Effect of School Infrastructure on Pupil Enrolment in Universal Primary Education Schools: A Case of Mbarara City, Uganda

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between school infrastructure and pupil enrolment among the universal primary education schools in Mbarara City, Uganda. School infrastructure was conceptualized in terms of physical, services and didactic aspects. The study adopted the cross-sectional research design with a sample of 230 from the population of 776 teachers. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire and was analysed quantitatively. The study established that much as the schools had adequate infrastructure including appropriate buildings, enough classrooms, desks that enabled comfortable writing, comfortable classroom chairs, appropriate blackboards and classrooms with attractive charts, the UPE schools did not attract the expected number of pupils. Services infrastructure was at a fair level as a lot was still desired in the schools with respect to electricity, provision of drinking water, toilets for boys and girls and school clinics. The libraries were to a less extent spacious. The schools had very limited working computers and other technologies such as television sets and projectors. While physical infrastructure and services infrastructure had a positive and significant relationship with pupils’ enrolment, didactic infrastructure did not have a relationship. It was therefore recommended that leadership in schools under investigation should make effort to entice parents to take pupils to UPE schools. This could be accomplished by improving the quality of school infrastructure. Since the physical and service infrastructures had a significant relationship with the school enrolment, such factors should be improved in order to enable the schools attract the required number of pupils.