Stakeholders’ participation in school management and enhancement of learners’ academic achievement in selected Government-Aided secondary schools in Uganda

Abstract

Stakeholders’ participation, alongside school-based management is recognized as one of the key reforms that aim at improving the instructional processes which enhance the learners’ academic achievement. The purpose of the study was to analyse the extent to which stakeholders’ participation in school management enhanced the learners’ academic achievement of selected secondary schools in Kampala district. It was guided by the four objectives; to examine the extent of stakeholders’ participation in school improvement planning; to evaluate the extent of stakeholders’ participation in the budgeting process, to analyse the extent of the relationship between stakeholders’ participation and coordination of the academic activities and to explore the perceptions about their extent of participation in school management to enhance the learners’ academic activities in the selected government-aided secondary schools in Kampala district. The Stakeholder Theory by Freeman (1984) in conjunction with the School-Based Management Model informed the study. Exploring this study from the pragmatic paradigm, the researcher adopted a mixed-methods design and used a concurrent convergent approach. The researcher used an accessible population of three Ministry of Education and Sports officials, five Chairpersons of School Board of Governors, and Parents/ Teachers Association members, who were purposively selected. Four Head teachers from the four stratified randomly sampled government-aided secondary schools were included in the study, while simple random sampling was employed to select 217 teachers. Data was collected using a questionnaire and semi-structured in-depth interviews. Quantitative data were analysed using univariate and multivariate analysis while qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis based on Braun and Clarke's (2006) approach. Data collected by the questionnaire revealed that there was a relationship between stakeholders’ participation and the enhancement of learners’ academic achievement. Participation in school improvement planning (F (1,188) =11.750, p<0.05); participation in the budgeting process (F (1,188) = 30.013, p<0.05) apart from one variable which had no relationship, coordination of the academic activities (F (1,188) = p>0.05). Analysis of data collected by interviews revealed stakeholders’ participation in school improvement planning was critical in enhancing the learners’ academic achievement; the budgeting process was a collective responsibility for all key stakeholders. However, post-budget consultations were not done to align the planned for and the approved budgets; the academic activities were coordinated mainly by the internal stakeholders. However, coordination of the instructional process depended on school leadership, the stakeholders’ participation policy, and the nature of stakeholders in the school. While majority stakeholders perceived that to a high extent their participation in school management to enhanced the learners’ academic achievement, some perceived that there was limited participation due to, the inadequate institutional regulatory framework of the stakeholders’ participation policy, lack of empowerment to participate, the leadership style as well as the nature of stakeholders. In conclusion, therefore, to a high extent stakeholders’ participation in school management enhanced learners’ academic achievement. Therefore, there was a need to share knowledge about the roles of all key stakeholders participating in school improvement planning, budgeting, and coordination of academic activities, empower their participation, build coalition teams to generate effective strategies for academic improvement, and tailor a policy that addresses secondary schools’ needs. This could be done through capacity building on the policy formulation and institutional framework, promotion of awareness of the stakeholders’ participation policy, and holding officers accountable for the academic achievement.