Socio-Economic Factors and Enrollment of Students in Secondary Schools in Kotido District, Uganda

Abstract

The study examined the influence of socio-economic factors on students’ enrollment in secondary schools in Kotido District. Three specific objectives were considered. These were: (i) to establish the effect of house hold factors on students’ enrolment. (ii) to establish the effect of school based factors on students’ enrolment and (iii) to determine the influence of environmental based factors on students’ enrolment in secondary schools in Kotido District.The target population of the study consisted of teachers, PTA representatives, sub county chiefs, head teachers among selected secondary schools and the District Education Officer (DEO) in Kotido District. The study targeted a population of about 213 respondents, which comprised; of 138 teachers from five Secondary Schools found both in the municipality and the town council (Kotido Main), 19 Sub-county chiefs, 05 Head teachers, 50 PTA representatives and 01 DEO.The study adopted a descriptive research design with both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS computer software (Version 25) to generate frequencies, percentages and mean. Qualitative data analysis was done through thematic content analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to generate tables for discussion. The findings showed that house hold factors had a significant weak positive relationship with students and they explained student enrollment up to a magnitude of 6.3%. Then school based factors had a significant effect on students’ enrollment with an adjusted (R-Square) value of 0.093 which suggested that school based factors explained students’ enrollment by a magnitude of 9.3%. Similarly, the study showed a significant weak positive relationship between environmental factors and student enrollment with the adjusted (R- Square) value of 0.040 which implied that environmental based factors explain student enrollment by a magnitude 4.0%. The general observation as based on the ANOVA revealed that Socio-economic factors had a significant effect on students’ enrolment as evidenced by a sig value of 0.000. The study recommended that: Parents, guardians and care givers should devise means of increasing their income. The government should build the economic status of the people of Kotido. More NGOs should come on board to support education programs in the district. Head teachers and Kotido district management should come up with strategic plans on increasing students’ enrolment. Strong measures should be applied by Uganda government to protect Kotido children from engaging in cattle rustling, mining activities and all forms of child labor activities.