LEADERSHIP STYLES, TEACHERS’ MOTIVATION AND ACADEMIC

PERFORMANCE OF PUPILS IN PUBLIC PRIMARY

SCHOOLS IN AMURIA DISTRICT

BY

AGUTI HELLEN MARGARET

D16/BED/016/INS

A RESEARCH REPORT SUBMITTED TO FACULTY OF EDUCATION IN PARTIAL

FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF BACHELORS
DEGREE IN EDUCATION OF STAFFORD UNIVERSITY UGANDA

SEPTEMBER 2019
 DECLARATION

I, Aguti Hellen Margaret (D16/BED/016/INS), declare that this study is my original work and has,
to the best of my knowledge, never been submitted for the award of a degree or any other award in
a University or other institutions of higher learning.

Signature: _________________________ Date: _____________________

ii
 APPROVAL

This is to certify that this research report has been conducted under my supervision and guidance
and is submitted to Stafford University Uganda, Faculty of Education with my approval.

Signature: _________________________ Date: _____________________

MR. EGADU FRANCIS

RESEARCH SUPERVISOR

iii
 DEDICATION

This dissertation is dedicated to my husband; Mr Okure John my children, Moses, Mirriam,

Salume, Abigail And Sharon your coming on earth brought strength to my soul such that I have
always strived hard to give you the best in your life time. Let God continue blessing you

iv
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

My gratitude first goes to God who has given me the strength to undertake this research.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to my family for the financial support and care, accorded

to me throughout this success in which without them I wouldn’t be what I am.

I also owe a lot of appreciation to all those who assisted me in carrying out this research. I am

grateful to my supervisor; Mr. Egadu Francis who helped me through giving me the right

guidance, advice and assistance.

Thanks also go to all those lecturers especially; Mr. and Mrs Ongorok, Mr. Olupot Simon Peter,

Mr. Opul Joseph and Madam Getrude Amuge who imparted professionalism into my work.

v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ii

APPROVAL------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- iii

DEDICATION---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- iv

ACKNOWLEDGMENT----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- v

TABLE OF CONTENTS-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- vi

LIST OF TABLES----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- xi

LIST OF ACRONYMS---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- xii

OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF CENTRAL TERMS-------------------------------------------------xiii

ABSTRACT------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ xiv

CHAPTER ONE:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

INTRODUCTION------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1

1.0 Introduction----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

1.1 Background of the Study------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2

1.2 Statement of the Problem------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3

1.3 Purpose of the Study------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3

1.4 Specific Objectives of the Study----------------------------------------------------------------------------3

1.5 Research Questions-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3

1.6 Scope of the Study--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4

1.6.1 Content Scope--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4

1.6.2 Geographical Scope------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4

1.6.3 Time Scope------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4

1.7 Significance of the Study------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4

vi
CHAPTER TWO:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6

LITERATURE REVIEW--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6

2.0 Introduction----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6

2.1 Leadership Styles and Pupil’s Academic Performance----------------------------------------------6

2.1.1 Influence of Leadership Style on Academic Performance of Learners--------------------------7

2.1.2 Effects of Leadership Style on Academic Performance of Learners-----------------------------8

2.1.3 Leadership Style and School Achievement--------------------------------------------------------------9

2.2 Teachers’ Motivation and Pupils’ Academic Performance---------------------------------------10

2.2.1 Influence of Teachers’ Motivation on Pupils’ Academic Performance------------------------11

2.2.2 Effects of Teachers Motivation on Pupils’ Academic Performance----------------------------12

2.2.2.1 Intrinsic Motivation and Performance-----------------------------------------------------------14

2.2.2.2 Extrinsic Motivation and Performance----------------------------------------------------------14

2.3 Challenges of Public Primary (UPE) Programme in Uganda------------------------------------16

2.4 Overview of Public Primary Schools in Amuria District-------------------------------------------18

CHAPTER THREE:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19

METHODOLOGY---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19

3.0 Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19

3.1 Research Design---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19

3.2 Research Population---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19

3.3 Sampling Procedures---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19

3.4 Sample Size---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20

3.5 Sources of Data----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20

3.5.1 Primary Data-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20

3.5.2 Secondary Data----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20

3.6 Methods of Data Collection-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21

3.6.1 Self Administered Questionnaire (SAQ)---------------------------------------------------------------21

vii
3.6.2 Key Informant Interview (KII) Guide-------------------------------------------------------------------21

3.6.3 Focus Group Discussions (FGD) Guide---------------------------------------------------------------21

3.6.4 Documents Review------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21

3.8 Validity and Reliability of Research Instruments----------------------------------------------------22

3.8.1 Validity of Research Instruments------------------------------------------------------------------------22

3.8.2 Reliability of Research Instruments---------------------------------------------------------------------22

3.9 Measurement of Variables--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22

3.10 Ethical Considerations-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22

3.11 Data Analysis and Interpretation------------------------------------------------------------------------23

3.12 Limitations to the Study------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23

CHAPTER FOUR:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF STUDY FINDINGS-------------25

4.0 Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25

4.1 Bio Data of respondents------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 25

4.1.1 Response rate of respondents-----------------------------------------------------------------------------25

4.1.2 Gender of respondents-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25

4.1.3 Age group of the respondents-----------------------------------------------------------------------------25

4.1.4 Marital status of the respondents------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26

4.1.5 Education level of the respondents----------------------------------------------------------------------26

4.1.6 Professional administrative experience in education of the respondents----------------------27

4.1.7 Respondents possession of leadership training-------------------------------------------------------27

4.1.8 Motivation for joining the teaching profession-------------------------------------------------------28

4.1.9 Monthly salary earned by respondents------------------------------------------------------------------28

4.2 The impact of leadership styles on the academic performance of pupils in public primary
schools----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29

4.3 The influence of teachers’ motivation on the academic performance of pupils in public
primary schools----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31

viii
4.3.1 The effect of intrinsic motivation on the performance of teachers------------------------------32

4.3.2 The effect of extrinsic motivation on the performance of teachers------------------------------34

4.4 The challenges faced by public primary schools in enhancing pupils’ academic
performance--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 37

CHAPTER FIVE:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 40

DISCUSSION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS-----------------------------------------------------------------40

5.0 Introductions-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 40

5.1 Bio Data of respondents------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 40

5.1.1 Response rate of respondents-----------------------------------------------------------------------------40

5.1.2 Gender of respondents-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 40

5.1.3 Age group of the respondents-----------------------------------------------------------------------------40

5.1.4 Marital status of the respondents------------------------------------------------------------------------- 41

5.1.5 Education level of the respondents----------------------------------------------------------------------41

5.1.6 Education profession experience of the respondents-----------------------------------------------41

5.1.7 Respondents possession of leadership training-------------------------------------------------------41

5.1.8 Motivation for joining the teaching profession-------------------------------------------------------42

5.1.9 Monthly salary earned by respondents------------------------------------------------------------------42

5.2 The impact of leadership styles on the academic performance of pupils in public primary
schools----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 43

5.3 The influence of teachers’ motivation on the academic performance of pupils in public
primary schools----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 47

5.3.1 The effect of intrinsic motivation on the performance of teachers------------------------------47

5.3.2 The effect of extrinsic motivation on the performance of teachers------------------------------49

5.4 The challenges faced by public primary schools in enhancing pupils’ academic
performance--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 52

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CHAPTER SIX:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 61

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS--------------------------------------------61

6.0 Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 61

6.1 Summary and Conclusions--------------------------------------------------------------------------------61

6.2 Recommendations-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 62

6.2.1 The impact of leadership styles on pupils’ academic performance in public primary
schools in Amuria district---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 62

6.2.2 Influence of teacher motivation on pupils’ academic performance in public primary

schools in Amuria district---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 63

6.2.3 The challenges affecting pupils’ academic performance in public primary schools in
Amuria district------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 64

6.3 Areas for Further Research-------------------------------------------------------------------------------64

REFERENCES-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 65

APPENDIX I: CONSENT FORM FOR PARTCIPANTS-------------------------------------------------70

APPENDIX II: TEACHERS QUESTIONNAIRE-----------------------------------------------------------71

APPENDIX III: KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEW GUIDE---------------------------------------------75

APPENDIX IV: FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE------------------------------------------------76

APPENDIX V: DOCUMENT REVIEW GUIDE------------------------------------------------------------77

APPENDIX VI: WORK PLAN------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 78

APPENDIX VII: BUDGET ESTIMATES----------------------------------------------------------------------79

x
LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1: Showing the population of the study-------------------------------------------------------------------19

Table 3.2: Showing the sample for the study-----------------------------------------------------------------------20

Table 4.1: Showing gender of the respondents---------------------------------------------------------------------25

Table 4.2: Showing age of the respondents--------------------------------------------------------------------------25

Table 4.3: Showing marital status of the respondents----------------------------------------------------------26

Table 4.4: Showing the level of education of the respondents-----------------------------------------------26

Table 4.5: Showing professional administrative experience of the respondents--------------------27

Table 4.6: Showing the respondents possession of leadership training---------------------------------27

Table 4.7: Showing the respondents’ motivation to join teaching profession------------------------28

Table 4.8: Showing monthly salary earned the respondents-------------------------------------------------28

Table 4.9: Showing the impact of leadership style on academic performance of pupils---------29

Table 4.10: Showing the primary schools head teachers leadership styles----------------------------31

Table 4.11: Showing the influence of intrinsic motivation on teachers performance-------------32

Table 4.12: Rating the extent of intrinsic motivators on teachers’ morale to perform-----------34

Table 4.13: Showing the influence of intrinsic motivation on teachers performance-------------35

Table 4.14: Rating the extent of extrinsic motivators on teachers’ morale to perform----------37

Table 4.15: Showing the challenges faced by Public Primary Schools in Amuria district in
achieving academic excellence----------------------------------------------------------------------------38

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LIST OF ACRONYMS

AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

CVI Content Validity Index

DCI Data Collection Instrument

FGD Focus Group Discussion

GoU Government of Uganda

HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus

HOD Head of Department

LG Local Government

NHPC National Housing and Population Census

PLE Primary Leaving Education

PTA Parents Teachers Association

SDG Sustainable Development Goals

SMC School Management Committee

UBOS Uganda Bureau of Statistics

UN United Nations

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UNEB Uganda National Examination Board

UNICEF United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund

UPE Universal Primary Education

WB World Bank

MDG Millennium Development Goal

xii
OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF CENTRAL TERMS

Academic achievement: Refers to the students’ scores in terms of points or grades in PLE. This
term will be interchangeably used with academic performance.

Administrative experience: Refers to a period of time in years a teacher has served as either as a
Head teacher, Deputy Head teacher or Head of Department.

Leadership effectiveness: This is the ability of a leader to identify the degree of favourableness of
a leadership situation in a school and the subsequent application of an appropriate leadership style
in accordance with Fiedler’s theory in order to achieve high performance in PLE.

Leadership style: The underlying needs structure of the head teacher that motivates his or her
behaviour in various leadership situations.

Principal: The leader of a school charged with the role of directing and coordinating the approved
school curriculum, finances, students and staff in the school, the school plant and equipment and
school community relations. Used interchangeably with Head teacher.

Public Primary Schools: Refer to schools developed, equipped and staffed using public funds
from the government, parents and the community.

School effectiveness This refers to the extent to which public primary schools attain their
fundamental goal which is, to register high academic achievement in PLE.

xiii
 ABSTRACT

This research study aimed at assessing the impact of leadership styles and teachers motivation on
the academic performance of pupils in public primary schools in Amuria district, Uganda; it
explored the various ways through which leadership styles and teachers’ motivation influence
pupils academic performance. Samples of 243 respondents including; head teachers, their deputies
and class teachers from 56 public primary schools in Amuria district as well as some district
education officials were selected using stratified and purposive sampling techniques where the raw
data collected from the respondents using self administered questionnaires and key informant
interviews, as well as documentary analysis provided data needed to answer the research questions.

This research was a descriptive type, analyzing the research concepts and theories that reveal that
school head teacher’s leadership styles and teacher motivation are believed to have a strategic role
in bolstering and improving pupil’s academic performance. The research findings discovered that
most of the head teachers embraced the democratic leadership style which included allowing staff
to make decisions, delegation of authority, seeking new ideas and using them. Research findings
also indicated that the majority of the respondents were intrinsically motivated by the
responsibilities they performed in the school that gave them a sense of control over others,
interaction and development of relationship with people from many areas, recognition and respect
accorded to teachers by the community and the challenging nature of the teaching profession.
Other forms of intrinsic motivation were a great deal of job satisfaction and career development in
the teaching profession which implied that such teachers derived their expectations from teaching
and therefore had high morale to perform better. Further the study concludes that all the head
teachers in Amuria district faced various challenges like; parents not paying school fees,
indiscipline cases, inadequate learning/teaching materials and inadequate number of trained
teachers, teachers’ failure to attend all their lessons, teachers not completing the syllabus in time
and limited community involvement. These challenges have played a big role in undermining the
schools’ academic performance.

The study recommends that head teachers’ leadership styles needed to be improved through
holding workshops to capacity build them to increase their morale and performance in primary
schools. It further recommended the combination of at least two leadership styles in order to have
effective head teachers.

xiv
 CHAPTER ONE:

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction
This chapter establishes the background to the study and a statement of the problem. The aim of the
study is stated as well as the research objectives and the questions. The significance of the study,
delimitation, limitations and operational definitions are also elaborated.

Education forms the basis upon which economic, social and political development of any nation is
founded. Investment in education can help to foster economic growth, enhance productivity,
contribute to national and social development, and reduce social inequality (World Bank, 2004).
UNESCO (2005) argues that the level of a country’s education is one of the key indicators of its
level of development. The Government of Uganda (GoU) has placed considerable importance on
education, with overall policy goal to achieve Universal Primary Education (UPE) in order to give
every Ugandan the right to education and training irrespective of socio-economic status (Education
Act, 1998). Globally, education is recognized as a basic human right.

The global concern of governments and Uganda in particular has been amongst others, performance
of primary school education. According to Odubuker (2004), and Kaggwa (2003), academic
performance is defined as the quality and quantity of knowledge, skills, techniques, positive
attitude, behaviour and philosophy that students acquire. The ability to achieve is evaluated by
marks and grades obtained in a test or examination, at the end of a topic, term, year or education
cycle. The authors further assert that the quality of grades and the number of candidates who pass in
the various grades determine the level of academic performance of a given class or institution in a
given period of a particular examination whether internal or public.

In spite of the Government of Uganda’s commitment to provision of Universal Primary Education

(UPE) of high quality and several studies having been undertaken on factors affecting academic
performance, it emerged that the public primary schools in Amuria district have consistently
registered appalling results in the national Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) and decline in the
standards (UNEB, 2010). Somerville P. (2011) warns that when a region lags behind in the number
of pupils who pass a national examination, its socio-economic development is likely to be retarded.
This necessitates an extensive study (utilizing both quantitative and qualitative approaches) on
school leadership and teachers motivation that are affecting academic performance of pupils in
public primary schools in Amuria district with a view to make recommendations so as to enhance
education outcomes.
1.1 Background of the Study

Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of a group of individuals by a leader to

achieve a common goal (Nworgu, 1991). School leadership is the process of enlisting and guiding
the talents and energies of teachers, pupils, and parents toward achieving common educational
aims. School leadership influences what happens in the core business of the school i.e. teaching and
learning. It influences the way students perceive, teachers organize and conduct their instruction
and their educational interactions with and expectations for their students (Mulford, 2003). School
leadership is offered by principals also referred to as head teachers who play the role of
administrators in schools. They are viewed as the chief executive officers with the role of
coordinating the efforts of people in the schools towards the achievement of the schools educational
goals. These goals relate to teaching, learning and the overall growth of children and the youth.

Motivation on the other hand is defined as a physiological or psychological deficiency or need that
activates behaviour or a drive that is arrived at a goal or incentive. It’s a summary of attitudes and
feelings that constitute a reserve of physical and mental strength including factors like self-
confidence, optimism and a positive mental focus (Vasantham, 2014). Teachers with low
motivation may have poor relationships with colleagues and their head teachers. This, calls for head
teachers to change the image of the school by only abiding by the rules and regulations in order to
give equal employment opportunity in the schools. The work of primary teachers is indispensable
and it requires skills, in depth knowledge, ability and a positive attitude of the teacher (Njoku,
2011). Teacher motivation is still a critical factor in most developing countries that are
implementing UPE yet the quality of an education system depends on the performance of its
teachers (Ochwo, 2013).

Academic performance is a major concern area in educational delivery in Uganda. According to

Odubuker (2004:2-3), and Kaggwa (2003:5), academic performance is defined as the quality and
quantity of knowledge, skills, techniques, positive attitude, behaviour and philosophy that students
acquire. The ability to achieve is evaluated by marks and grades obtained in a test or examination,
at the end of a topic, term, year or education cycle. The authors further assert that the quality of
grades and the number of candidates who pass in the various grades determine the level of
academic performance of a given class or institution in a given period of a particular examination
whether internal or public.

2
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Globally, the quality and effectiveness of an education system depends heavily on the quality and
motivation of its teachers because they are key persons in determining success in meeting the
system’s goals (UNESCO, 1996). The realization by the Government of Uganda was that school
goals can never be achieved without proper leadership styles of head teachers, hence, the
governments’ effort to train head teachers in leadership and management in primary schools
(MoES, 2000). To achieve this realization, the Government put in training measures to update head
teachers’ management skills. One of the training programmes that were intended to improve head
teacher leadership skills was Education Management Training introduced in 1995 and 1998 (MoES,
2000).

