target/Accessible Population

This study will be conducted in 3 primary schools in Kayonza sub-county with specific schools of Kakiika Parents School, Kirimatoogo P/S And Nachester Church Of Uganda.

3.3 Information Sources

Both primary and secondary sources of information will be used by the researchers. A primary source of data is the one in which an individual describes an occurrence by actual observation while a secondary source of data is any publication written by an author who is not direct participant in the study described (Mugenda, 1999). Primary data will  include information from questionnaires and interview while the secondary data will be from text books, educational journals, internet, news papers and magazines.

3.4 Research Instruments

Researcher will use methods that provide high accuracy, generalizability and explanatory power, with low cost, rapid speed and maximum management demands and administrative convenience (Warwick and Lininger, 1975). Basing on this fact, a combination of the following research instruments will be used in this study for complementary purposes: questionnaires and interview schedule.

3.4.1 The Questionnaire

Kakinda (1995) asserts that questionnaire is a set of related questions designed to collect information from respondents. The Questionnaires will be used to get information from the teachers. Questionnaires will be preferred because they are appropriate tools through which many respondents can be reached. The questionnaire will make it possible to obtain a wide variety of responses and to draw more reliable conclusions from the responses of teachers. Questionnaires will also facilitate easy and quick derivation of information within a short time (Borg and Gall, 1983).

3.4.2 The Interview Schedule

Verd (2004) defines interview guide as oral and vocal questioning technique or discussion. The interview schedule will be prepared and used to collect qualitative in-depth data. The interview schedules provided the researcher with greater opportunity to explain the purpose of the study (Stone and Harris 1984). This instrument will be used to obtain data from the head teachers and members of school management committee. The items in the school management committee members and head teachers’ interview schedule will seek information regarding the influence of child labour on  level of academic performance . The questions will be designed on the basis of the objectives of the study and the research questions stated in chapter one.

3.5 Quality Control

The instruments will be validated before their use in actual data collection. For the research instrument to be considered valid the content selected and included in the questionnaire must also be relevant to the variables being investigated. Validity for this study will be done through consultations with experts from the faculty of education, Mutesa II University. This will be done to assess the relevance of the content in the research tools in relation to the objectives of the study.

3.5.1 Reliability of the Research Instruments

Reliability is the extent to which the measuring instrument produces consistent scores when the same groups of individuals are repeatedly measured under the same conditions (Amin, 2004).

For consistency of research results from the study instrument, the researcher will use Cronbach’s alpha method with the help of SPSS.

3.5.2 Validity

Validity of instrument means that the instruments are serving the purpose for which they are intended (Keeves,1988;Sarantokos,1997).This is the ability to produce findings that are in agreement with theoretical or conceptual values or to produce accurate results and to measure what is supposed to be measured.  The researcher will ensure that  content validity of the SAQs by ensuring that questions in it conform to the study’s research objectives and conceptual framework. The research experts and with the help of the supervisor will independently judge the validity of the items in the questionnaire, interview guide in relation to research objectives. The Content Validity (CV) will be computed to determine the validity of the set of  SAQs using the formula;

CVI=Total number of items rated  as    valid

Total number of items on the instrument

3.6 Data Analysis

This is because the research instruments will yield both qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data will be edited on a continuous basis to ensure that it is complete. It will be put into categories according to the variables. Content analysis will be done. Conclusions will be made from that type of data

3.7 Research Procedure

The researcher will obtained a letter of introduction from the faculty of education at Mutesa II royal university. He will then go to the schools to get permission from the head teachers and make arrangements of days and time to administer the questionnaires and to conduct interviews. The researcher will then personally delivered the questionnaires and conducted interviews in the schools.

3.8 Ethical Consideration

During the research, integrity and confidentiality will be considered. This will be done through seeking consent from the respondents and acknowledgement of the authors. The findings will be used for academic purposes only.

3.9 Limitations of the Study

The researcher may face few limitation including limited time by the respondents to participate in the study, but they will encouraged to participate in the study and they will be told that that the study is meant for academic purpose therefore their participation is extremely important.