Impact of Uganda government science-based university sponsorship policy on girls’ participation in the sciences at a-level in Mukono and Wakiso districts

Abstract

This study focuses on the impact of the Uganda government Science-Based University Sponsorship Policy on girl‘s participation in sciences at A-level in Mukono and Wakiso District. The study addressed four objective: the first objective aimed at comparing enrolment of girls and boys in the sciences at A-level before and after the inception of the policy; the second objective was to establish the relationship between girls‘ awareness of the policy and their choice to enroll for sciences at A-level compared to the boys; the third objective sought to compare the performance of girls and boys in the sciences at A-level before and after the inception of the policy and the fourth objective was to establish the relationship between girls‘ awareness of the policy and their performance in the sciences at A-level compared with that of the boys. The study employed an Ex-Post-Facto design that used quantitative and qualitative methods to elicit data from the study sample. Purposive, stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select study participants from six secondary school in the two districts of Central Uganda. Responses were obtained from a total of 292 participants who included: 216 students (112 and 104 boys), 40 parent (23 mothers and 17 fathers), 14 science teachers (5 females and 9 males), 06 directors of studies (01 female and 5 males), 06 career teachers (2 females and 04 males), 6 head teachers (2 females and 4 males), 02 male district inspectors of schools and 02 Ministry of Education and Sports official (01 male and 01 female). Data was collected by use of questionnaires, individual interview guides and a focus group discussion interview guide. Pearson r and T-tests were used to analyze qualitative data, while descriptive and thematic methods were used for analyzing qualitative data generated from individual and focus group discussion interviews. The study revealed that, even after the inception of the Uganda GSBUSP, there are disparities in students‘ participation in the sciences at A-Level in favour of the boys. While there is no significant correlation between girls‘ awareness of the policy and choice to enroll, for the science at A-level, it was significant for the boys. For both genders, there was no significant correlation between awareness of the policy and performance in science. These results indicate that, overall, the policy favours boys‘ participation in sciences at A-level compared to girls. It is recommended that the policy needs to be revised to become sensitive to girls‘ needs if it is to significantly attract more girls into sciences. For instance the government should consider ;articulating a specific number of slots for girls in its science-based University sponsorship, broadening the sponsorship package to include funding of; remedial courses for unsuccessful borderline female University candidates and mentoring sessions for girls who need additional support in the sciences at university. The policy should be implemented alongside other science-based sponsoring policies and interventions that pro-actively promote girls‘ participation in the sciences