It is against this background that this study was instituted to investigate the impact of leadership
styles and teachers motivation on the academic performance of pupils in public primary schools in
Amuria district, Uganda.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

Based on the problem stated above, the purpose of the study was to assess the impact of leadership
styles and teachers motivation on the academic performance of pupils in public primary schools in
Amuria district, Uganda.

1.4 Specific Objectives of the Study

The research objectives of the study were;

(i) To investigate the impact of leadership styles on the academic performance of pupils in public
primary schools in Amuria district.

(ii) To assess the influence of teachers’ motivation on the academic performance of pupils in
public primary schools in Amuria district.

(iii) To analyse the challenges faced by public primary schools in Amuria district in enhancing
pupils’ academic performance.

1.5 Research Questions

The research questions of the study were;

(i) What is the impact of leadership styles on the academic performance of pupils in public
primary schools in Amuria district?

3
(ii) What is the influence of teachers’ motivation on the academic performance of pupils in public
primary schools in Amuria district?

(iii) What are the challenges faced by public primary schools in Amuria district in enhancing
pupils’ academic performance?

1.6 Scope of the Study

The scope of the research study included the Content Scope, Geographical Scope and Time Scope
as detailed bellow;

1.6.1 Content Scope

The study focussed on the impact of leadership styles and teachers’ motivation on the academic
performance of pupils in public primary schools in Amuria district, Uganda. The researcher
specifically focussed on school management, leadership styles, and teachers’ motivation and
performance specifically in matters dealing with the academic performance of pupils under the
UPE programme.

1.6.2 Geographical Scope

The research study consisted of the 56 public primary (UPE) schools in the Amuria district of
Uganda.

1.6.3 Time Scope

The research study was conducted in a timeframe of eight (08) months in the Amuria district of
Uganda from January 2019 to October 2019.

1.7 Significance of the Study

 The research findings would assist the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) to take
curative measures to the problem as the findings would be applied in policy making,
designing training materials for in-servicing principals, deputies and Heads of Departments
(HODs) on effective school leadership and management.

 The research findings would enable the researcher to make recommendations to education
policy makers and the community of Amuria district on what strategies can be adopted to
lessen the effects of pitiable academic performance of pupils; attributed to poor school
leadership styles and limited teachers’ motivation on the education of their children in public
primary schools.
4
 The research findings would help Amuria District Local Government to formulate policies,
by-laws and legal framework of how to improve academic performance of pupils in public
primary schools and create awareness among all head teachers’ so that they re-examine and
re-appraise their leadership styles in relation to students’ performance to make them more
effective.

 To the researchers and academicians, it’s expected that the study findings would form a base
for another study. The findings of this study would also add new knowledge on the topic and
serve as a base for further research in areas where other scholars will identify a gap.

 The research study findings would also guide donor to the Universal Primary Education
(UPE) programme in Uganda on how to improve financial assistance towards the success and
sustainability of the UPE programme in Uganda.

 Aspiring head teachers, deputies, and HODs would use the findings to improve on the quality
of their leadership style and effectiveness and prepare adequately to head public primary
schools.

The researcher would also acquire necessary skills of data collection, interpretation, analysis


and discussion and this would assist in carrying out similar research in future and to enable

getting the award of other degrees related to Education.

5
 CHAPTER TWO:

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

This chapter gives detailed studies of school leadership styles, teachers’ motivation, and challenges
faced by public primary schools towards the pupils’ academic performance. The review is done in
reference to the two objectives of the study.

2.1 Leadership Styles and Pupil’s Academic Performance

(Edwards, 2009) defined leadership as the practices that lead to positive influence, growth, and
development of both the individual and groups for a collective purpose. The definition implies that
a leader should not be self centred but make sure to please most of his constituents if not all. Again
the leader’s way of life should influence his followers in a positive way as to the achievement of the
collective goals of the group. (Kouzes and Posner, 2006) define leadership as mobilizing others to
get extraordinary things done. They further emphasize that leadership skills are practices to
transform values into action and vision into realities, obstacles into innovation, separation into
solidarity and risks into rewards. Leadership also creates the atmosphere that transforms
challenging opportunities into great success.

The literature on school leadership heavily emphasizes the head teacher`s role in establishing and
maintaining a positive school culture that promotes learning and engagement to students and adults
(Goldring et-al., 2006; Habegger, 2008). A positive culture is aligned to goals and objectives
consistent with the mission and vision of the school (Zepeda, 2007). Indeed, according to Hall
(2002), effective head teachers are those who have high expectations for students, as this belief
about students’ ability to learn is critical to school improvement. High achieving schools are
marked by a culture that empower and instil confidence in teaching, valued their students' and
teachers, and sought the help of parents and community members to enhance the schools
effectiveness, this creates a sense of belonging and providing a clear direction for all involved
(Habegger, 2008).

Good head teachers understand that leadership involves influence; it requires interactions and
relationships among people and achievement of goals via engagement, motivation, and
collaboration (Murphy et al., 2007c). In order to manifest a positive school culture, head teachers
need to be able to communicate his/her and the school’s vision to others so as to engage them in the
process of reshaping the organization and articulating essential beliefs regarding learning (Davies et
al., 2005; Jenkins, 2009). Good communication skills help build consensus and buy in among staff

6
and faculty for the policies, practices, and supporting systems designed to achieve goals
(Leithwood et-al, 2004).

Though the leadership roles of the head teacher have become more complex and multifaceted, the
traditional conception of the head teacher as the manager of school operations is still important
component of the position. The literature indicates that implementation of effective organizational
processes influences student achievement (Davis et al., 2005). This includes setting directions for
the organization by developing shared goals, monitoring organizational performance, and
promoting effective communication and redesigning the organization that is creating a productive
school culture, modifying organizational structures that undermine the work, and building
collaborative processes (Leithwood et-al., 2004). According to Murphy (1999), these
responsibilities are the centre of gravity of the profession’s role and tie the head teacher to the core
role of learning. Ultimately, strong managerial skills allow all the other dimensions of schooling to
work to improve student learning (Knapp et-al. 2003).

2.1.1 Influence of Leadership Style on Academic Performance of Learners

Three theories about leadership exist which include trait, situational and contingency leadership
theories that apply to all organizations (Okumbe,1998). The trait theory emphasizes the importance
of a leader’s personal characteristics in shaping the quality or style of his/her leadership. Some of
these personal traits include the head teachers academic and professional qualifications, age,
gender, in-service training and administrative experiences.

The situational theory on leadership holds that a leader is a product of a particular situation and
therefore the situation should dictate the kind of leadership style he adopts to be effective. A head
teacher is therefore supposed to tailor his leadership style to match or address the needs of the
situation in the school like leader-member relations, category of school, students and teachers
population. Fiedler (1967) explains that a leader is better placed to determine the achievement of an
organization’s goals or be effective if the situation is favourable i.e. low task ambiguity, high
position power and good leader member relation. Situational factors should therefore affect
leadership effectiveness and style of a head teacher (Okumbe, 1998).

The application of contingency theories to leadership embraces both trait and situational theories.
This theory looks at the head teachers’ leadership styles and effectiveness in the light of his/her
personal characteristics and skills from the perspective of the needs of the situation in which these
leaders have to act. Management scholars consider contingency approach to be the most current
approach to studies of leadership effectiveness and styles (Sagimo, 2002).

7
2.1.2 Effects of Leadership Style on Academic Performance of Learners

Leadership in schools is offered by school head teachers. The roles of a principal in a school have
been developing as they are far from being universally accepted. These include managing school
finances and business, the students and teachers, curriculum supervision, managing the school plant
and material resources and school community relations. The pressure for greater professional
autonomy for teachers and increasing militancy has necessitated a clearer definition of the head
teachers’ professional role of whether to be an administrator or a leader.

However, whether administrators or leaders, the school head teachers are the driving force behind
effective schools. Effective schools have the ability to make a difference to student learning. They
show a relationship between student achievement on tests of basic skills and a stable set of school
organization and process characteristics (Hopkins, Ainscow and West, 1994). Effective schools are
a result of effective leadership and these schools are characterized by strong administrative
leadership, high expectations for students, emphasis on student acquisition of basic skills, frequent
monitoring of student progress and an orderly climate conducive to learning.

Effective leadership in schools leads to high academic achievement. School leadership helps to
shape the nature of school conditions such as goals, culture, forms of pedagogy used by teachers
among others in enhancing student achievement in academics. Schools contribute differentially to
pupil achievement and therefore the school a child goes to determines his/her academic
achievement as Hopkins et-al (1994) posits, the school a child goes to does matter. The school head
teachers are charged with five major roles. Globally and in Uganda particularly, the duties of a
school principal include administering the approved school curriculum, school finance and
business, staff and students in the school, school plant and equipment and school community
relations (Wango, 2006).

Every nation expects the school head teachers to co-ordinate the above mentioned tasks well so that
they can have effective schools that would lead these nations into achieving their formal education
goals (Okumbe, 1998).When national education policies are made the principal must think of
means of implementing them and their aims and values. These policies guide on the procedures of
what to be done and how the various operations of the school are to be carried out. In schools there
are members of the Board of Governors, the head teacher, deputy head teacher and the senior
master as the school leaders. They come up with specific policies relevant to the internal
functioning of the school. The principal is therefore charged with the responsibility of seeing that
decisions made in the school are in line with the school policies. These policies have to be
implemented without deviating from the overall education policy in the country.

8
The school head as an administrator must be efficient and responsible. As the leader of the teaching
staff he has the responsibility of promoting effective teaching in the school. This he does by
ensuring that the employer appoints qualified and competent teachers in his school. He should also
be a highly competent and skilled person in modern techniques of classroom instruction, human
relations, delegation of responsibilities and communication (Mbiti, 1974). He is responsible for the
assignment of tasks and duties to the staff and ensuring that each person performs his or her duties
satisfactorily through constant supervision. To achieve the goal of improving the curriculum goals
the principal must have an understanding of the teacher and the teacher’s roles and must always be
prepared to work effectively with the teacher. He must maintain discipline among the teaching staff
and the students which he must do with tact, fairness and firmness.

Running a school today is an enormously demanding job. Good leaders must be good managers
knowledgeable about finance. They should have the ability to communicate and collaborate with
people inside and outside the school. Leadership should be a shared process involving leaders,
teachers, students, parents and the community. An effective leader should coalesce people around
meaningful goals and inspire them to work together to accomplish these goals. He should develop
powerful ways of connecting with others and know how to build constituencies that push for
change and breakdown institutional barriers to teaching and learning.

In school leadership, the head teachers behaviour and how he creates a conducive atmosphere for
learning and teaching determines achievement. The way the principal relates with his or her staff
contributes immensely to their effectiveness or otherwise. In many organizations the autocratic,
democratic, laissez-faire and situational leadership behaviours are used as identified by researchers.

2.1.3 Leadership Style and School Achievement

Leadership style according to Ukeje et-al (1992) refers to the underlying need structure of the
individual that determines his behaviour in various leadership situations. It consists of the leader’s
goals or needs as he functions in different situations. Fiedler (1967) refers to leadership behaviour
as particular acts in which a leader engages in his work situation as he plans, directs, co-ordinates
or controls the work of his group members. Okumbe (1998) defines leadership style as particular
behaviour applied by a leader to motivate his or her subordinates to achieve the objectives of the
organization. Leadership styles are usually identified as points on a continuum and he identifies
them as democratic, autocratic and Laissez-faire.

According to Fiedler (1967), the characteristics of a leader can influence leadership effectiveness.
Leaders who relate their styles to particular situational changes are likely to be effective.
Leadership style is therefore crucial to success and so leaders have to be flexible in adopting the
9
right styles in various situations. For many years school administrators have been urged to be
democratic leaders. Democratic leadership in schools fosters stronger subordination of teachers. It
facilitates higher morale as it gives teachers the privilege to contribute their ideas to the formation
of general policy structure of the school’s operation.

Successful school leaders are associated with democracy. They have strong personalities, are
dynamic and energetic. They emphasize on consultation, teamwork and participation. The quality
of the school leadership therefore makes what we call effective schools. Effective school leadership
is associated with the development of a school culture. This involves building behavioural norms
that exemplify the best that a school stands for. It also means building a school in which people
believe strongly, which they identify personally and to which they gladly render their loyalty. All
this gives meaning and significance to their work and this is highly motivating. When students and
staff in a school are highly motivated then the school is likely to achieve academically. Effective
schools promote more dynamic and decentralized approach to leadership which leads to school
improvement.

2.2 Teachers’ Motivation and Pupils’ Academic Performance

According to Okumbe (1998) motivation is defined as a physiological or psychological deficiency

or need that activates behaviour or a drive that is arrived at a goal or incentive. According to
Balunywa (2003), motivation is the inducement of a desired behaviour with in subordinates. It is
the inducement of a desired behaviour within subordinates. Hornby (2000) on the other hand
defines motivation as an incentive to act or move. In this study, the variable teachers’ motivation
involved both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators.

Extrinsic Motivation

According to Sansone and Harackiewicz (2000), extrinsic motivation results from the attainment of
externally administered rewards, including pay, material possessions, prestige, and positive
evaluations from others. In this study, extrinsic motivation of teachers included externally
administered rewards like salary, free accommodation, free meals, weekly duty and extra teaching
allowances, advance payments in case of financial problems, leave of absence and free medical care
among others.

Intrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation is an inducement derived from within the person or from the activity itself and,
positively affects behaviour, performance, and well being (Ryan and Deci, 2000). In contrast to
extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation is said to exist when behaviour is performed for its own

10
sake rather than to obtain material or social rein-forcers. In this study, intrinsic motivation of
teachers included job satisfaction of derived from teaching, enjoyment of teaching, the challenging
and competitive nature of teaching, recognition, career development, control over others and,
teaching as one‘s goal in life.

Teachers’ motivation has become an important issue given their responsibility to impart knowledge
and skills to learners. It is argued that satisfied teachers are generally more productive and can
influence students’ achievement (Mertler, 1992). Motivation guide people’s actions and behaviours
toward achievement of some goals (Analoui, 2000). In work and other contexts therefore,
motivation is often described as being; intrinsic or extrinsic in nature (Sansone and Harackiewicz,
2000). Intrinsic motivation, deriving from within the person or from the activity itself, positively
affects behaviour, performance, and well being (Ryan and Deci, 2000). Extrinsic motivation on the
other hand, results from the attainment of externally administered rewards, including pay, material
possessions, prestige, and positive evaluations among others. Through the identification and change
of environmental contingencies, including extrinsic reinforcements, motivation increases have been
realized in work behaviours including attendance, punctuality, stock work, selling, cost reduction,
work quality, productivity, sales calls, and customer service (Komaki, 1982).

Teachers’ job performance is a concern of everybody in the society. Oxford Advanced Learner‘s
Dictionary defines performance as the act or process of carrying out something or execution of an
action or a repetitive act or fulfilment or implementation (Hornby, 2000). In this respect, teacher
performance connotes the teachers’ role of teaching students in class and outside the class. The key
aspects of teaching involve the use of instructional materials, teaching methods, regular assessment
of students, making lesson plans, assessment of pupils, conduct of fieldwork, teachers’ participation
in sports, attending school assembly and guidance and counselling. Therefore, teacher job
performance is the teacher‘s ability to integrate the experience, teaching methods, instructional
materials, knowledge and skills in delivering subject matter to students in and outside the
classroom. Teacher performance in this study was measured by regular and early reporting at
school, participation in extra-curricular activities, supervision of school activities, adequate
teaching preparation (schemes of work, lesson plans), marking and general punctuality among
others.

2.2.1 Influence of Teachers’ Motivation on Pupils’ Academic Performance

In Uganda the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) controls primary and other levels of
education. It trains, registers, constructs schools and teachers houses, supplies all required teachers,
prescribes a national curriculum and provides text books, administrators and inspects all schools in

11
the country. The primary school system since independence has continued to expand, through
service providers such as government and the private sector who have been encouraged to open up
schools. Government has recommended use of distance education and opening up learning centres
(Government white paper on Education, 1992) which have created the challenges of increased
demand for education and expansion of education system. There is growing fear that perhaps the
massive number of teachers without commensurate expansion in facilities, learning and teaching
materials; teaching morale may have compromised the quality of education along the remuneration
prior to the introduction of Universal Primary Education (UPE) when most schools charged
additional fees through Parents‘ Teachers Associations (PTA) which money was used to
supplement teachers‘ salaries. This is no longer the practice and thus teachers must rely on the
government salary.

2.2.2 Effects of Teachers Motivation on Pupils’ Academic Performance

There is a wide range of views about teacher motivation in Africa and South Asia, most of which
are country specific. However, there appear to be mounting concerns that unacceptably high
proportions of teachers working in public school systems in many developing countries are poorly
motivated due to a combination of low morale and job satisfaction, poor incentives, and inadequate
controls and other behavioural sanctions. In Uganda, information about the teachers’ job
performance is not well documented, yet job performance of teachers is important in areas like
classroom management, participation in sports, guidance and counselling, conducting fieldwork
among other activities. Cheptoek (2000) carried out a study to establish whether job satisfaction
influences job performance among non-academic staff at Islamic University in Uganda. However,
the study was not directly related to the teachers’ role of teaching (job performance). The current
research established the influence of motivation on teacher‘s morale to perform. In the same vein,
Nambassa (2003) investigated the impact of classroom supervision on the quality of teaching and
learning in primary schools of Wakiso District Uganda. However, the study did not specifically
look at the variables of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation at work hence the relevance of this study
in regard to the influence of motivation on teachers’ performance in Kimaanya-Kyabakuza
division.

