Fuancing of private secondary schools and its influence on academic performance in mukono municipality, Uganda

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of school finances on students' academic performance in private secondary schools in Mukono Municipality. This was guided by the following objectives: to assess the consistency in the sources of school finances; to examine the utilisation of school finances, and to determine the relationship between school finances and students' academic performance in the same schools in the municipality. The related literature was reviewed under themes compatible with the research objectives above. The study adopted a cross sectional research design based on quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The target population from which the study sample was selected totalled to 1,782 people. These included: school administrators i.e. head teachers and Directors of Studies; Teachers, and Senior 4 Students from 10 of the 47 private secondary schools found in Mukono Municipality. These population categories were used as sampling frames from which a sample population of 346 respondents were selected using purposive and stratified random sampling strategies. The questionnaire survey and interview methods were used for collection of data, which was presented, analyzed and interpreted quantitatively using methods involving descriptive and inferential statistics, and qualitatively through the interpretive analysis. The main study findings include the following: only Yi of the private secondary in Mukono Municipality have consistent sources from which they raise school finances sufficient for student education needs. School finances are properly used to fund basic student education services such as; school infrastructure, learning aids and the teacher depending on individual schools. The finances are rightly used for infrastructural development and provision of learning aids in most (60%) of the schools compared to teacher facilitation which is only enough in 40% of the schools in the Municipality. The sufficiency of these resources depends on school financial discipline, whereby in schools where school finances are underutilised or misused, such learning resources are equally insufficient. School finances and student academic performance in private secondary schools in the Municipality are significantly related; students in schools that have enough and make the right use of the school financial resources comparably perform well in both arts and science subjects, and vice versa. It was concluded that the more the sources of school finance are consistent and the finances are appropriately utilised to develop the school infrastructure, provide enough learning aids and sufficiently facilitate the teacher, the more such learning resources enhance student performance in both arts and science subjects. The study therefore recommends that private secondary schools, besides their internal initiatives, should be assisted by government and other stakeholders to mobilise enough and make use of financial resources based on best practice in the interest of balanced and better student performance in arts and science subjects.