HEADTEACHERS’ ROLES AND TEACHER PERFORMANCE IN GOVERNMENT AIDED PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN BUKEDEA DISTRICT

Abstract

This study investigated the contribution of headteachers’ supervision, monitoring, and mentoring roles to teacher performance in Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools in Bukedea District, Uganda. The investigation was guided by three objectives: to examine how headteachers’ supervision role contributes to teacher performance, to assess the effect of their monitoring role, and to evaluate the impact of their mentoring role. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design and employed both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. A sample of 82 teachers and 10 headteachers from 10 purposively selected UPE schools participated in the study, supplemented by key informant interviews with the District Education Officer, two school inspectors, and two Coordinating Centre Tutors. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and interview guides. Quantitative data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis to examine the predictive power of the three independent variables on teacher performance. The regression model summary revealed that the adjusted R2 was 0.122, indicating that 12.2% of the variation in teacher performance was jointly explained by the headteachers’ supervision, monitoring, and mentoring roles. This suggests that although other external factors contribute to teacher performance, the specified headteacher roles play a modest but meaningful part in influencing it. The standardized beta coefficients showed that the monitoring role (β = 0.167, p = 0.047) had the highest and statistically significant influence on teacher performance, followed by supervision (β = 0.142, p = 0.063) and mentoring (β = 0.135, p = 0.058), which were not statistically significant at the 0.05 level. The findings suggest that teacher performance improves when headteachers actively monitor classroom instruction and school activities, even more so than through direct supervision or informal mentoring. It was concluded that strengthening headteachers’ capacity in instructional monitoring could enhance teacher effectiveness in UPE schools. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education and Sports, in collaboration with local education authorities, prioritize continuous professional development programs that empower headteachers to implement effective monitoring strategies, complemented by supervision and mentoring practices to ensure holistic teacher support and improved learning outcomes.