Analoui (2000) asserts that low teacher motivation is reflected in deteriorating standards of
professional conduct, including serious misbehaviour (in and outside of work), and poor
professional performance. Teacher absenteeism is unacceptably high and rising, time on task is low
and falling, and teaching practices are characterized by limited effort with heavy reliance on
traditional teacher -centred practices. Teachers are devoting less and less time to extra-curricular
activities, teaching preparation, and marking. The 2004 World Development Report neatly
12
summarizes these concerns about teachers. Cases of malfeasance among teachers are distressingly
present in many settings: teachers show up drunk, are physically abusive, or simply do nothing.
This is not low-quality teaching - this is not teaching at all (World Bank, 2004).

The fact remains that very little robust evidence is presented to support these views and assertions
concerning teacher motivation in developing countries. In the absence of adequate information, the
incidence of poor teacher motivation and misbehaviour could well be seriously over-exaggerated
mainly because of the pervasive negative stereotyping of teachers (especially by the media) in
many countries. On the few occasions when teachers and school managers have been directly asked
about teacher motivation, reported levels of morale have generally been quite high. As part of a
study of the impact of the AIDS epidemic on education in Botswana, Malawi and Uganda,
representative groups of primary and secondary school teachers were asked if they agreed with the
statement that teacher morale at this school is high.

Ryan and Deci (2000) indicate that individual teacher characteristics can also adversely impact on
motivation levels. They further noted that the age profile of teachers has become younger in many
countries due to the rapid expansion of primary and, more recently, secondary school enrolments
and/or higher rates of teacher attrition. This means that there are relatively few experienced
teachers who can serve as mentors and provide professional support and leadership. Primary school
teachers in SSA are usually considerably younger than secondary school teachers.

Another study by Bennell (2004) in Sub Saharan Africa noted that incentives for schools and
teachers in the public education system to perform well are frequently weak due to ineffective
incentives and sanctions. This was particularly the case when teachers cannot be effectively
disciplined for unacceptable behaviour (absenteeism, lateness, poor teaching and abusive behaviour
towards pupils) by school managements because it was very difficult to dismiss them and pay and
promotion are largely unrelated to actual performance.

This situation was also revealed by Carron (1996) that where teacher pay is very low, there is
normally de facto recognition that the labour process in schools has to be organized in such a way
that enables teachers the autonomy to generate additional income. Most managers also engage in
these survival activities. More generally, there is a widespread acceptance that you get what you
pay for, which is not very much when pay does not meet minimum livelihood needs. Secondary
employment activities are likely to both directly and indirectly lower the motivation of teachers and
eventually their performance in their main jobs.

13
2.2.2.1 Intrinsic Motivation and Performance

Intrinsic rewards like recognition creates role models and communicates the standards. These
constitute the great performance. Bennell (2004) noted that the emergence of a sizeable private
education sector has further diversified the teaching force and improved their recognition. Private
sector teachers are often seen in a more positive light by parents and the wider public because they
are harder working and usually less well paid, but achieve better learning outcomes. Where private
sector provision is growing rapidly with strong public approval (like in Masaka District), this is a
strong intrinsic motivator to the otherwise downward pressures on teacher status.

Torrington et-al (2002) on the other hand indicated that poor human resource management
seriously de-motivates employees. Teacher management at the national and sub-national levels is
nothing short of chaotic in many countries. In most of Africa, for almost all administration
regarding teacher management, one notes a lack of clear rules which tend to generate conflict,
power vacuum, and overlap and duplication of effort.

Management styles tend to be authoritarian with limited participation, delegation, and

communication with respect to major school management functions. Teachers subjected to these
types of management regimes feel like we are treated as children‘. The extent to which teacher
grievances are addressed is also a key issue. The high turnover of head teachers in many countries
is particularly disruptive and frequently bad for teacher morale. Many managers are acting for very
long periods. Effective management training programmes for head teachers are necessary to lead to
noticeable improvements in teacher behaviour and performance.

Stone (1988) also found that the job performance and intrinsic reward relationship follows the
social challenge theory; employees’ performance is giving back to organizations from which they
get their satisfaction. The relationship between intrinsic motives and performance is better
explained by the expectancy theory espoused by Vroom found in Cole (1995). According to
Vroom, perception that effort will lead to effective performance (expectancy), that performance
will lead to rewards available (valence) combined to create a strong motivation for an individual to
put in effort to achieve a level of performance and obtain rewards at the end. According to Maicibi
(2003), increasing hours of work, larger class sizes, more subjects, and constantly changing
curricula are cited as major de-motivators in many countries.

2.2.2.2 Extrinsic Motivation and Performance

Okino in the New Vision newspaper (2008), reported President Museveni of Uganda saying that the
provision of houses to teachers was a major incentive to performance of teachers. According to
Museveni, head teachers do not live near schools; thus spending a lot of time travelling to schools.
14
On this note, Dungu (2000) also cited this problem of residential accommodation in some of the
countries of sub Saharan Africa. He noted that many primary school teachers were given small
house allowance to cater for their residential accommodation which forced them teachers to reside
in poor houses. On the other hand, Farel (1993) also observed that teachers who fail to get
institutional houses had to look for accommodation elsewhere; a situation which results into de-
motivation of teachers to perform effectively at work. In light of the above situation, an
investigation into the effect of extrinsic motivation on the performance of teachers in Kimaanya-
Kyabakuza division was necessary.

Wayne (1998) asserts that a reward in form of pay has a strong impact on the employees’
performance. Bratton (2003), agree with Wayne when they state that pay is one of the most
powerful motivating tools. Similarly, Armstrong (1996) emphasizes the value of extrinsic
motivation when he says that money provides the means to achieve a number of different ends.
Above all he asserts that money in form of pay is the most obvious extrinsic reward. Kiseesi
(1998), in her study about job satisfaction of workers recommends that salaries of workers should
be paid promptly and that promotion of workers should be accompanied by a corresponding
increase in the salary they earn. She observes that salary was a strong force that kept teachers at
their jobs.

A study on difference among levels of employees in terms of rewards was researched by Maicibi
(2003) who observed that rewards such as sickness payment, contributory pension schemes, free
life insurance and subsidized canteens are fairly evenly spread across all levels of employees.
Maicibi (2003) in agreement with the above view noted that salary was a job satisfier for junior
staff in universities in Uganda, while not a strong satisfier for senior non teaching and academic
staff. Therefore, all teachers in schools need the desire to be satisfied at work and once all teachers
are motivated, their performance will definitely increase and they will see a point in what they are
doing, which improves the work morale of teachers.

In Uganda, the Ministry of Education raised the teaching load of primary school teachers to a
minimum of 26 periods per week (out of a possible total of 40) in 2002. However, teachers
protested to the President who reduced the number of periods to the original level of 18 per week.
There are usually major differences in teacher workloads according to school size, type and
location as well as subject areas. The most common reasons for low teaching loads are small
schools, overcrowded curricula with too many specialised teachers, insufficient classrooms, and a
predominance of single subject teachers. Private primary schools often have strong incentives to
expand classes in order to maximise fee income. If, however, the financial payoff to teachers for
teaching extra classes is not increased sufficiently then this can result in lower motivation.
15
Kavarlemo (2000) on the other hand re-affirms this in a study by the application of Maslow‘s
hierarchy of needs theory of motivation in a school situation and stated that teachers need a wage
sufficient to feed, shelter and protection of their families if they are to dedicate their energies and
time to school obligations other than for survival. Ouma (2007) also added that teachers need
assurance of sustainability of above basics so as to continue pursuing organizational goals.

Kasaija (1991) studied about the effects of monetary and non-monetary rewards on motivation of
teachers. He established that both monetary and non monetary rewards are motivators to teachers.
Similarly, Ogomarch (1994)’s study agrees with this assertion, he stresses that professional
allowances have great significance in motivating lecturers to do their work effectively.

According to Farrant (1997), in many countries the morale of teachers is low because they possess
no great status, lack promotion opportunities, are poorly paid and have to teach under unsatisfactory
conditions. Farrant’s argument is reflects the situation in Kyabakuza division where the primary
school teachers have inadequate and at times poor accommodation, limited teaching and learning
facilities amidst poor supervision and inspection. In addition there is a problem of poor
remuneration reflected in inadequate salaries or low or no allowances for those teachers who are
not on civil service pay roll. Consequently, poor working environment and low remuneration have
attracted few qualified (trained) teachers in the area and have contributed to low morale of teachers
in general thereby leading to their low levels of their job performance.

2.3 Challenges of Public Primary (UPE) Programme in Uganda

The introduction of Universal Primary Education in Uganda was an initiative that was meant to
reduce high levels of poverty and improve human development by encouraging every child to enter
school and in the end avoid inequalities and make education affordable to the majority of
Ugandans. With these set targets that were welcomed by the majority Ugandans the enrollment
increased from 3.1 million in 1996 to 5.3 million in 1997, an increase of 73% in one year. By 2003,
gross enrolment in primary schools had reached 7.6 million and 8.2 million by 2009 and primary
school enrolment (% net) at 90.87 in 2010 (World Bank, 2009).

With the increase in enrolment of pupils, many unplanned for needs cropped up in the education
sector which in the end affected the level of academic performance in UPE schools prompting some
parents to consider private schools despite the fees paid accordingly (MoES, 1998). The increase in
the number of children in school invariably implied an increase in the need for teachers who were
not readily available. This in turn led to high dropouts as, student – teacher ratio which was not
sustainable, poor welfare of teachers, insufficient funds in terms of capitation grant, poor facilities

16
and infrastructure all contributing to the high levels of poor performance in UPE schools (MoES,
1998).

Lack of parental interest in school affairs is positively related to failure rate. While UPE means that
families do not have to pay school fees, uniforms and school materials, with the poverty in the rural
areas, many parents would prefer that the children first do some household chores affecting
performance of these pupils since they will have to miss some classes and others drop out because
of the inconsistencies in school. Teacher strikes have been found to be significant in increased
failure rate, despite the good cause to have their welfare demands put into consideration by the
Government of Uganda, like an increment in salaries, and establishing decent accommodation for
the teachers to avoid absenteeism. Delayed remittance and insufficiency of funds/Capitation Grant
negatively lead to increased failure rate as this hampers the scheduled teaching and use of
instructional materials by teachers which doesn’t accommodate pupils studying as to required
standards (MFPED, 2013). Poor infrastructure too plays a part in pupils failure rate since some
pupils still attend class under trees and some weather conditions can’t allow learning to progress
accordingly. A survey in selected schools in the districts by Uganda Debt Network operates some
parts of classrooms were found to have been converted into teachers’ accommodation, pupils
shared latrines with teachers, girls and boys shared latrines and pupils studied in highly congested
classrooms without desks. Despite all the Government efforts to improve learning and conditions in
primary education, a lot needs to be done to ensure improved and quality level of education in UPE
schools.

Poverty is a major constraint to community involvement and participation in UPE. It is difficult for
marginalised households to make investment in education in the form of PTA fees, costs of books,
uniforms, meals and transportation. Uneducated parents are ignorant of the long-term benefits of
educating the children in enhancing the economic condition, improving health status and the overall
welfare of the family. Parents have a lackadaisical attitude towards education, as they are not aware
of the value and relevance of education to their lives. There is an acute shortage of trained and
qualified teachers and high absenteeism among teachers further worsens the situation. The
classroom environment is not very conducive for studies as the student-teacher ratio is very high,
resulting in overcrowded and congested classrooms. Parents view the formal education structure as
irrelevant for their children’s future because the school curriculum is not framed in terms of the
local environment and culture; teaching processes are based on notes memorisation rather than
being activity based (Nsibambi, A.R. 2006).

Parents also see lots of roadblocks to getting involved in their child’s education. Some point to their
own demanding schedules and say they don’t have extra time to volunteer or even attend school
17
activities, much less get involved in bigger ways. Others reveal how uncomfortable they feel when
trying to communicate with school officials, whether that’s due to language or cultural differences
or their own past experiences with school. Some say they lack the know-how and resources to help
their child, or they express frustration with school bureaucracies or policies they find impossible to
understand or change. Some families criticize school personnel for not understanding the plight of
single parents, grandparents, foster parents, or other caregivers. Others say they lack transportation
to attend school events or have no child care for younger siblings. While some schools have made
great strides in engaging parents and others in the educational process, there is still much more that
can be done (Nsibambi, A.R. 2006). There is also a wrong perception of the of the education
programme especially for the UPE programme by the general rural population. Many parents still
have the view that the programme is a free service provided for by the government. This is wrong
because both parents and other stake holders have a role to play in the education sector in the
district. Accordingly, this results into poor parents’ commitment towards the education needs of
their children. It is the Parents’ right and duty to care for and bring up their children.

2.4 Overview of Public Primary Schools in Amuria District

Amuria District is one of the Local Government under the Uganda Government decentralization
policy. Amuria District is located in the eastern region of Uganda and is located approximately 44
kilometres (27 mi), by road, north of Soroti, the largest town in the sub-region. The coordinates of
the town are: 2°01'48.0"N, 33°38'35.0"E (Latitude: 2.0300; Longitude: 33.6431). Amuria District is
bordered by Katakwi to the east, Soroti to the south, Kaberamaido to the west, Napak to the
northeast, Otuke and Alebtong to the north (Uganda, 2005).

Amuria District Local Government was created in July 2005 through a resolution of Parliament.
Amuria district is composed of three (03) Counties; Amuria, Kapelebyong and Orungo. In 2014,
the National Housing and Population Census (NHPC) carried out by the Uganda Bureau of
Statistics (UBOS) estimated the district’s total population at 270,928 (132,521 males and 138,407
females), with a sex ratio of 95.7, that is; males per 100 females (UBOS, 2014).

18
 CHAPTER THREE:

METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

This chapter outlines the methods adopted in order to answer the research questions detailed in
chapter one. It looks at the research design, research population, sampling techniques, data
collection instruments and procedure of data collection, mode of data analysis and presentation as
well as ethical consideration and limitations of the study.

3.1 Research Design

The study used a descriptive research design because of the nature of the variables at hand, to
produce data, required for quantitative and qualitative analysis and to allow simultaneous
description of views, perceptions and beliefs at any single point in time (White, 2000).

3.2 Research Population

The target population of this study consisted of management of the selected 67 public primary
(UPE) schools in the Amuria district of Uganda, key stakeholders in the primary education of
pupils in the UPE schools, who will be residents of Amuria district. Respondents included; the head
teachers, deputy head teachers, district education officers, parents, School Management Committee
(SMC) members and Parents Teachers Association (PTA) members.

Table 3.1: Showing the Population of the Study

Respondents Population Sample

Head Teachers and/or Deputy Head Teachers 108 86
District Education Officials (DEO, DIS), SMC, and
380 191
PTA Members
Class Teachers 500 279
Total 988 556
Source: Adopted From Krejcie and Morgan Table (1970)

3.3 Sampling Procedures

The study employed stratified sampling method to select head teachers, deputy head teachers and
class teachers of UPE schools while purposive sampling method was used on District Education
officials, SMC and PTA members. The researcher thus selected participants based on internal
knowledge of said characteristic.

19
3.4 Sample Size

The sample size is calculated using the Krejcie and Morgan Table (1970) for determining sample
size and this gave a practical ratio according to the population size. Krejice and Morgan’s sampling
principle of the bigger the study population the smaller the sample size and the smaller the study
population the bigger the sample size was employed.

Table 3.2: Showing the Sample for the Study

Adjusted Sampling
Respondents Population Sample Model
Sample Method
Stratified Krejice and
Head Teachers and/or 108 86 55
sampling Morgan
Deputy Head Teachers

District Education Purposive Krejice and

Officials (DEO, DIS), 380 191 85
sampling Morgan
SMC, PTA

Class Teachers Stratified Krejice and

500 279 135
Morgan
sampling
Total 988 556 275
Source: Adopted From Krejcie and Morgan Table (1970)

3.5 Sources of Data

Data sources included both primary and secondary sources as recommended by Amin (2005).

3.5.1 Primary Data

For primary data the researcher used Self Administered Questionnaire (SAQ), Key Informant
Interviews (KII) and Focus Discussion Groups (FDG). These were considered as efficient data
collection mechanisms as the researcher knew exactly what was required and how to measure the
variables of interest.

3.5.2 Secondary Data

The researcher also collected the data from printed materials such as books, reports and government
journals from reliable sources which will be used to further justify and confirm data gathering from
the field. A cross section of documents containing pertinent data was adequately synthesized and
analyzed to sieve out related information to the phenomenon under investigation.

20
3.6 Methods of Data Collection

The researcher used Self Administered Questionnaire (SAQ), Key Informant Interviews (KII) and
Focus Discussion Groups (FDG) as methods of data collection.

