Institutional planning and academic performance in selected secondary schools in busiro county, wakiso district –Uganda

Abstract

This study assesses the impact of institutional planning on academic performance with specific focus on teacher competency, instructional resources and parents' participation planning for child education in selected secondary schools in Busiro County, Wakiso District. This defines the content scope of study. Geographically the study was particularly conducted in 15 selected secondary schools, both government aided and private in Busiro County. The Study mainly covers the period, 2005-2010 of UCE national examinations. The study idea is well illustrated by a logically formed conceptual framework that presents a structural relationship between the variables of study; mainly institutional planning as the independent variable and academic performance, the dependent variable. Literature was reviewed under themes that reflect specific research objectives. The respective themes cover implications of teacher competency planning; instructional resources planning and parents' participation planning on academic performance. These were preceded by the review of the concepts of institutional planning, and academic performance. The review sought to explore information gaps so as to address the research objectives. In this study, the cross-sectional research design was used. This was adopted in order to collect data from several sample population frames in more or less the same period of time in the 15 secondary schools selected to represent a larger secondary school population in Busiro County. The design was based on both quantitative and qualitative methods for data collection and analysis. Particularly, the questionnaire and interview methods were used for data collection and both statistical and interpretive techniques were adopted for presentation and analysis of such data. Accordingly, the study findings reveal that the inequality in student learning achievement among secondary schools in Busiro County is significantly attributed to school differentials in institutional planning. Specifically, students in a few schools with better institutional planning frameworks for teacher competency, instructional facilities and parents' involvement in child education perform much better in learning and examinations especially in science • education compared to their counterparts in the less institutionally prepared and developed secondary schools, which are the majority in the County. It was therefore concluded that institutional planning is the most underlying factor in child education and academic performance in secondary schools. Considering the research findings and conclusions, the study recommended for school staff reviews, teacher motivation plans, collective responsibility in instructional resource development, consistency in instructional material use, enforcement of the science education promotion policy, better strategies for consistent parent support in child education as well as parents' participation policy in secondary schools.