Performance of Secondary School Education

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IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF

SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATION

THROUGH ICT ADOPTION: A CASE

OF PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS INMBARARA DISTRICT


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ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to improve theperformance of secondary school educationthrough ICT adoption in public secondary

schools in Mbarara district. The study employed a cross sectional survey

design and data was collected by use of a selfadministered questionnaire.

The data was analyzed using the StatisticalPackage for Social Sciences (SPSS V.16).


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ABSTRACT (cont)

the findings on the level of ICT adoption in publicsecondary schools revealed that the staff, tosome level possessed the required competencies

to operate ICTs challenges identified during the study were the

high cost of setting up and maintaining ICTs,inadequate funds, lack of expertise in IT,

insufficient financial support, ICTs not beingperceived as an advantage at all and lack ofcommitment and involvement by all employees


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ABSTRACT (cont)

This confirms that the schools had failed to understudythe entire process that should be followed during ICTadoption which left pertinent issues unresolved andresulted to major constraints during ICT adoption.

strategies to mitigate the challenges of ICT adoption inthe schools were to identify the sources of funds tocover the costs of setting up and maintaining ICTs,training of staff on how to operate the ICTs, attitudechange among staff towards embracing ICTs, sourcing

for the required expertise in IT, stakeholderinvolvement in the implementation process and focuson set goals.


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Background to the Study

ICTs are electronic technologies used for informationstorage and retrieval (Yusuf, 2005).

Development is partly determined by the ability to establisha synergistic interaction between technological innovationand human values (Nwagwu, 2006).

According to Brakel & Chisenga (2003), the field ofeducation has been affected by ICTs, which have affectedteaching, learning, and research.

Al-Ansari (2006) asserts that ICTs have the potential to

accelerate, enrich, and deepen skills, to motivate andengage students, to help relate school experience to workpractices, create economic viability for tomorrow's workers,as well as strengthening teaching and helping schoolschange.


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Background to the Study(cont)

The use of ICT in education has the potential toenhance the quality of teaching and learning, theresearch productivity of teachers and students, and themanagement and effectiveness of institutions

(Kashorda et al. 2007). opportunities for realizing the benefits of using ICT in

education face a number of challenges in thedeveloping countries. A review of 219 studies on theuse of technology in education found that students in

technology rich environments experienced positiveeffects on performance in all subject areas (Look,2005).


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As it adopts ICT in education, Uganda faces thesame challenges as most developing economiessuch as poorly developed ICT infrastructure, highbandwidth costs, and a general lack of resources

to meet a broad spectrum of needs. A recent study of selected schools in the country

showed student: computer ratios ranging from20-30:1 in secondary schools (Ndidde et al.,

2009). This is far from representative becauseonly a few schools, all located in or near thecapital city were used in the study.


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specific factors constraining connectivity inrural areas are the poor communicationsinfrastructure, low electricity coverage, and

high capital costs for setting up computerlaboratory.

Although many schools have computers as aresult of initiatives with NGOs, religiousorganisations, and international donors, feware connected to the Internet (Aginam, 2006).


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Statement of the Problem

There are overarching policies of Ugandaseducation, which strongly emphasize theimportance of secondary education in nationaldevelopment.

According to the student regional statistics, themajority of senior secondary schools in Mbararadistrict still record high failure rates averaged at70%. For example in the Uganda Advanced

Certificate Education results for 2009, only 14.2%of the candidates in Mbarara district passed(Uganda Education Sector Survey Report, 2009).


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Statement of the Problem(cont)

Considering the influence of ICT on students

and its importance as a primary influencer on

the aspirations of students, it could be argued

that the academic achievement of the

students may be enhanced or hindered

depending on the school level of ICT use.


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Purpose of the Study

The study sought to improve the performance

of secondary school education through ICT

adoption in public secondary schools in

Mbarara district.


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Objectives of the Study

To examine the level of ICT adoption in public

secondary schools in Mbarara district.

To examine the challenges of ICT adoption in

public secondary schools in Mbarara district.

To suggest strategies that can be used to

improve public secondary schools

performance through ICT adoption in Mbarara

district.


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Scope of the Study

Geographical scope: The study was carried out inMbarara district among 13 A-level governmentaided secondary schools.

Content scope: The study sought to improve theperformance of secondary school educationthrough ICT adoption in public secondary schoolsin Mbarara district.

It focused on the level of ICT adoption, challenges

faced during ICT adoption and the strategies tomitigate the challenges of ICT adoption ingovernment aided school in Mbarara district.


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Significance of the Study

the study hopes to add to the existing pool ofknowledge and debate on ICT adoption and students

academic performance in public secondary schools, bydrawing empirical evidence from a government aided

institution of higher learning which will be used as afuture reference for other researchers.

the findings and recommendations hopes to be usefulto organizational policy makers in understanding the

dynamics of the importance of ICT adoption in relationto students academic performance in public secondary

schools.