3.6.1 Self Administered Questionnaire (SAQ)

Questionnaire is a list of carefully structured question chosen after considerable testing with a view
of eliciting reliable responses from chosen sample (Bryman A., 2008). The choice of a
questionnaire is justified by the fact that is the single best tool in collecting quantitative data from a
big number of respondents. The SAQ provided information based on facts and opinion, as the
respondents would fill themselves; others was administered physically by the researcher and the
respondents would give answers as the researcher fills in the questionnaire depending on their
literacy (Anol, B. 2012). This method proved useful due to the relatively high literacy rates and
majority of respondents were co-operative.

3.6.2 Key Informant Interview (KII) Guide

As a research method, an interview is a conversation carried out with the definite purpose of
obtaining certain information by means of the spoken word (Amin, 2005). Semi-structured
interview guide was formulated where specific questions was asked to all Key Informants. This was
done to allow the researcher to thoroughly probe and enlist as much pertinent data as possible.
Interviews are superior to other tools because they are flexible (Wimmer R. and Dominick J.,
2000).

3.6.3 Focus Group Discussions (FGD) Guide

A Focus Group Discussion (FGD) is a qualitative research technique consisting of a structured

discussion and used to obtain in-depth information (qualitative data) from a group of people about a
particular topic. The purpose of the discussion is to use the social dynamics of the group, with the
help of a moderator/facilitator, to stimulate participants to reveal essential information about
people’s opinions, beliefs, perceptions and attitudes. The Focus Group Discussion (FGD) guide
contained semi-structured questions designed according to the theme and objectives of the research.
This instrument was used to guide group interaction of the researcher and the selected respondents
in the designed area.

3.6.4 Documents Review

This is yet another method which was used during the data collection process. Through this
technique, a large amount of data was obtained from the school records, for example the enrolment

21
registers, pupil reports, attendance registers, PLE past results, among others. Particularly, this
method was administered to the school administration and this is because the data generated
through this method permits examination of trends over the past thereby creating room for
comparison.

3.8 Validity and Reliability of Research Instruments

In order to control quality of the data, the researcher after designing the tools carried out a pre-test
to find out the reliability of the research tools, which were later used for collecting the data from the
field.

3.8.1 Validity of Research Instruments

Validity is the extent to which the instruments used during the study measure the issues they are
intended to measure (Amin, 2005). To ensure validity of instruments, the instruments were
developed under close guidance of the supervisor. After the questions are designed, they were pre-
tested to a tenth of the teachers in the sample. This helped to identify ambiguous questions in the
instruments and be able to re-align them to the objectives.

3.8.2 Reliability of Research Instruments

Reliability is the extent to which the measuring instruments produce consistent scores when the
same groups of individuals are repeatedly measured under the same conditions (Mugenda and
Mugenda, 1999). Reliability of research instrument was determined using test re-test technique.
Test re-test Reliability was used to find the degree to which scores on the same test by the same
individuals would be consistent over time (Amin, 2005). The choice for this technique is that, it
provides evidence that scores obtained on a test at one time (test) are the same or close to the same
when the test is re-administered some other time (re-test). Reliability was done by administering the
test to an appropriate group of subjects.

3.9 Measurement of Variables

All the variables of; Leadership style, Teacher motivation and Academic performance were
measured basing on the 5-Point Likert Scale with: 1. Strongly Agree, 2. Agree, 3. Uncertain, 4.
Disagree, and 5. Strongly Disagree (Anol, B. 2012).

3.10 Ethical Considerations

The researcher undertook the study in an ethical manner, by adhering to accepted standards of good
practice in research ethics. The following ethical considerations were ensured during the course of
this study:
22
The researcher obtained permission from the relevant authorities to carry out the study i.e. at
Stafford University, Amuria District Local Government and the respective UPE schools in Amuria
district.

The Researcher also ensured confidentiality of respondents as an ethical measure so as to prevent

cases of psychological stress and attacks on respondents especially after research in connection to
information they provided for this study.

The information that was provided by respondents was presented without revealing their true
identity.

The researcher sought consent of the respondents before embarking on data collection. This was
done so as to allow respondents to participate in this study freely and at their own will.

3.11 Data Analysis and Interpretation

The purpose of data analysis was to develop an understanding or interpretation of the research
questions. The raw data collected was coded, analyzed and interpreted manually in order to attach
meaning from the raw data collected. The descriptive approach was used for qualitative forms of
data.

The researcher analyzed quantitative data from questionnaires using descriptive statistics, whereby
data collected was subjected to frequencies and percentages, because it is easy to interpret,
understand and compare frequencies. Correlation analysis was used to test the relationship of
leadership styles of school head teachers and teacher motivation on the academic performance of
public primary school pupils in Amuria district.

The regression analysis was then used to test the effect of leadership styles of school head teachers
and teacher motivation on performance of public primary school pupils. Content analysis was used
to analyze qualitative data from KIIs and FDGs whereby they were summarized into meaningful
statements, which were used to supplement the quantitative data from SAQs to enrich the
interpretation of the findings.

3.12 Limitations to the Study

Limitations refer to some aspects of the study that the researcher knows might negatively affect the
research but over which the researcher has no control (Mugenda and Mugenda, 2003). These were
factors that hinder the study from being actualized;

23
The study was carried out in public primary schools leaving out the private ones. Private schools
could also have useful information as regards school dropout, which this study never benefitted
from; also the schools surveyed in Amuria district comprise only a small percentage of public
primary schools in Uganda. Therefore the findings of this study would only be generalized to the
area of study but not for the whole country.

The study was constrained by limited by time and insufficient finances since it entailed assistance
of research assistants at the data collection point.

Foreseen unpredictable harsh weather conditions especially the heavy rainy season affected the
mobility of the researcher.

It proved hard to find the right respondents willing to provide accurate required information. Some
respondents seemed suspicious as to why the researcher wants information related to leadership
styles and teacher motivation in public primary schools in the area. This issue created anxiety as
most respondents thought that the researcher was a civil servant in the area and would reprimand
them due to poor performance. Therefore, it was hard to find the right respondents willing to
provide accurate required information.

The research was tiresome because it was hard to fix the researchers data collection plans in to the
plans of respondents who were always busy doing their public or private work.

Movement difficulties due to the relatively large size of the district and distance between the
sampled public primary schools

24
 CHAPTER FOUR:
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF STUDY FINDINGS

4.0 Introduction
This chapter of the research report presents the findings based on the objectives of the study. The
chapter contains: bio data of the respondents and the responses on the basis of the research
objectives.

4.1 Bio Data of respondents

The background information and socio-demographic characteristics of respondents comprised of;
gender, age group, marital status, education level, type of media professional, and years of
experience as a media professional.

4.1.1 Response rate of respondents

The questionnaires distributed to the respondents were 275. Despite all that the potential
respondents received the questionnaires, those whose questionnaires were returned were 243. Thus,
the findings in this study are computed from 243 respondents, giving a response rate was 88%.

4.1.2 Gender of respondents

Table 4.1 below presents the gender distribution of the respondents.
Table 4.1: Showing Gender of the respondents

Gender Frequency Percentage (%)

Male 132 54
Female 111 46
Total 243 100
Source: Field Data 2019
The results in table 4.1 indicates that 132 (54%) of the respondents were males and 111 (46%) were
females. This denotes that comparatively, few females participated in the study but gender
sensitive.

4.1.3 Age group of the respondents

Table 4.2 below presents the age group of the respondents
Table 4.2: Showing Age of the respondents

Age Group (Years) Frequency Percentage (%)

20–30 75 31
31–40 105 43
41–50 46 19
51+ 17 7
Total 243 100
25
Source: Field Data 2019

The above findings in table 4.2 reveal that majority of the respondents i.e. 105 (43%) were in the
age range 31-40 years while 75 (31%) were in the age range 15-30, 46 (19%) were in the age range
41-50, and 17 (7%) were in the age range of 51 years above. It implied that the all categories of
respondents participated in the study that is, the young and the old however; the teenage and youth
were more than the elderly. The information was then reliable and conclusive.

4.1.4 Marital status of the respondents

Table 4.3 below presents the marital status of the respondents

Table 4.3: Showing marital status of the respondents

Marital Status Frequency Percentage (%)

Single 73 30
Married 97 40
Divorced 49 20
Widowed 24 10
Total 243 100
Source: Field Data 2019

The table 4.3 above indicates that majority of the respondents, 97 (40%) were married. The high
response depicts the fact that married people were always old, mature and responsible enough to
present real and reliable facts. 73 (30%) of the respondents were single, 49 (20%) were divorced,
and the least response came from the widowed 24 (10%) of the respondents, it depicting that the
information was balanced.

4.1.5 Education level of the respondents

Table 4.4 below presents the level of education of the respondents

Table 4.4: Showing the level of education of the respondents

Education level Frequency Percentage (%)
Secondary 24 10
Certificate 63 26
Diploma 83 34
Bachelor Degree 71 29
Post graduate 2 1
Total 243 100
Source: Field Data 2019

26
The table 4.4 above indicates that majority of the respondents 83 (34%) were Diploma holders, 71
(29%) were Bachelor Degree level holders, 63 (26%) were Certificate level holders, 24 (10%) were
Secondary school leavers and 02 (01%) had post graduate qualifications. The un-evenly education
level posits that the respondents were knowledgeable enough to give factual information.

4.1.6 Professional administrative experience in education of the respondents

Table 4.5 below presents the education profession experience of the respondents

Table 4.5: Showing professional administrative experience of the respondents

Profession Administrative Experience (Years) Frequency Percentage (%)

1–3 51 21
4–6 87 36
7–10 78 32
10+ 27 11
Total 243 100
Source: Field Data 2019

Table 4.5 above reveals that majority of the respondents i.e. 87 (36%) possessed professional
administrative experience in the education sector spanning in the age range 4-6 years while 78
(32%) were in the age range 7-10, 51 (21%) were in the age range 1-3, and 27 (11%) had
educational professional experience in the age range 10 years above. It implied that all the
respondents who participated in the study possessed considerable professional experience in the
education sector thus able to provide reliable information. The information was then reliable and
conclusive.

4.1.7 Respondents possession of leadership training

Table 4.6 below presents the respondents possession of leadership training

Table 4.6: Showing the respondents possession of leadership training

Possession of Leadership Training Frequency Percentage (%)

Yes 168 69
No 75 31
Total 243 100
Source: Field Data 2019

The results in table 4.6 indicates that 168 (69%) of the respondents possessed formal training on
leadership and 75 (31%) did not possess any formal training on leadership, indicating that majority
of the respondents’ possessed formal training on leadership and were able to provide factual
information regarding the effect of leadership style on academic performance.
27
4.1.8 Motivation for joining the teaching profession
Table 4.7 below presents the respondents’ motivation to join teaching profession

Table 4.7: Showing the respondents’ motivation to join teaching profession

Reason for Joining Teaching Profession Frequency Percentage (%)
Last resort due to failure to gain admission to other courses 34 14
Personal interest for the teaching profession 148 61
Forced by guardians/parents 56 23
Non response 5 2
Total 243 100
Source: Field Data 2019

Table 4.7 above indicates that 148 (61%) of the respondents joined the teaching profession because
of the personal interest they had in the teaching profession. A further 56 (23%) of the respondents
joined the teaching profession as a result of their parents/guardians’ instructions while 34 (14%)
joined the teaching profession as a last resort due to failure to gain admission to other courses. This
implies that these two categories of teachers had no intrinsic motivation and could only be
motivated by externally administered rewards like pay, material possessions, prestige, and positive
evaluations among others. It is expected therefore that their morale to perform was generally low.

4.1.9 Monthly salary earned by respondents

Table 4.8 below presents monthly salary earned by the respondents
Table 4.8: Showing monthly salary earned the respondents
Monthly Salary Earned (Ug. Shs) Frequency Percentage (%)
200,000 – 400,000 141 58
400,001 – 700,000 56 23
700,001 – 1 Million 36 15
Above 1 Million 10 4
Total 243 100
Source: Field data 2019

Table 4.8 above indicates that the majority of the respondents 141 (58%) earned 200,000= to
400,000= per month. A further 56 (23%) reported to be earning 400,001= to 700,000= per month,
while 36 (15%) reported to be earning 700,001= to 1,000,000= per month. Only 10 (4%) earned
over 1,000,000=. This implies that the majority of the teachers’ salary was inadequate to meet their
needs in the current increase of the cost of living. As a form of motivation, therefore, salary was

28
 insufficient to motivate teachers to perform efficiently towards the attainment of good pupils’
academic performance.

4.2 The impact of leadership styles on the academic performance of pupils in public
primary schools
This section explores the impact of leadership styles on the academic performance of pupils in
public primary schools in Amuria district. The indicators of leadership styles on teacher
performance so as to improve the academic performance of pupils in public primary schools in
Amuria district as investigated by the study are presented in table 4.9 bellow:

Table 4.9: Showing the impact of leadership style on academic performance

of pupils

Total Percentage
Percentage (%)

Percentage (%)

Percentage (%)

Percentage (%)

Percentage (%)
Strongly Agree

Respondents
Undecided
Statements

Disagree

Disagree
Strongly
Agree

Total
Head teacher makes his or her
60 25 67 27 16 7 51 21 49 20 243 100
attitudes clear to the staff
Head teacher maintains definite
82 34 67 27 9 4 46 19 39 16 243 100
standards of performance
Head teacher lets staff
members know what is 96 40 83 34 10 4 23 9 31 13 243 100
expected of them
Head teacher delegates 141 47 88 36 4 2 16 6 21 9 243 100
authority
Head teacher sees to it that the
work of staff members is 98 40 109 45 3 1 19 8 14 6 243 100
coordinated
Head teacher emphasizes the 64 26 83 34 9 4 48 20 39 16 243 100
meeting of deadlines
Head teacher criticizes poor 84 35 73 30 14 6 29 12 43 17 243 100
work
Head teacher is free,
supportive and have respect for 79 33 101 42 6 2 34 14 23 9 243 100
differences
Head teacher refuses to explain
27 11 19 8 23 9 97 40 77 32 243 100
his/her actions
Head teacher seeks and accept 116 47 89 37 3 1 21 9 14 6 243 100
new ideas
Head teacher gets staff 126 52 98 40 2 1 11 5 6 2 243 100

29
approval in important matters
before implementing them
Source: Field Data 2019

Table 4.9 indicates that the majority of the respondents 126 (52%) strongly agreed that Head
teacher gets staff approval in important matters before implementing them which depicts a
democratic style of leadership which includes administration by consensus through consultation
with the staff, parents, and heads informed decisions because of the experience and wisdom of
other professionals in and outside the organisation. This style of leadership is further enforced in
all the public primary school visited through the presence of School Management Committees
(SMCs) and Parents Teachers Associations (PTAs) which are auxiliary organs to supervise the
management of public primary school in Amuria district. A further 101 (42%) indicates that
respondents strongly agreed that the head teachers are free, supportive and have respect for
differences. Such relationships enabled teachers to concentrate on their jobs and be able to perform
well so to enhance the academic performance of the pupils.

Table 4.9 also indicates that 82 (34%) of the respondents strongly agreed the statement that the
head teachers maintain definite standards of performance, 67 (27%) agreed, 46 (19%) strongly
disagreed, 39 (16%) disagreed while 9 (4%) were uncertain that the heads let them know what is
expected of them. For delegation of authority, 141 (47%) of the respondents strongly agreed that
the head teachers always delegated their authority, 88 (36%) of the respondents strongly agreed that
the head teachers frequently delegated their authority, 4 (2%) of the respondents were undecided,
16 (6%) of the respondents disagreed that the head teachers delegated their authority while 21 (9%)
of the respondents strongly disagreed that the head teachers delegated their authority.

Pertaining the head teacher criticizing poor work, results show that 84 (35%) of respondents
strongly agreed, 73 (30%) agreed, 43 (17%) strongly disagreed, 29 (12%) disagreed whereas 14
(6%) of the respondents were uncertain on whether the head teachers criticized poor work. On the
head teachers emphasizing the meeting of deadlines, show that 64 (26%) of respondents strongly
agreed, 83 (34%) agreed, 48 (20%) strongly disagreed, 39 (16%) disagreed whereas 9 (4%) of the
respondents were uncertain.

Most head teachers let their staff members know what is expected of them with results showing that
96 (40%) of respondents strongly agreed, 83 (34%) agreed, 31 (13%) strongly disagreed, 23 (9%)
disagreed while 10 (4%) were uncertain that the heads let them know what is expected of them.
Results further showed that most heads frequently sought of new ideas and used them with 116
(41%) of respondents strongly agreed that head teachers asked and accepted for new ideas, 89
(37%) of respondents agreed, 21 (9%) of respondents disagreed, 14 (6%) of respondents strongly
30
disagreed, while 3 (1%) of respondents were undecided on whether the heads never asked for ideas
and applied them.

When respondents were asked which leadership style was commonly employed by the school
heads, the following responses were revealed.

Table 4.10: Showing the primary schools head teachers leadership styles
The school head teachers leadership styles Frequency Percent
The head teacher is democratic 128 53
The head teacher is autocratic 27 11
The head teacher is leissez faire 83 34
No sure 5 2
Total 243 100
Source: Field Data 2019

Table 4.10 shows that most school heads used democratic style of leadership. 128 (53%) of the
respondents indicate that the school head teachers used a democratic style of leadership, 83 (34%)
of the respondents indicate that the school head teachers employed the laissez faire style of
leadership while Few school heads 27 (11%) used an autocratic style of leadership. However, 5
(2%) of respondents could not tell whether the heads embraced the democratic or any of the other
leadership styles.

