Teacher utilization and students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Kabarole District

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the relationship between teacher utilization and students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Kabarole District. It was prompted by the existence of variance in students’ academic performance among schools in the district. The study targeted students’ academic performance in secondary schools. The objectives of the study were: to establish the relationship between class size and students’ academic performance; to find out the relationship between teaching load and students’ academic performance, and to examine the relationship between teacher-student ratio and students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Kabarole District. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design where qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques were used. The study used random sampling technique to select schools and respondents. Pearson’s Correlations Coefficient technique was used to test the relationship between teacher utilization and student’s academic performance. The results revealed that class size and teacher student ratio had significant inverse relationship with students’ academic performance while teaching load was not significantly correlated to students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Kabarole District. Therefore, the researcher concluded that class size and teacher student ratio had a significant relationship with students’ academic performance while teaching load was not significantly correlated to students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Kabarole District. The researcher then recommended that both local and central governments should be conscious of the class size and teacher-student ratios while allocating resources to education to enable schools to implement the recommended class size and teacher-student ratio in the District. The teacher resource and physical infrastructure needs to be allocated to schools in proportion to student population and enrolment. Educational planners have to take these factors into consideration while conducting school mapping exercises, while educational administrators (headteachers) have to take them into consideration in the course of administering school.