Effects of children’s absenteeism on academic performance in primary schools in Nabumali town council Mbale district, Uganda.

Abstract

The general objective of this study was to assess the effects of pupils‟ absenteeism on academic performance among Nabumali town council primary schools. This study was guided by three specific objectives; (i) to identify the factors contributing to pupils‟ poor performance in primary Schools of Nabumali town council, Mbale District, (ii) to assess the effects of absenteeism on academic performance of pupils of primary schools of Nabumali town council Mbale District. (iii) to suggest possible intervention strategies that could be applied in order to curb pupils‟ absenteeism in primary schools of Nabumali town council Mbale District. The research designs used were cross sectional and case study. The sample size of the study was 296. Data was analyzed in two ways, for the case of demographic profile, percentage was used, and SPSS was used to analyze objectives of the study. For objective one, the overall mean was 2.39, rated as low. This means that there were factors that led to poor academic performance of the pupils’ in primary schools. For objective two, the overall mean was 2.63; rated as low. This outcome shows that absenteeism contributed to the pupils‟ poor academic performance. Objective three was concerned with strategies used to curb absenteeism of the pupils. The overall mean was 2.63; rated as low. This meant that the strategies to manage absenteeism amongst the pupils were not applied by the stakeholders. Conclusion of the study findings; for objective one, it was concluded that absenteeism in primary schools contributed to poor academic performance of the pupils at the end of the year. About objective two, it is concluded that absenteeism contributed negatively to academic performance of pupils in primary schools. For the sake of objective three, it was concluded that schools were not effectively using the absenteeism management strategies in place, recommended by the Ministry of Education and sports to manage absenteeism. Recommendation of the study; the local councilors together with the parents should work hand in hand in order to identify the factors contributing to pupils‟ absenteeism and jointly apply the existing byelaws enacted by the District Local Council in order to manage absenteeism. To the School Administrators, it is recommended that the existing absenteeism management strategies put in place by the Ministry of Education and sports be strengthened in order for the absenteeism to be managed in schools. By so doing, the pupils will regularly go to school to the extent of being able to follow what the teachers will be teaching.