4.3 The influence of teachers’ motivation on the academic performance of pupils in public
primary schools
This sub section presents findings for the research questions: how teacher motivation influences
pupils’ academic performance? The indicators are both the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation factors
on teacher performance so as to improve the academic performance of pupils in primary schools.
The research findings on the influence and rating of the extent of teachers’ motivation including the
intrinsic and extrinsic factors are discussed in tables 4.11, 4.12, 4.13 and 4.14 bellow;

31
4.3.1 The effect of intrinsic motivation on the performance of teachers
Table 4.11: Showing the influence of intrinsic motivation on teachers performance

Total Respondents
Strongly Disagree

Total Percentage
Percentage (%)

Percentage (%)

Percentage (%)

Percentage (%)

Percentage (%)
Strongly Agree
Statements

Undecided

Disagree
Agree
Teaching gives me a great 141 47 88 36 4 2 16 6 21 9 243 100
deal of job satisfaction
I enjoy teaching as a 98 40 112 46 3 1 11 5 19 8 243 100
profession
The challenging nature of
teaching has kept me in the 84 35 73 30 14 6 29 12 43 17 243 100
profession
Teaching is a competitive 86 35 64 26 16 7 46 19 31 13 243 100
profession in this school
Teaching gives me
recognition and respect from 64 26 83 34 9 4 48 20 39 16 243 100
the community
I have prospects for career
development in the teaching 79 33 101 42 6 2 34 14 23 9 243 100
profession
The responsibilities I perform
in the school give a sense of 126 52 98 40 2 1 11 5 6 2 243 100
control over others.
Teaching has always been 112 46 92 38 5 2 23 9 11 5 243 100
one of my goals in life
I am more useful to the
community as a teacher than 98 40 109 45 3 1 19 8 14 6 243 100
any other profession
Teaching enables me to
interact and develop 116 47 89 37 3 1 21 9 14 6 243 100
relationship with people from
many areas
Source: Field Data 2019

Table 4.11 indicates that the majority of the respondents 126 (52%) strongly agreed that were
intrinsically motivated by the responsibilities they performed in the school that gave them a sense
of control over others. A further 116 (47%) indicates strongly agreed that teaching enables them to
interact and develop relationship with people from many areas. Such relationships enabled teachers
to concentrate on their jobs and be able to perform well.

32
Table 4.11 also indicates that 83(34%) of the respondents Agreed the statement that teaching gave
them recognition and respect from the community. Intrinsic rewards like recognition creates role
models and communicates the standards which encourage great performance. Research findings
also revealed that 84 (35%) of the respondents strongly agreed that they had remained in the
teaching profession because of its challenging nature. By receiving challenging tasks like solving
mathematical problems for pupils, teachers felt they had contributed greatly to knowledge
transmission and therefore this motivated them even to perform better. A further 109 (45%) of the
respondents agreed that teaching gave them a great deal of job satisfaction. This implies that such
teachers derived their expectations from teaching and therefore had morale to perform better.
Intrinsic motivation among other respondents was exhibited by agreement to the following
statements:

a) I am more useful to the community as a teacher than being in any other profession (agreed
by 109 (45%) of the respondents)

b) Teaching is a competitive profession in this school (strongly agreed by 86 (35%) of the

respondents)

c) Teaching is one of my goals in life (strongly agreed by 112 (46%) of the respondents)

d) I enjoy teaching as a profession (strongly agreed by 112 (46%) of the respondents)

e) I have prospects for career development in the teaching profession (agreed by 101 (42%) of
the respondents)

The above statements indicate that the majority of the respondents had intrinsic motivation. The
findings agree with Herzberg (1966) description of tasks as intrinsically motivating when they are
characterized by key motivators such as responsibility, challenge, achievement, variety, and
advancement opportunity. Surprisingly, however, the majority of them indicated that intrinsic
motivation had to a small extent increased their morale to perform. When respondents were asked
the extent to which intrinsic motivators increased their morale to perform teaching duties, the
following responses were revealed.

Table 4.12: Rating the extent of intrinsic motivators on teachers’ morale to

perform
Rating the extent of intrinsic motivators on teachers’ morale to perform Frequency Percent
To a big extent 75 31
To a small extent 134 55
Not at all 34 14

33
 Total 243 100
Source: Field Data 2019

In Table 4.12, the majority of the respondents 134 (55%) indicated that intrinsic motivation had
increased their morale to perform but to a small extent. Only 75 (31%) of the respondents revealed
that to a big extent, intrinsic motivation had increased their morale to perform. This implies
therefore, that intrinsic motivation affects teachers morale to perform but at varying levels. The
research findings therefore, corroborate Kasser and Ryan (1996) view that intrinsically motivated
behaviour is alleged to derive from and satisfy innate psychological needs, including needs for
competence and autonomy.

4.3.2 The effect of extrinsic motivation on the performance of teachers

Table 4.13: Showing the influence of intrinsic motivation on teachers performance

Total Respondents
Strongly Disagree

Total Percentage
Percentage (%)

Percentage (%)

Percentage (%)

Percentage (%)

Percentage (%)
Strongly Agree

Statements Undecided

Disagree
Agree

I am paid a salary that is

enough to cater for my basic 65 27 43 22 3 1 73 30 49 20 243 100
needs
The school provides me free
52 21 69 28 14 6 59 25 49 20 243 100
accommodation
I get free meals at school 11 4 19 9 12 6 83 34 118 47 243 100
Salary payments are prompt 58 24 43 18 23 9 55 23 64 26 243 100
The school offers weekly duty
26 11 33 14 29 12 90 37 65 26 243 100
allowances
Extra teaching allowances paid
by the school help me to 6 2 11 5 17 7 96 39 113 47 243 100
complete the syllabus
The school offers financial
assistance to teachers with 27 11 19 8 23 9 97 40 77 32 243 100
funerals, parties, etc
It is possible to get advance
payment from the school in 3 1 12 5 11 5 101 41 116 48 243 100
case I have a financial problem
The school organizes end of
21 9 32 13 9 4 88 36 93 38 243 100
year party for teachers
Teachers who perform well are
41 17 32 13 16 7 73 30 81 33 243 100
given prizes
Source: Field Data 2019
34
Table 4.13 shows extrinsic motivators available and not available to teachers in various public
primary schools in Amuria district. The majority of the respondents revealed that they do not get
the following extrinsic motivators;

a) Free meals when at school (strongly disagreed by 118 (47%) of the respondents),

b) Prompt salary payments (strongly disagreed by 64 (26%) of the respondents),

c) Advance payment from the schools in case teachers had financial problems (strongly
disagreed by 116 (48%) of the respondents),

d) Financial assistance to teachers with funerals, parties, etc (disagreed by 97 (40%) of the
respondents),

e) Prizes for teachers who perform well (strongly disagreed by 118 (47%) of the respondents),

f) Availability of extra teaching allowances to help completion of the syllabus in time

(strongly disagreed by 113 (46%) of the respondents).

On the other hand, the majority of the respondents revealed absence of the following extrinsic
motivators:

a) 73 (30%) of the respondents disagreed that the salary paid to them was inadequate to meet
their basic needs

b) 90 (37%) of the respondents disagreed that their schools did not offer weekly duty
allowances to teachers.

c) 81 (33%) of the respondents strongly disagreed that their schools did not organize end of
year parties to give thanks and motivate teachers and,

d) 69 (28%) of the respondents agreed that they have accommodation provided by the schools.

From the above responses, it is clear that not all extrinsic motivators were available to teachers in
the primary schools studied in Amuria district. The findings partly agree with Mertler (1992) that,
the work and living environment for many teachers is poor, which tends to lower self-esteem and is
generally demotivating. Many schools lack basic amenities such as piped water and electricity, staff
rooms and toilets. Housing is a major issue for nearly all teachers.

35
Notable among the lacking extrinsic motivators was that the salary paid to them was inadequate to
meet their basic needs revealed by disagreement of 73 (30%) of the respondents. Yet, Wayne
(1991) asserts that a reward in form of pay has a strong impact on the employee’s performance.
Bratton (2003), agree with Wayne when they state that pay is one of the most powerful motivating
tools. Similarly, Armstrong (1996) emphasizes the value of extrinsic motivation when he says that
money provides the means to achieve a number of different ends. Above all he asserts that money
in form of pay is the most obvious extrinsic reward. However, prompt salary payments revealed by
64 (26%) of the respondents were further commended by Kiseesi (1998) that salaries of workers
should be paid promptly. She observes that salary was a strong force that kept teachers at their jobs.
When respondents were asked the extent to which extrinsic motivators increased their morale to
perform teaching duties, the following responses were revealed.

Table 4.14: Rating the extent of extrinsic motivators on teachers’ morale to perform
Rating the extent of extrinsic motivators on teachers’ morale to perform Frequency Percent
To a big extent 78 32
To a small extent 148 61
Not at all 17 7
Total 243 100
Source: Field Data 2019

From table 4.14, the majority of the respondents 148 (61%) indicated that extrinsic motivators had
to a small extent increased their morale to perform. This may be attributed to earlier findings that
not all extrinsic motivators were available to teachers in the primary schools studied in Amuria
district. Only 78 (32%) reported that extrinsic motivation increased their morale to perform to a big
extent. Despite the mixed responses however, it is clear that extrinsic motivation affects
performance of teachers.

Basing on the study findings presented in this objective, therefore, it can be concluded that not all
extrinsic motivators were available to teachers in the primary schools studied in Amuria district.
However, the majority of them were concerned about the inadequacy of the salary to meet their
basic needs. Consequently, the study found that extrinsic motivators had to a small extent increased
teacher’s morale to perform. Despite this, a positive relationship existed between extrinsic
motivation and performance of teachers, implying that extrinsic motivation affects the performance
of teachers in Amuria district.

36
 4.4 The challenges faced by public primary schools in enhancing pupils’ academic
performance
This section explores the challenges faced by public primary schools in Amuria district in
improving pupils’ academic performance. To answer this objective, the respondents’ responses
were tabulated and the findings summarized in percentages in table 4.14 below.

Table 4.15: Showing the challenges faced by Public Primary Schools in Amuria

district in achieving academic excellence

Statements

Total Respondents
Strongly Disagree

Total Percentage
Strongly Agree

Percentage (%)

Percentage (%)

Percentage (%)

Percentage (%)

Percentage (%)
Undecided

Disagree
Agree

Limited government financing

for schools operations and 143 46 103 33 00 00 59 19 06 02 311 100
provision of learning
materials
Limited teaching staff to
adequately administer 152 49 109 35 09 03 25 08 16 05 311 100
teaching and learning
Low salary payment for
school teachers and 159 51 87 28 19 06 37 12 09 03 311 100
administrators
Limited and/or dilapidated
classrooms for effective 162 52 115 37 06 02 22 07 06 02 311 100
teaching
Poor leadership styles and
managerial incompetence of 118 38 112 36 19 06 47 15 15 05 311 100
school administrators
Limited community
involvement and participation 173 56 133 43 02 01 03 01 00 00 311 100
in school activities
Rampant absenteeism by both 149 48 143 46 00 00 13 04 06 02 311 100
teachers and pupils
Child rights abuses i.e. child
labour, defilement, child 137 44 146 47 03 01 16 05 09 03 311 100
marriages and child neglect
Poor management of school
resources; funds, humans and 106 34 102 33 25 08 56 18 22 07 311 100
property

37
Ineffective thematic
curriculum e.g. lower classes 132 42 121 39 13 04 28 09 17 06 311 100
taught in local languages
Source: Field data 2019

Findings in table 4.15 above specify that there are challenges faced by Public Primary Schools in
Amuria district impacting the pupils’ achievement of academic excellence as follows;

Limited government financing for schools operations and provision of teaching and learning
materials was referenced as a challenge by the respondents with statistics indicated by; 143 (46%)
Strongly Agreed, 103 (33%) Agreed, 59 (19%) Disagreed, 06 (02%), Strongly Disagreed and 00
(00%) were Uncertain, implying that most respondents had the same opinion on limited
government financing of public primary schools, thus poor academic achievement is attributed to
the fact the primary schools cannot provide adequate learning materials such as; textbooks, desks,
blackboards, chalk, etc which are crucial to effective teaching and learning.

Limited administrative and teaching staff to adequately administer the teaching and learning
process in schools was referenced as a challenge by the respondents with statistics indicated by;
152 (49%) Strongly Agreed, 109 (35%) Agreed, 25 (09%) Disagreed, 16 (05%) Strongly Disagreed
and 09 (03%) being Uncertain, meaning that most respondents affirmed the scarcity of
administrative and teaching staff at the public primary schools, which limits the capacity of the
schools to effectively operate and aim towards achieving good quality academic performance.

Low salary payment for school teachers and administrators was noted as a challenge with statistics
shown by; 159 (51%) Strongly Agreed, 87 (28%) Agreed, 37 (12%) Disagreed, 19 (06%) were
Uncertain, and 09 (03%), Strongly Disagreed, signifying that the majority of respondents decried
the salary payments for school teachers and administrators for their works done, thus they are de-
motivated to work towards attaining good academic grades for the pupils.

Limited and/or dilapidated classrooms for effective teaching were mentioned by respondents as a
challenge with statistics indicated by; 162 (52%) Strongly Agreed, 115 (37%) Agreed, 22 (07%)
Disagreed, whereas 06 (02%) were as equally Uncertain and Strongly Disagree, implying that
majority of the respondents confirmed that most public primary schools in the district do not have
adequate classrooms in terms of number and size for pupils to study effectively, which
consequently jeopardizes their academic performance in national examinations.

Poor leadership styles and managerial incompetence of school administrators was also noted as a
challenge with statistics shown by; 118 (38%) Strongly Agreed, 112 (36%) Agreed, 47 (15%)
Disagreed 19 (06%) were Uncertain and 15 (05%), Strongly Disagreed, indicating that the

38
respondents widely held a common stand that the leadership styles and managerial competence of
the public primary schools’ administrators and teaching staff are insufficient to propel the schools
towards good academic performance.

Limited community involvement and participation in school activities was referenced as a

challenge with statistics indicated by; 173 (56%) Strongly Agreed, 133 (43%) Agreed, 03 (01%)
Disagreed, 02 (01%) were Uncertain, and 00 (00%), Strongly Disagreed, showing that the
respondents corroborated limited community involvement and participation in school activities
such as; meetings, class days, visitation days, sports days, etc that would ensure ability to guarantee
proper teaching and learning so as to attain good academic performance of the pupils.

Rampant absenteeism by both teachers and pupils was cited as a challenge with statistics indicated
by; 149 (48%) Strongly Agreed, 143 (46%) Agreed, 13 (04%) Disagreed, 06 (02%), Strongly
Disagreed and 00 (00%) were Uncertain, denoting that most of the respondents were in agreement
that rampant absenteeism by both teachers and pupils has greatly affected the schools’ academic
performances due to incapacity to accomplish the teaching curriculum.

Commonality of child rights abuses such as; child labour, defilement, child marriages and child
neglect were noted as a challenge with statistics indicated by; 137 (44%) Strongly Agreed, 146
(47%) Agreed, 16 (05%) Disagreed, 09 (03%) Strongly Disagreed, and 03 (01%) were Uncertain,
implying that the majority of respondents cited commonality of child rights abuses such as; child
labour, defilement, child marriages and child neglect, which have affected the pupils ability to
attain good academic performance.

Poor management of school resources; funds, humans and property was cited as a challenge with
statistics indicated by; 106 (34%) Strongly Agreed, 102 (33%) Agreed, 56 (18%) Disagreed, 25
(08%) were Uncertain, and 22 (07%), Strongly Disagreed, showing that respondents held a
common view on poor management of school resources; funds, humans and property, which has
affected the schools’ capacity to warrant better academic performance.

Ineffective thematic curriculum where lower classes are taught in local languages was quoted as a
challenge with statistics indicated by; 132 (42%) Strongly Agreed, 121 (39%) Agreed, 13 (04%)
were Uncertain, 28 (09%) Disagreed and 17 (06%), Strongly Disagreed, implying that most of the
respondents affirmed that the thematic curriculum taught in lower classes of primary level
education cannot guarantee good academic performance of pupils since PLE national examinations
are set in English language, besides the curriculum gives the pupils a poor foundation in English
grammar.

39
General findings to this objective entailed that most respondents were had the same opinion of
existence of challenges that were affecting most Public Primary Schools efforts to attain good
academic performance at national examination level because the majority of the respondents
corroborated to the afore mentioned challenges.

40
 CHAPTER FIVE:

DISCUSSION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS

5.0 Introductions

This chapter presents the discussions of the major findings under research objectives thus
interpretations of the study findings.

5.1 Bio Data of respondents

The background information and socio-demographic characteristics of respondents comprised of;
gender, age group, marital status, education level, type of media professional, and years of
experience as a media professional.

5.1.1 Response rate of respondents

The questionnaires distributed to the respondents were 275. Despite all that the potential
respondents received the questionnaires, those whose questionnaires were returned were 243. Thus,
the findings in this study are computed from 243 respondents, giving a response rate was 88%.

5.1.2 Gender of respondents

The results in table 4.1 indicated that 132 (54%) of the respondents were males and 111 (46%) were
females. This implies that both sexes were adequately represented in the study. The difference in
sex of teachers implies that they had to be motivated differently. This could also be a reflection of
the distribution of male and female population in the rural schools where there tend to be more
male teachers than female teachers. The results of this study were not affected by the gender
variable.

