Abstract:
Pupils’ lateness to school is one of the challenges faced by school administrators. This research therefore investigated the real reasons why pupils report late to schools in Buteba sub-county primary schools. The respondents included (30) teachers. The data was collected using questionnaires with open ended questions. The influence of moderating variables of sex, years of teaching experience and educational qualification on the respondents’ expressions was also considered. The study is descriptive in nature and sampled (30) teachers in the primary schools of Buteba sub county, Busia District in Uganda. The descriptive and inferential statistics were used as methods of data analysis. The findings showed that the major causes of late reporting of pupils in primary schools are: parents involving children in domestic work during school time, looking for scholastic materials like pens and books, social status and education level of parents, the geographical location of the school, poor parental attitudes towards education and school being a kind of prison among others.
It’s concluded that the factors responsible for lateness to school are enormous. Practical solutions were therefore recommended as; enacting bye-laws to deal with parents who deny their children the right to education, schools should employ workers to clean the school. The school should be made more interesting and challenging by providing children with a lot of recreational activities at school. Schools should also make it a rule to provide good lunches in the schools in order to attract and maintain pupils.