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LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

Organizations information systems are its

nerves, without which its operating and

maintenance systems would not function.

Most organizations have now set computers

on to the task, for information technology has

increased both the capacity and flexibility ofinformation systems.


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LITERATURE REVIEW(cont)

Overview of ICT Adoption

Theories of ICT Adoption

The Need for ICT Adoption Challenges of ICT adoption in Secondary

Schools

Strategies to Improve Secondary SchoolsPerformance through ICT Adoption


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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Introduction

This chapter deals with the practical

procedures for carrying out this study.

It gives details of the research design to be

adopted, nature of sample, sampling

procedure, data collection procedures and the

final data analysis techniques that will be

applied. It gives the framework within whichdata was collected and analyzed.


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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY(cont)

Research design: The study adopted a cross-

sectional survey approach which was descriptive

and analytical in nature. It used both qualitative

and quantitative data The population of the study was 253 comprising

of 39 school administrators, 2 district education

officers, 4 education standards agency officers, 39school perfects, 130 heads of departments and

39 PTA members.


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Sample Size and Sampling Technique: Asample of 199 respondents was selectedbasing on the table for determining sample

size developed by Krejcie & Morgan, (1970). Simple random sampling was used to select

the respondents according to their respectivegroups and purposive random sampling wasused to select the respondents from thegroups.


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Data sources

Primary data was the main source. Data from thefield was obtained through self-administeredquestionnaires to the respondents, followingsystematic and established academic procedures.Likert scale questions was used; ranging from 1=Strongly Disagree to 5= Strongly Agree.

To strengthen the primary data, secondary data

was obtained from the Ministry of Education andSports documents such as annual reports,strategic plans and financial reports available.


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Data Collection Instruments: Primary datawas collected using a self administeredstructured questionnaires that were delivered

physically to the respondents so as to ensurean acceptable response rate for the study.

The questionnaires were administered at theworkplace setting to diminish the effect ofbias among the respondents.


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Measurement of Variables

Scales/items from previous studies were adaptedand used to measure the study variables.

ICT adoption was measured using scales adaptedfrom Zhao & Frank (2003), whereas, performancewas measured using scales adapted from Wima &Lawler (2007).

Responses to the questions were anchored on a 5point Likert scale ranging from; 5- strongly agree,4- agree, 3not sure, 2disagree and 1-strongly disagree.


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Validity of the instrument was obtained by talking toexperts both academicians and practitioners,consultants in the education sector

The reliability of the questionnaires was improvedthrough pre-testing of pilot samples both fromteachers and officers working in the education sector.This enabled the re-phrasing of some questions.

reliability of the items was measured with the

application of the Cronbach Coefficient Alpha for thecomputations so as to check for the internalconsistency of the items.


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Data Analysis and Presentation

After collection of questionnaires, they were compiled,sorted, edited and coded to have the required quality,accuracy and completeness.

Data was then entered into the computer using theStatistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS v 16.0)computer package for analysis. The data was cleanedand analyzed according to the research questions.

Frequency tabulation was used to describe samplecharacteristics and item means were used to generatethe results for the research objectives.


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Limitations of the study

Respondents withheld information due to fear of being victimized

Unwillingness of respondents to fill questionnaires

Limited resources, both financial and time

Respondents having a view of not obtaining any direct benefit from the researchresults.

Ethical considerations Permission of the people who were to be studied was sought to conduct research

involving them.

Respondents were informed that the study will not cause physical or emotionalharm to them

Objectivity during the research was emphasized so as to eliminate personal biases

and opinions. Anonymity of the respondents was taken care of during the study so as to avoid

victimization .

Permission was sought to collect data from the relevant organs.


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PRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION

OF FINDINGS

From the results only 179 useable questionnaireswere returned giving a response rate of close to88.5%.

To present the results, a description of thesample characteristics using frequency tabulationand used item means to present the results forthe different objectives of the study was given.

Frequency tabulations were used to present the

results of the sample characteristics whichincluded gender, period employed, position heldand level of education.


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OF FINDINGS(cont)

To present the gender distribution of the respondents,frequency tabulation was used and the results arepresented in table 4.1

Out of the 179 responses collected, 54.2% of the

respondents were male whereas, 45.8% were female.Its clear that there was a sizeable distribution ofresponses from the different gender categories.

Frequency tabulation was used to present the age of

respondent distributioncategories of the respondents.Table 4.2 implies that the majority of the staff in theschools were youths.


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OF FINDINGS(cont) Frequency tabulation was used to present the employment

tenure distribution of the responses collected.

From the results represented on table 4.3, more than 70%of the respondents had been employed for a period of 2-5years which is indication that the majority of therespondents were still in the experience acquisitionprocess.

frequency tabulation was used to present the positiondistribution of the respondents as shown in table 4.4

From the results it is clear that from the sample, there wasa fair distribution of the respondents across the differentlevels of the hierarchy.

Performance of Secondary School Education

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