5.1.3 Age group of the respondents

The findings in table 4.2 revealed that majority of the respondents i.e. 105 (43%) were in the age
range 31-40 years while 75 (31%) were in the age range 15-30, 46 (19%) were in the age range 41-
50, and 17 (7%) were in the age range of 51 years above. It implied that the all categories of
respondents participated in the study that is, the young and the old however; the teenage and youth
were more than the elderly. This also implied that the majority of the respondents were adults who
probably had similar ways of being motivated. The respondents were also experienced teachers
who worked in the same school under the same school head. These teachers provided the data on
the head’s leadership styles and practices.

41
5.1.4 Marital status of the respondents

The table 4.3 indicated that majority of the respondents, 97 (40%) were married. The high response
depicts the fact that married people were always old, mature and responsible enough to present real
and reliable facts. 73 (30%) of the respondents were single, 49 (20%) were divorced, and the least
response came from the widowed 24 (10%) of the respondents, it depicting that the information was
balanced. Also the difference in marital status of teachers implies that they had to be motivated
differently

5.1.5 Education level of the respondents

The table 4.4 indicated that majority of the respondents 83 (34%) were Diploma holders, 71 (29%)
were Bachelor Degree level holders, 63 (26%) were Certificate level holders, 24 (10%) were
Secondary school leavers and 02 (01%) had post graduate qualifications. The un-evenly education
level posits that the respondents were knowledgeable enough to give factual information.

5.1.6 Education profession experience of the respondents

Table 4.5 revealed that majority of the respondents i.e. 87 (36%) possessed professional experience
in the education sector spanning in the age range 4-6 years while 78 (32%) were in the age range 7-
10, 51 (21%) were in the age range 1-3, and 27 (11%) had educational professional experience in
the age range 10 years above. It implied that all the respondents who participated in the study
possessed considerable professional experience in the education sector thus able to provide reliable
information. This implies that the majority of the respondents had spent 2 years and above in the
schools studied. The information was then reliable and conclusive.

5.1.7 Respondents possession of leadership training

The results in table 4.6 indicated that 168 (69%) of the respondents possessed formal training on
leadership and 75 (31%) did not possess any formal training on leadership, indicating that majority
of the respondents’ possessed formal training on leadership and were able to provide factual
information regarding the effect of leadership style on academic performance. The concept of
leadership carries many different connotations such as power, authority, management,
administration and supervision (Boateng, 2012). Leadership is defined as a process in which an
individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal (Northouse, 2001),
leadership has been defined by Lunenburg (1991) as use of power to influence the thought and
actions of other people. Leaders are able to direct, guide, influence or control the thoughts, feelings
and action or behavior of individual to achieve organizational goals (Lester, 1975) In the context

42
of a school can effective leader influence group such as teachers, students, community, policy
makers towards achievement of institutional goals.

We cannot say that one or two leadership style are the most popular or best among school leaders.
It depends on culture, society, power and politics, and all of the factors in the school environment.
Specially, the school condition and situation is very important. There are situational leadership
approaches in leadership studies and among researchers that we cannot choose the best one style for
every condition and organization, even educational institutions. People, task and environment are
three characteristics that have significant impact to choose a leadership style for schools.

5.1.8 Motivation for joining the teaching profession

The results in table 4.7 indicated that 148 (61%) of the respondents joined the teaching profession
because of the personal interest they had in the teaching profession. This is a form of intrinsic
motivation as reported by Ryan and Deci (2000) that intrinsic motivation is derived from within the
person or from the activity itself. A further 56 (23%) of the respondents joined the teaching
profession as a result of their parents/guardians’ instructions while 34 (14%) joined the teaching
profession as a last resort due to failure to gain admission to other courses. This implies that these
two categories of teachers had no intrinsic motivation and could only be motivated by externally
administered rewards like pay, material possessions, prestige, and positive evaluations among
others. It is expected therefore that their morale to perform was generally low.

5.1.9 Monthly salary earned by respondents

The findings in table 4.8 revealed that the majority of the respondents 141 (58%) earned 200,000=
to 400,000= per month. A further 56 (23%) reported to be earning 400,001= to 700,000= per
month, while 36 (15%) reported to be earning 700,001= to 1,000,000= per month. Only 10 (4%)
earned over 1,000,000=. This implies that the majority of the teachers’ salary was inadequate to
meet their needs in the current increase of the cost of living. As a form of motivation, therefore,
salary was insufficient to motivate teachers to perform efficiently towards the attainment of good
pupils’ academic performance. This was further revealed by all the head teachers who participated
in key informant interviews. Indeed, emphasizing the inadequacy of the salary, one head teacher
said:

….most teachers are not satisfied with the amount of money the government pays them. It‘s
indeed inadequate. The cost of living has gone up and most teachers find it difficult meet
daily expenses like transport, house rent, food, medical care and school fees for their family
members from the mere 300,000= they earn as their salary!

43
The finding also revealed that salary has not been able to increase teacher’s morale to perform their
professional duties. This study finding is therefore contrary to Armstrong (1996) who emphasizes
the value of financial rewards when he says that money provides the means to achieve a number of
different ends. The above observation was reiterated by a district education official that;

... in most schools, low pay has forced teachers to find additional sources of income in form
of petty trading, part timing in other schools and coaching. These secondary income
activities have created divided attention and loyalty to teaching and thus impacting
negatively on the quality of teacher performance that would improve pupils’ academic
performance

This situation was also revealed by Carron (1996) that where teacher pay is very low, there is
normally de facto recognition that the labour process in schools has to be organized in such a way
that enables teachers the autonomy to generate additional income. Most managers also engage in
these survival activities. More generally, there is a widespread acceptance that you get what you
pay for, which is not very much when pay does not meet minimum livelihood needs. In agreement,
Coombs (1985) cited that when teacher’s salaries fail to keep pace with the cost of living they
undergo a reduction in real income, their morale suffers and the able ones shift to better paying jobs
thus pulling down the quality of instruction. Gavinda and Varghese (1993) looked at this scenario
and affirmed that where teachers are disillusioned and frustrated about conditions of service, the
quality of education is likely to deteriorate even with substantial input of equipment and material.
However they conclude that if a teaching force is reasonably paid, and well motivated, they can
achieve much for the quality of education even against great odds.

5.2 The impact of leadership styles on the academic performance of pupils in public
primary schools
This section explores the impact of leadership styles on the academic performance of pupils in
public primary schools in Amuria district. The indicators of leadership styles on teacher
performance so as to improve the academic performance of pupils in public primary schools in
Amuria district as investigated by the study are presented in table 4.9 bellow:

Table 4.9 indicates that the majority of the respondents 126 (52%) strongly agreed that Head
teacher gets staff approval in important matters before implementing them which depicts a
democratic style of leadership which includes administration by consensus through consultation
with the staff, parents, and heads informed decisions because of the experience and wisdom of
other professionals in and outside the organisation. The democratic head is also known as a
consultative leader who reserves the right to make the final decision (Slezak, 1984). This style of

44
leadership is further enforced in all the public primary school visited through the presence of
School Management Committees (SMCs) and Parents Teachers Associations (PTAs) which are
auxiliary organs to supervise the management of public primary school in Amuria district. A further
101 (42%) indicates that respondents strongly agreed that the head teachers are free, supportive and
have respect for differences. Such relationships enabled teachers to concentrate on their jobs and be
able to perform well so to enhance the academic performance of the pupils.

Table 4.9 also indicates that 82 (34%) of the respondents strongly agreed the statement that the
head teachers maintain definite standards of performance, 67 (27%) agreed, 46 (19%) strongly
disagreed, 39 (16%) disagreed while 9 (4%) were uncertain that the heads let them know what is
expected of them. The findings are consistent with studies done by Drucker (2010), who opine that
rules and regulations give workers an environment to breathe an air of growth and development and
think constructively to improve the relationship between teachers and management and also
increase productivity. One head of public schools said that;

...The effective teaching and learning process depends leadership style employed the head
of school! ... I personally apply any of the leadership style depending on the situation that I
am facing at that moment! Sometimes I am democratic; sometimes I am a dictator,
sometimes laissez faire!! This has made me ensure availability of class journals, schemes of
work, and close follow up of the teaching and learning processes…..

For delegation of authority, 141 (47%) of the respondents strongly agreed that the head teachers
always delegated their authority, 88 (36%) of the respondents strongly agreed that the head teachers
frequently delegated their authority, 4 (2%) of the respondents were undecided, 16 (6%) of the
respondents disagreed that the head teachers delegated their authority while 21 (9%) of the
respondents strongly disagreed that the head teachers delegated their authority. Delegation of
authority is commonly attributed to democratic leadership styles that head teachers often used. One
of the deputy head teachers said:

... I have no complaints with my head teacher because he delegates most of the works in
school and I have no problems when he goes out of school.

Pertaining the head teacher criticizing poor work, results show that 84 (35%) of respondents
strongly agreed, 73 (30%) agreed, 43 (17%) strongly disagreed, 29 (12%) disagreed whereas 14
(6%) of the respondents were uncertain on whether the head teachers criticized poor work. On the
head teachers emphasizing the meeting of deadlines, show that 64 (26%) of respondents strongly
agreed, 83 (34%) agreed, 48 (20%) strongly disagreed, 39 (16%) disagreed whereas 9 (4%) of the
respondents were uncertain.
45
 …I have been in this school for ten years now, but a head teacher in this school is not easy
well understood in terms of leadership style, he is like chameleon…today you find him like
servant leader…tomorrow like autocratic leader…another day democratic leader…

Most head teachers let their staff members know what is expected of them with results showing that
96 (40%) of respondents strongly agreed, 83 (34%) agreed, 31 (13%) strongly disagreed, 23 (9%)
disagreed while 10 (4%) were uncertain that the heads let them know what is expected of them. The
findings are in line with Hallinger and Heck (1998) assertions that the role of a principal in a school
is crucial. The success of the process of restoring the culture of teaching and learning rests to a
large extent on the principal. This is mainly because he/she is the one who has to lead the entire
school community in implementing whatever plans and programmes that are to be put in place.
Results further showed that most heads frequently sought of new ideas and used them with 116
(41%) of respondents strongly agreed that head teachers asked and accepted for new ideas, 89
(37%) of respondents agreed, 21 (9%) of respondents disagreed, 14 (6%) of respondents strongly
disagreed, while 3 (1%) of respondents were undecided on whether the heads never asked for ideas
and applied them. The head teachers, for example, have to motivate the teachers to participate in
decision making because academic progress depends on the quality of teaching exhibited. In one of
the primary schools from Amuria district that were studied, a head teacher had this to say:

…I always involve my teachers in all issues done in my school, though are involved only in
good things that leads to the achievement of school objectives and those brings good
achievement to my school. Things that are not good, I must decide myself not involving
teachers and I am always a last decision maker to all issues that does not bring success to
my school…

When respondents were asked which leadership style was commonly employed by the school
heads, the following responses were revealed.

Results in table 4.10 showed that most school heads used democratic style of leadership. 128 (53%)
of the respondents indicate that the school head teachers used a democratic style of leadership, 83
(34%) of the respondents indicate that the school head teachers employed the laissez faire style of
leadership while Few school heads 27 (11%) used an autocratic style of leadership. However, 5
(2%) of respondents could not tell whether the heads embraced the democratic or any of the other
leadership styles. This implies that head teachers’ in the study area should emulate and foster use of
democratic leadership style as a means to influence teachers’ motivation so as to enhance academic
excellence. On the other hand, response from interview with head teachers from best performing
school in Amuria district primary schools revealed that teachers like any other human being need

46
someone who care, share, help, and engage with them not only at school but also in social issues. A
head teacher from best performing school in Amuria district said with such experience;

…teachers in my school are involved in all issues in such a way that they feel they are doing
their own work… for example nowadays we do offer remedial classes to standard seven as
to prepare them for final exams…I do serve, lead and teach the same as my teachers do…

Various studies have associated democratic leadership to successful organizations. This is because
democratic leaders foster stronger subordination of teachers, facilitate higher morale as they
involve teachers in formulation of school policies, emphasize on consultation, teamwork and
participation (Heenan and Bennis, 1999). This concurs with (Siskin, 1994) where it was reported
that a particular behaviour applied by a leader motivates his or her subordinates to achieve the
objectives of the organization. Further Okumbe (1998) found that all classic leadership theories
have direct implication for what the single leader uses in human resource management.

Autocratic leadership has been shown to be detrimental in the attainment of institutional culture and
teamwork hence creating disharmony, suspicion and mistrust. This is because the leader does not
maintain a clear channel of communication between him and the subordinates and also fails to
delegate authority or permit subordinates to participate in policy making (Hoy and Miskel, 1992).
However there is an element of laissez faire leadership in schools as is evident by the mean
response of 34%.This indicates that some school principals allow complete freedom to group
decision without their participation. They do not participate in the course of events determined by
the group (Talbert and Milbrey, 1994). One interviewed teacher commented;

… our head teacher guides, directs, and precedes. He gets others to act in the manner he
desires, using persuasion, influence, authority or threats and force

Gluck (1991) contends that most managers do have a predominant or core leadership style. This is
the style that suits them or they are most comfortable with. It is a fact that the skills and qualities
involved in leadership can be learned and developed through education and experience. These are
the abilities to communicate effectively, to make effective decisions, to motivate, to inspire, to be
dependable, to be just in making judgements, to show respect for subordinates, to instruct clearly,
to be patient with mistakes, to be loyal to followers and tough on their behalf, to be humble yet
assertive and open to new ideas and different opinions, to keep a sense of humour and to know how
to relax.

47
5.3 The influence of teachers’ motivation on the academic performance of pupils in public
primary schools
This sub section presents findings for the research questions: what motivational factors influence
the teacher’s morale to perform towards improved academic performance of pupils in Amuria
district public primary schools? In the first case, the study investigated the major reasons that made
respondents to join the teaching profession. The indicators are both the intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation factors on teacher performance so as to improve the academic performance of pupils in
public primary schools in the district.

5.3.1 The effect of intrinsic motivation on the performance of teachers

Results in table 4.11 indicated that the majority of the respondents 126 (52%) strongly agreed that
were intrinsically motivated by the responsibilities they performed in the school that gave them a
sense of control over others. A further 116 (47%) indicates strongly agreed that teaching enables
them to interact and develop relationship with people from many areas. Such relationships enabled
teachers to concentrate on their jobs and be able to perform well.

Table 4.11 also indicates that 83(34%) of the respondents Agreed the statement that teaching gave
them recognition and respect from the community. Intrinsic rewards like recognition creates role
models and communicates the standards which encourage great performance. A study by Bennell
(2004) indicates that the emergence of a sizeable private education sector has further diversified the
teaching force and improved their recognition. Private sector teachers are often seen in a more
positive light by parents and the wider public because they are harder working and usually less well
paid, but achieve better learning outcomes. Bennell (2004) further noted that where private sector
provision is growing rapidly with strong public approval (like in Amuria district); this is a strong
intrinsic motivator to the otherwise downward pressures on teacher status.

Research findings also revealed that 84 (35%) of the respondents strongly agreed that they had
remained in the teaching profession because of its challenging nature. By receiving challenging
tasks like solving mathematical problems for pupils, teachers felt they had contributed greatly to
knowledge transmission and therefore this motivated them even to perform better.

A further 109 (45%) of the respondents agreed that teaching gave them a great deal of job
satisfaction. This implies that such teachers derived their expectations from teaching and therefore
had morale to perform better. Intrinsic motivation among other respondents was exhibited by
agreement to the following statements:

48
a) I am more useful to the community as a teacher than being in any other profession (agreed
by 109 (45%) of the respondents). This implies that the head teachers should establish a
good working relationship with the teachers. This is by making sure the avenues or effective
communication are available and can be utilized (Cheptoek, 2000).This also means that both
the head teacher and teachers must realize that they need each other in mutual relationship
to implement the strategies for effective learning of the school.

b) Teaching is a competitive profession in this school (strongly agreed by 86 (35%) of the

respondents). According to (Ololibe, 2005), it is the role of any head teacher as a manager
of the school to build a working environment which build and enhance intrinsic motivation
for teachers to teach effectively while the government or the employer providing the
extrinsic motivation in terms of pay and remuneration. Chepkoek,(2000) states that
motivation of teachers is the responsibility of head teachers to some extent, this is because
motivation includes the internal state plus all the other internal and external factors that
determine the amount of energy and enthusiasm an individual puts in the job.

c) Teaching is one of my goals in life (strongly agreed by 112 (46%) of the respondents) These
results agrees with Stipek (2002) who argued that teacher’s self perceptions, such as self
efficacy, goal orientations, or autonomy, are robust predictors of motivation and
performance in school, both concurrently and over many years.

d) I enjoy teaching as a profession (strongly agreed by 96 (39%) of the respondents)

e) I have prospects for career development in the teaching profession (agreed by 101 (42%) of
the respondents)

The above statements indicate that the majority of the respondents had intrinsic motivation. The
findings agree with Herzberg (1966) description of tasks as intrinsically motivating when they are
characterized by key motivators such as responsibility, challenge, achievement, variety, and
advancement opportunity. Surprisingly, however, the majority of them indicated that intrinsic
motivation had to a small extent increased their morale to perform.

