School Governance and Primary Education Learning Outcomes in Uganda

Abstract

While Uganda has implemented several education policies and programmes, learning outcomes at the primary education level remain dismal and below the national development targets. At the same time, household education spending has been growing despite the diverse income inequalities across regions, which continues to impede better learning outcomes at the Primary level. This paper, therefore, examines the determinants of learning outcomes in primary education (in grades three and six) with a specific focus on school governance and community factors. This study has employed a logit model that utilises regional dummies by time-fixed effects and clustering using school-specific registration numbers to deal with unobserved heterogeneity. Our study finds that faith-founded schools, the frequency of school inspections, pupil age, gender, school type (day or boarding), school location, region, frequency of School Management Committees (SMC) meetings per term and school ownership significantly determine proficiency in numeracy and literacy at the primary level. Based on the results, the study recommends promoting early school enrollment, prioritising boarding schools in government schools, and strengthening internal controls in schools. The finding of our paper is handy and will inform policy-makers by independently prescribing specific interventions at lower and upper primary.