When respondents were asked the extent to which intrinsic motivators increased their morale to
perform teaching duties, the following responses were revealed.

In Table 4.12, the majority of the respondents 134 (55%) indicated that intrinsic motivation had
increased their morale to perform but to a small extent. Only 75 (31%) of the respondents revealed
that to a big extent, intrinsic motivation had increased their morale to perform. This implies

49
therefore, that intrinsic motivation affects teachers morale to perform but at varying levels. The
research findings therefore, corroborate Kasser and Ryan (1996) view that intrinsically motivated
behaviour is alleged to derive from and satisfy innate psychological needs, including needs for
competence and autonomy.

This implies that increase in intrinsic motivation of teachers like increasing their recognition, job
satisfaction, career development and control over people among others helps to increase their
performance at work. Since intrinsic motivation is said to exist when behaviour is performed for its
own sake rather than to obtain material or social reinforcers (Sansone and Harackiewicz, 2000), it is
the best form of motivation that positively affects performance. Therefore, the study findings
indicated that there is a positive relationship between intrinsic motivation and performance of
teachers in primary schools in Amuria district.

5.3.2 The effect of extrinsic motivation on the performance of teachers

Table 4.13 shows extrinsic motivators available and not available to teachers in various public
primary schools in Amuria district. The majority of the respondents revealed that they do not get
the following extrinsic motivators;

a) Free meals when at school (strongly disagreed by 118 (47%) of the respondents), which
revealed that provision of meals to teachers had a statistically significant positive effect on
teachers’ performance in public primary schools in Amuria district.

b) Prompt salary payments (strongly disagreed by 64 (26%) of the respondents), these findings
corroborate Bennell (2003) that the salary scales for both primary and school teachers are
often very flat with very small salary increments awarded on the basis of seniority/
experience with little or no link with actual job performance.

c) Advance payment from the schools in case teachers had financial problems (strongly
disagreed by 116 (48%) of the respondents), the study findings are in agreement, with
Coombs (1995) who cited that when teachers’ salaries fail to keep pace with the cost of
living they undergo a reduction in real income, their morale suffers and the able ones shift
to better paying jobs thus pulling down the quality of instruction.

d) Financial assistance to teachers with funerals, parties, etc (disagreed by 97 (40%) of the
respondents). The findings partly agree with Mertler (1992) in the study of work condition
of teachers in Sub Saharan Africa stating that, the work and living environment for many
teachers is poor, which tends to lower self-esteem and is generally demotivating. Wayne
50
 (1991) asserts that a reward in form of pay has a strong impact on the employee’s
performance. Similarly, Armstrong (1996) emphasizes the value of extrinsic motivation
when he says that money provides the means to achieve a number of different ends.
Remuneration is the most obvious extrinsic reward.

e) Prizes for teachers who perform well (strongly disagreed by 118 (47%) of the respondents),

f) Availability of extra teaching allowances to help completion of the syllabus in time

(strongly disagreed by 113 (46%) of the respondents).

The study established that the factors associated with extrinsic motivators were more influential in
affecting the motivation of teachers in Amuria district than the intrinsic factors as can be shown in
the finding by the mean score in Table 4.11. Extrinsic motivation includes externally administered
rewards like salary, free accommodation, free meals, weekly duty and extra teaching allowances,
advance payments in case of financial problems, leave of absence and free medical care among
others. On the other hand, the majority of the respondents revealed absence of the following
extrinsic motivators:

a) 73 (30%) of the respondents disagreed that the salary paid to them was inadequate to meet
their basic needs. A study by Bennell (2004) indicates that lack of diversity in teaching
profession, coupled with inadequate remuneration can affect a profession; this is a strong
intrinsic motivator to the otherwise downward pressures on teacher status.

b) 90 (37%) of the respondents disagreed that their schools did not offer weekly duty
allowances to teachers.

c) 81 (33%) of the respondents strongly disagreed that their schools did not organize end of
year parties to give thanks and motivate teachers and,

d) 69 (28%) of the respondents agreed that they have accommodation provided by the schools.

From the above responses, it is clear that not all extrinsic motivators were available to teachers in
the primary schools studied in Amuria district. The findings partly agree with Mertler (1992) that,
the work and living environment for many teachers is poor, which tends to lower self-esteem and is
generally demotivating. Many schools lack basic amenities such as piped water and electricity, staff
rooms and toilets. Housing is a major issue for nearly all teachers.

51
Notable among the lacking extrinsic motivators was that the salary paid to them was inadequate to
meet their basic needs revealed by disagreement of 73 (30%) of the respondents. Yet, Wayne
(1991) asserts that a reward in form of pay has a strong impact on the employee’s performance.
Bratton (2003), agree with Wayne when they state that pay is one of the most powerful motivating
tools. Similarly, Armstrong (1996) emphasizes the value of extrinsic motivation when he says that
money provides the means to achieve a number of different ends. Above all he asserts that money
in form of pay is the most obvious extrinsic reward. However, prompt salary payments revealed by
64 (26%) of the respondents were further commended by Kiseesi (1998) that salaries of workers
should be paid promptly. She observes that salary was a strong force that kept teachers at their jobs.
The researcher indicated that salary was vital in causing satisfaction among workers and hence
likely to influence performance.

Inability of schools to provide free accommodation to teachers had already been cited by previous
studies. For example, Dungu (2000) cited the problem of residential accommodation of teachers in
some countries of sub Saharan Africa. He noted that many primary school teachers were given
small house allowance to cater for their residential accommodation which forced them to reside in
poor houses. This affected their motivation and eventually job performance. On the other hand,
Farel (1993) also observed that teachers who failed to get institutional houses had to look for
accommodation elsewhere; a situation which resulted into demotivation of teachers to effectively
perform at work.

When respondents were asked the extent to which extrinsic motivators increased their morale to
perform teaching duties, the following responses were revealed.

From table 4.14, the majority of the respondents 148 (61%) indicated that extrinsic motivators had
to a small extent increased their morale to perform. This may be attributed to earlier findings that
not all extrinsic motivators were available to teachers in the primary schools studied in Amuria
district. Only 78 (32%) reported that extrinsic motivation increased their morale to perform to a big
extent. Despite the mixed responses however, it is clear that extrinsic motivation affects
performance of teachers.

Basing on the study findings presented in this objective, therefore, it can be concluded that not all
extrinsic motivators were available to teachers in the primary schools studied in Amuria district.
However, the majority of them were concerned about the inadequacy of the salary to meet their
basic needs. Consequently, the study found that extrinsic motivators had to a small extent increased
teacher’s morale to perform. Despite this, a positive relationship existed between extrinsic

52
motivation and performance of teachers, implying that extrinsic motivation affects the performance
of teachers in Amuria district.

5.4 The challenges faced by public primary schools in enhancing pupils’ academic
performance
To elaborate on this objective, the respondents’ responses were tabulated and the findings
summarized in frequencies and percentages, as discussed as follows;

Findings in table 4.15 specified that there are challenges faced by Public Primary Schools in
Amuria district impacting the pupils’ achievement of academic excellence were as follows;

Limited government financing for public primary schools’ operations and provision of teaching and
learning materials was referenced as a challenge by the respondents with statistics indicated by; 143
(46%) Strongly Agreed, 103 (33%) Agreed, 00 (00%), 59 (19%) Disagreed, 06 (02%), Strongly
Disagreed and were Uncertain, implying that most respondents had the same opinion on limited
government financing of public primary schools, thus poor academic achievement is attributed to
the fact the primary schools cannot provide adequate learning materials such as; textbooks, desks,
blackboards, chalk, etc which are crucial to effective teaching and learning.

Although UPE takes up a huge chunk of the Uganda’s recurrent expenditure, statistics show that
actual expenditure on education as a percentage of total government expenditure is the lowest in the
five East African Community countries excluding South Sudan. Uganda spent 11.8 percent in 2013
compared to 16.6 percent and 17.2 percent spent by Rwanda and Burundi respectively. In 2015,
Uganda spent 13.4 percent compared to 19.6, 20.6, 17.4 and 16.6 percent for Tanzania, Kenya,
Rwanda and Burundi respectively. Across the East African Community Uganda also records the
lowest figure for education expenditure as a percentage of Gross National Income (MoFED, 2016).

Uganda has made significant progress in promoting education in areas of funding, policy,
programme designs, strategic partnerships, and actual translation of interventions to impact of
pupils’ enrolment, retention in school, completion and benefit from the education system (MoES,
2015). Access to Universal Primary Education (UPE) increased from 2.5 million students in 1997
to 7.5 million in 2008, reaching a level of 82 percent of eligible pupils enrolled. According to
MoES (2010), Uganda has made great strides in expanding access to primary education and thus
towards the global goal of ensuring that by 2020, children everywhere, boys and girls alike will be
able to complete a full course of primary schooling. Some of the head teachers interviewed stated
that;

53
 The low expenditure on UPE has had implications on the quality of service provided. A
number of schools lack basic infrastructure like adequate classrooms, toilets, and desks.
The lack of infrastructure, in turn, frustrates pupil’s academic performance and ultimately,
causes a number of them to drop out.

The poor quality of the public education system, stemming from low government investment
in education, especially at primary level, is increasingly forcing parents to resort to private
schools, in spite of their very limited income. As a result, the unfortunate reality in Uganda
is that parents with higher incomes can ensure a better education for their children, while
the poorest children are forced to attend either failing public schools in marginalised areas
or the lowest quality private schools.

According to MoES (2014), large quantities of learning materials have been supplied in schools and
reduced the pupil – textbook ratio. In 1993, there were 37 pupils per book, compared to today’s 3:1
for P3 and P4, for core subjects. Millions of three seater desks have been supplied to pupils and
over 5,000 pieces of furniture for school offices. A massive investment of billions of shillings has
been done to achieve this. But save for all this; pressure is mounting on the infrastructure and
human resource, due to increasingly high enrolment every other year. One District Education
Official commented that;

Schools have improved and are still improving. Government has constructed classroom
blocks and bought more furniture. Except for a few rural schools, pupils no longer study
under tree sheds. The teacher to pupil ratio has also improved; today on average it is 1:53,
unlike some years ago when it could be at 1:80 pupils.

Limited administrative and teaching staff to adequately administer the teaching and learning
process in schools was referenced as a challenge by the respondents with statistics indicated by;
152 (49%) Strongly Agreed, 109 (35%) Agreed, 25 (09%) Disagreed, 16 (05%) Strongly Disagreed
and 09 (03%) being Uncertain, meaning that most respondents affirmed the scarcity of
administrative and teaching staff at the public primary schools, which limits the capacity of the
schools to effectively operate and aim towards achieving good quality academic performance. Most
schools visited decried the lack of teachers and lack of control of the overcrowded curriculum,
while teachers indicated excessive work load was the single most significant contributor to stress
and low morale in their profession. According to Asiimwe D. and Musisi B.N (2016), curriculum
requirements have increased as a result of community, educational, employer and political
pressures as often quite small, but well organised, groups can succeed in having their particular
interests included in the curriculum. One interviewed teacher noted;

54
 The effect of the overcrowded curriculum on teachers has increase our work load, to cause
some of us to neglect or compromise teaching in some areas because of lack of time for
preparation and presentation, and to increase anxiety levels as we are required to teach
new subjects without adequate training, back up and resources.

Low salary payment for school teachers and administrators was noted as a challenge with statistics
shown by; 159 (51%) Strongly Agreed, 87 (28%) Agreed, 37 (12%) Disagreed, 19 (06%) were
Uncertain, and 09 (03%), Strongly Disagreed, signifying that the majority of respondents decried
the salary payments for school teachers and administrators for their works done, thus they are de-
motivated to work towards attaining good academic grades for the pupils.

Low pay has implications on the morale and motivation level of existing teachers and those that
aspire to join the field. Low pay, in addition to increasing teacher absenteeism, makes the teaching
profession very un-attractive and thus attracts not the best and brightest, but often those that have
failed to get into other “better” professions. This in turn affects the quality of knowledge provided
to the pupil and the overall quality of the next generation labour force.

A Key Informant Interviewee commented that;

Actually salaries have improved. Government is doing everything possible to improve the
teachers’ welfare so as to motivate them. Salaries were increased by 25%. The lowest paid
Grade III teacher earns a net salary of 380,000 minus all the taxes. Also, there are no more
salary delays.

Limited and/or dilapidated classrooms for effective teaching were mentioned by respondents as a
challenge with statistics indicated by; 162 (52%) Strongly Agreed, 115 (37%) Agreed, 22 (07%)
Disagreed, whereas 06 (02%) were as equally Uncertain and Strongly Disagree, implying that
majority of the respondents confirmed that most public primary schools in the district do not have
adequate classrooms in terms of number and size for pupils to study effectively, which
consequently jeopardizes their academic performance in national examinations.

Majority of the schools reported challenges with the number and size of the classrooms. The
teachers, pupils and parents from two schools in Kuju Sub County, reported the inadequacy of
classrooms as such there are too many pupils per class. Similarly two schools in Wera Sub County
reported high congestion with several classes having over one hundred pupils. In Ogolai Sub
County the situation in one school is even worse, whereby two different classes have to share one
room and another class has 138 pupils. However, the ministry of Education and Sports is on
rollercoaster opening new school buildings across the country. The ministry is constructing 138

55
schools after it received funding of $33 million from the Global Partnership for Education through
the World Bank. This is part of the $100 million grant meant for the implementation of the Uganda
Teacher and School Effectiveness Project (UTSEP) (MoES, 2018). A parent respondent reproved;

Shining school structures alone won’t create an educated workforce capable of addressing
the challenges of our time. And the government doesn’t seem to have the money or will to
fully go the full circle. I don’t think the government will be able to do this; so, it is time to
abandon the Universal Primary Education (UPE) in its current form. I know how important
it is for children to be enrolled into schools but let us face it, UPE has failed; so, it is time
we tweaked it.

Poor leadership styles and managerial incompetence of school administrators was also noted as a
challenge with statistics shown by; 118 (38%) Strongly Agreed, 112 (36%) Agreed, 47 (15%)
Disagreed 19 (06%) were Uncertain and 15 (05%), Strongly Disagreed, indicating that the
respondents widely held a common stand that the leadership styles and managerial competence of
the public primary schools’ administrators and teaching staff are insufficient to propel the schools
towards good academic performance. The SMCs and PTAs ought to be given more powers to
manage their schools. Often times, their decisions on mandatory provision of food and these
necessities by parents for their children have been overturned by Residential District
Commissioners on account of complete free education provided by Government in UPE schools.

SMCs are legitimate bodies provided for in the Education Act 2008. They comprise of seven
members who include parents, local government representatives, school staff and old boys/girls.
The committees act as educational policy-making bodies for the schools and work together with
head teachers to provide services that ensure quality teaching and learning. However in some of the
schools in the region, the SMCs are either non-existent or not performing their roles, giving a rise
to teacher absenteeism, poor management of schools and embezzlement of school funds.

Limited community involvement and participation in school activities was referenced as a

challenge with statistics indicated by; 173 (56%) Strongly Agreed, 133 (43%) Agreed, 03 (01%)
Disagreed, 02 (01%) were Uncertain, and 00 (00%), Strongly Disagreed, showing that the
respondents corroborated limited community involvement and participation in school activities
such as; meetings, class days, visitation days, sports days, etc that would ensure ability to guarantee
proper teaching and learning so as to attain good academic performance of the pupils. Community
participation in school management has great potentials for removing mistrust and distance between
people and schools by nurturing transparency of information and a culture of mutual respect and by
jointly pursuing improvement of school by sharing vision, process, and results.

56
Education without the active participation of the community is considered a one-sided activity.
Management of education implies the management of educational goals, programmes and projects.
The most significant component of management is the pillar paradigm of educational governance.
Managing education includes managing work, motivation and commitment, creativity and
innovativeness, competence and confidence. These four components form the major pillars of good
personnel management (Nkalubo A. (2007). Community participation in educational management
no doubt leads to stakeholders’ participation in decision-making and management of schooling
activities at the school level. It makes educational management much more democratic and
contextual, besides tapping local knowledge and resources for good governance. Towards
improving community participation in educational management, the efforts made by governments
and voluntary agencies have been quite remarkable in Uganda. Without community involvement it
would be difficult to improve equity, equality and quality of education (MoES, 2014). A senior
head teacher upon interview emphasized that;

Academic performance cannot be tagged on one side. The quality of performance is

attributed to five players; the government, parents, teachers, pupils and school management
committee. They are all responsible for the academic excellence of the pupils. Whereas
government is doing its part, parents need to understand the whole concept of the program.
Parents should know that it is also their responsibility to feed their children or buy them
scholastic materials

Rampant absenteeism by both teachers and pupils was cited as a challenge with statistics indicated
by; 149 (48%) Strongly Agreed, 143 (46%) Agreed, 13 (04%) Disagreed, 06 (02%), Strongly
Disagreed and 00 (00%) were Uncertain, denoting that most of the respondents were in agreement
that rampant absenteeism by both teachers and pupils has greatly affected the schools’ academic
performances due to incapacity to accomplish the teaching curriculum. Although there is a number
of teachers struggling to perform well and concerned about the education of their pupils many, as
reported by parents, head teachers and even teachers themselves come late, are absent or do not
come back to school after going home for lunch. The late coming and absenteeism are frequently
related to the accommodation of teachers. The ones on school premises tend to come on time, while
the ones staying outside the school are often late or even absent.

For instance in the schools visited in Amuria Town Council, both pupils and parents noticed some
setbacks with the teachers of some schools, namely: teachers who are paid by parents are more
committed than those paid by the government, no mutual understanding among the teachers, some
of them smell of alcohol in class, and one school has only one science teacher who is always
absent. In another school a parent lamented that teachers are frequently late and sometimes tell
57
pupils that being late does not prevent them from getting salaries.

There are huts constructed for teachers but they are not willing to stay at school and
therefore they are being late, said one head teacher.

In Akeriau Sub County shortcomings of some of the teachers include: coming late at around 9.00
am, leaving pupils to play or loiter around the compound, being very rough and beating the pupils
when uncalled for. In one school an attendance list was introduced, but still the teachers are poor at
time keeping. Further findings from the Service Delivery Indicators for Uganda survey of 2013
results discovered that 27 percent of teachers were absent in public primary schools compared to 16
percent for Kenya. The survey results further revealed that of the teachers in public primary schools
present at school, 57 percent were not in classrooms teaching compared to 47 percent for Kenya.
According to the report, the decay in service delivery is more amplified in rural areas and poorer
regions of the country (Mukunya, F. 2007). Research elsewhere has also shown that teacher
absenteeism although not a problem in Uganda alone but also in many other developing countries,
stems from a number of factors including pay structure, management, working conditions,
community conditions, and social and cultural responsibilities (UNESCO, 2014). One district
education official lamented that;

In Amuria, insufficient pay and poor working conditions have been identified as one of the
leading causes of absenteeism. Primary school teacher salaries, despite recent increases,
are still very low to afford teachers a decent living. As such, a number of teachers find
themselves engaging in other economic activities such as farming, tailoring, shop keeping,
boda boda riding etc. to supplement their meagre earnings.

Commonality of child rights abuses such as; child labour, defilement, child marriages and child
neglect were noted as a challenge with statistics indicated by; 137 (44%) Strongly Agreed, 146
(47%) Agreed, 16 (05%) Disagreed, 09 (03%) Strongly Disagreed, and 03 (01%) were Uncertain,
implying that the majority of respondents cited commonality of child rights abuses such as; child
labour, defilement, child marriages and child neglect, which have affected the pupils ability to
attain good academic performance. The classroom is one of the important sites for the transmission
and the practice of equity and gender inequity and how it affects teaching and learning. The
majority of respondents did recognise the child’s rights to freedom of religion and privacy and
freedom of correspondence. The majority also agreed to the fact that children had right to
association and freedom of speech and expression so long as it did not disturb others, then child
marriages are rampant as most dropouts are due to teenage pregnancies, while child labour was
indicated by majority of families retaining school children at home to perform household chores

58
and agricultural activities.

Though, the shortage of female teachers, among other inconveniences, creates uneasiness in parents
who fear to have their daughters in the company of male teachers for long periods because,
traditionally among some tribes girls are not even allowed to talk among men except in very special
cases. Modern parents harbour fears of sexual harassment or intimacies developing between their
daughters and the male teachers, cutting short their daughter’s education (Nkalubo, A. 2007).

Also, the enrolment rate of Children With Disabilities (CWDs) in pre-primary and primary schools
is very low. About 9% of CWDS attend school and only 6% of these children complete primary
school and go to study in secondary schools according to a study conducted by UNICEF (2010).
The UBOS statistical abstract 2010 survey states that disability is one of the major factors for
children not attending school and according to the figures, 30% of the children aged 7 gave
disability as one of the reasons for not going to school.

Poor management of school resources; funds, humans and property was cited as a challenge with
statistics indicated by; 106 (34%) Strongly Agreed, 102 (33%) Agreed, 56 (18%) Disagreed, 25
(08%) were Uncertain, and 22 (07%), Strongly Disagreed, showing that respondents held a
common view on poor management of school resources; funds, humans and property, which has
affected the schools’ capacity to warrant better academic performance. The Education Act of 1998;
provides that the Education Officers appointed to act as District Inspectors Of Schools (DISs) and
District Education Officers (DEOs) shall be under the direction of the Director of Education. The
officers perform their roles at the local level. For example, a district inspector of schools is
mandated at any time to enter into any school in the district under his jurisdiction and inspect and
provide a report to the permanent secretary or other relevant officers with respect to the school
buildings and standard of teaching. The inspector may also order the auditing of the school
accounts

The findings on the main challenges faced by head teachers in poor management of school
resources hindering pupils performance succinctly concur with the findings of Wakoli (2014) who
found that the major challenges faced by Principals in managing schools for improved performance
were; inadequate teaching staff, lack of parental cooperation in fees collection, inadequate teaching
and learning facilities and teacher lateness in reporting to school for duty.

Ineffective thematic curriculum where lower classes are taught in local languages was quoted as a
challenge with statistics indicated by; 132 (42%) Strongly Agreed, 121 (39%) Agreed, 13 (04%)
were Uncertain, 28 (09%) Disagreed and 17 (06%), Strongly Disagreed, implying that most of the
respondents affirmed that the thematic curriculum taught in lower classes of primary level
59
education cannot guarantee good academic performance of pupils since PLE national examinations
are set in English language, besides the curriculum gives the pupils a poor foundation in English
grammar. Thematic curriculum is the type of curriculum taught in lower primary classes (P.1-P.3),
it consists of disciplines such as mathematics, English, local language, Literacy one, Literacy two,
Physical Education, Religious education, Library, Art and Craft, Music and oral Literature and it
began in 2009 (MoES, 2012).

According to the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), there was an emergency after
research findings done by the Ministry of Education, Uganda National Examinations Board and the
evaluation department under the NCDC indicated that children were reaching P7 without knowing
how to read and write. However, the resistance has come mostly from private schools who claim
teaching in local languages wastes their time because it is not examined at the end. The ministry did
little to sensitise the public about the curriculum which has caused a lot of criticism from both the
parents and teachers (Steffensen, J. 2014). A visibly angry parent commented;

There is a loophole right from the start. You cannot say village schools should adopt a local
language to use but city schools are free to continue using English. It is like saying pupils
should put on uniform but those who cannot afford can dress in any way they feel like!

However, a number of reports continue to show that majority of the pupils lack literacy and
numeracy skills despite going through the revised curriculum. For example, a UWEZO, a non-
governmental organisation dealing with child performance in schools last year released a 2012
report where 97 per cent of pupils from government schools failed to read a text book in English of
Primary two level (UWEZO, 2012).

General findings to this objective entailed that most respondents were had the same opinion of
existence of challenges that were affecting most Public Primary Schools efforts to attain good
academic performance at national examination level because the majority of the respondents
corroborated to the afore mentioned challenges. The respondents attributed the poor performance to
several factors, namely: poor infrastructure (overcrowded classrooms), late arrival and absenteeism
of teachers, lack of contribution of any kind from parents including not giving the children any food
so that they stay hungry the whole day, late arrival and absenteeism of pupils, lack of or insufficient
scholastic materials, lack of text books, teacher-pupil ratio, national UPE policy including
specifically the automatic promotion, inadequate facilities such as lack of furniture (chairs, desks)
in classrooms, too much time spent on sports and other additional activities, lack of appreciation of
the teachers by the community, and negative attitude of parents and teachers.

60
Some parents criticized that children whose parents cannot pay the extra-charges are being sent
home and that selected pupils receive additional lessons from teachers. Others complained of the
policy of teaching in local language from P1-P3. Consequently, at the time of transition to teaching
in English in P4 the pupils are very much behind and are not able to read or write in English at all.
Several interviewees pointed out that this is not the practice in Kampala, where pupils study in
English from the start, and therefore the performance in the capital is much better.

61
 CHAPTER SIX:
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

6.0 Introduction

This chapter presents summary, conclusions and recommendations of the study. The
recommendations are proposed as a means of management styles of school heads and motivation of
teachers as well as increasing their performance at work so as to improve academic performance of
pupils in public primary schools. Summary and conclusions on the other hand, involve salient
issues found out in the study.

6.1 Summary and Conclusions

This study examined the impact of leadership styles and teachers motivation on the academic
performance of pupils in public primary schools in Amuria district, Uganda. A total of 243
respondents including; head teachers, deputies, teachers from 56 primary schools and district
education officials participated in the study. With varying education levels, the majority of the
respondents had been working for over two (02) years in the public primary schools studied. This
implies that head teachers, deputies and teachers were already conversant with the motivators in
their respective schools and were therefore expected to assess how such motivators had affected
their performance at work towards the improvement of the pupil’s academic performance. In all,
however, the study found that motivation was necessary for high performance of head teachers,
deputies and teachers although in most cases teachers were poorly motivated.

The study concludes that school administrators of public primary schools in Amuria commonly use
the democratic leadership style in supervising teaching and learning processes. Leadership styles
employed by principals in primary schools include allowing staff to make decisions, delegation of
authority, seeking new ideas and using them thus the most common leadership style that enhances
academic achievement is democratic. Any leadership style can be applied in schools based on
situations in schools to enhance academic achievement. Research findings also indicated that the
majority of the respondents were intrinsically motivated by the responsibilities they performed in
the school that gave them a sense of control over others, interaction and development of
relationship with people from many areas, recognition and respect accorded to teachers by the
community and the challenging nature of the teaching profession. Other forms of intrinsic
motivation were a great deal of job satisfaction and career development in the teaching profession.
This implies that such teachers derived their expectations from teaching and therefore had high
morale to perform better.

62
Basing on the findings, it is fair to conclude that the leadership styles of school heads are efficient
and performance of teachers was good despite the fact that their motivation was inadequate.
Consequently, many respondents advocated for increase in salary and other non monetary benefits
of teachers to match the increasing cost of living in Amuria district in particular and Uganda in
general. Despite this, however, the majority of the teachers performed their activities with high
morale as evidenced from reporting early at school, regular testing and examination of pupils, high
turn up of teachers in staff meetings and school occasions, efficiency at maintenance of students
discipline and supervision of school activities among others.

Further the study concludes that all the head teachers in Amuria district faced various challenges
like; parents not paying school fees, indiscipline cases, inadequate learning/ teaching materials and
inadequate number of trained teachers, teachers’ failure to attend all their lessons, teachers not
completing the syllabus in time and principals lacking time to check teachers’ professional
documents and students work. Some of these challenges such as parents not paying school fees,
inadequate number of trained teachers, and admission of students with low PLE marks were
however, more prevalent in low performing schools. These challenges have played a big role in
undermining the schools’ academic performance.

6.2 RECOMMENDATIONS

Basing on the conclusion derived from the study findings, the following recommendation were
made as per objectives per see:

6.2.1 The impact of leadership styles on pupils’ academic performance in public primary
schools in Amuria district

The school administrators should find out the best leadership styles by involving all education
stakeholders in the school in order to apply the most effective leadership style in the management
of the institution. While the democratic leadership style was widely used by school administrators
the Ministry of Education needs to promote its use in school administration.

The school administrations should continuously involve the teachers, students in decision making,
delegation of authority so as to allow for excellent academic achievement and the most acceptable
leadership style.

School head teachers should improve their leadership styles and managerial supervision skills
through attending management courses such as those organized by government and other

63
professional development workshops as a way of ensuring that teaching and learning processes take
place smoothly in order to improve pupils’ performance.

6.2.2 Influence of teacher motivation on pupils’ academic performance in public primary

schools in Amuria district

The Ministry of Public Service should work out incentive packages to increase teacher’s motivation
to teach in primary schools. Special attention should be put at increasing teacher’s salaries because
the majority of them (teachers) complained about the inadequacy of their salary to meet their needs.
Increasing teacher’s salaries will increase their morale to teach. This is because the teachers must
be interested in what they teach and in the children when they are teaching. If they are not
interested in the work themselves, they can never motivate the class to learn leading to poor
academic performance.

Accommodation needs to be provided to the teachers to enable them live near schools since many
of them reported to be living far away from their schools. Communities should be assisted by the
government to put up decent teacher’s houses so that teachers live within the schools and thus
reduce lateness and absenteeism. This will increase their motivation and eventually performance.
The local community‘s contribution in this case may be in form of provision of free labour or
financial contributions towards the construction process.

Supervision by the Ministry of Education and Sports especially through Education Standards
Agency should be strengthened and circuit supervisors be more regular to stop teachers from
participating in secondary employment. The District Inspectorate of Education should also be
strengthened and adequately funded to carry out routine inspections in schools. Regular visits to the
schools would motivate the teachers to be more regular and early in school and avoid divided
attention of searching for secondary employment.

Awards could be instituted for better performance. Areas such as school and pupil discipline,
teacher performance, pupil attendance and achievement and community and parent participation in
school activities should be rewarded to serve as a motivation.

Teachers need to motivate the children. Motivation is the force that determines how much effort an
individual puts into his learning (Farrant, 1980). As put by Farrant (1980), the engines of human
motivation are interest and desire. When these are working at full power in an individual,
remarkable feats of learning can be achieved. It is therefore in the teacher’s interest to take the
trouble to see that the child’s interest and appropriate desires are aroused before trying to teach him.
It is therefore important that teachers attempt to arouse the interest and the joy in each lesson they

64
teach. They could do this through the use of humour in the classroom, paying individual attention to
the pupils using different approaches to teaching and positive reinforcements. Motivated classes
tend to increase teacher morale and pupil academic performance.

6.2.3 The challenges affecting pupils’ academic performance in public primary schools in
Amuria district

Firstly, from a human capital perspective, quality cannot continue to come second to quantity. To
improve completion rates, the government of Uganda has come up with a number of policy
interventions some of which have indeed undermined the quality of education. For example, in
2005 the Ministry of Education and Sports compelled schools to promote pupils irrespective of
their performance. As we struggle to maintain attendance and strive to improve completion rates,
it’s even more important that quality and attainment improve. The government should, therefore,
reverse this policy to ensure that only pupils with a passing mark can be promoted. This will go a
long way in improving quality of pupils that graduate from public schools.

Secondly, the model adopted that puts the responsibility of funding of UPE squarely on the
government is not economically viable given other competing priorities. In view of limited
resources, government’s contribution to UPE is not enough to move the sector to the desired level.
It is, therefore, time to rethink this model and adopt a cost sharing model in which both parents and
the government contribute to the funding of primary school education. With parents contributing to
UPE, teachers can be paid a decent salary, and more classrooms and other infrastructure can be
built.

Then, government should put a lot of emphasis on increasing supervision and inspection in public
schools. This will be instrumental in curbing teacher absenteeism leading to increased teacher pupil
interaction and thus improving learning outcomes.

6.3 Areas for Further Research

The results of the study have revealed inadequate motivation of teachers and consequently low
pupil’s academic performance. This implies that studies to investigate strategies that can be
implemented to improve teacher motivation and performance in primary schools are necessary.

65
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White, B (2000). Dissertation Skills for Business and Management Students, Martins the Printers
Ltd, Great Britain

World Bank (2007), School Based Management, Washington, DC: The World Bank.

World Bank, (2016), World Development Report 2016, New York: Oxford University Press.

YukI, G. (1994). Leadership in Organizations (3rd ed). Englewood cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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 APPENDIX I: CONSENT FORM FOR PARTCIPANTS
THE TITLE OF RESEARCH: LEADERSHIP STYLES, TEACHERS’ MOTIVATION AND
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF PUPILS IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN AMURIA
DISTRICT

This consent form serves to give you an understanding of the purpose of this research and
subsequently the procedure to be followed when undertaking it. Further implications for your
participation are explained. Make sure you read the information sheet carefully, or have it be
explained to you, to your satisfaction.

1. Description: This study is purely an academic research undertaking. The researcher is a

Stafford University student pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Education. This research is a major
requirement to complete the Programme.

2. Purpose: The researcher wishes to assess the impact of leadership styles and teachers’
motivation on the academic performance of pupils in public primary schools in Amuria district,
Uganda.

3. Consent: Participation in this exercise is voluntary, i.e. you do not need to participate, if you
do not want to.

4. Confidentiality: All the data collected from this research will be treated with high
confidentiality. Participants are assured of anonymity in this research.

5. Rights of Respondent: The rights of the respondents will be protected and respected.
Participants are assured that they shall suffer no harm as a result of participating in this
exercise. Participants are free to ask for clarifications at any point during the exercise and to
inform the researcher if they feel uncomfortable about any procedure in the research and may
withdraw if they wish.

DECLARATION OF CONSENT

I have read through the participant information sheet. I now consent voluntarily to be a participant
in this project.

Participant’s Name: _____________________________________

Signature: _______________________________

Date: ___________________________________

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 APPENDIX II: TEACHERS QUESTIONNAIRE
My name is Aguti Hellen Margaret, a student at Stafford University - Soroti, pursuing a
Bachelors Degree in Education. I am carrying out research on Effects of Leadership Styles and
Motivation on the Academic Performance of Pupils in Public Primary School in Amuria District. I
kindly request you to provide me with information. It will be treated as confidential and used for
academic purposes only.

SECTION A: BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT TEACHERS (Please tick () the

right option or fill the right answer in the spaces provided)

Name of the school _______________________________________________________

A1. Position of respondent _________________________________________________

A2. Gender
1. Male 2. Female

A3. What is your age range? (Please tick () under only one of them).

Age 20-30 years 31 -40 years 41 -50 years Above 51 years

A4. Marital status

1. Single 2. Married 3. Widowed

A5. Highest education level attained (Please tick () under only one of them).
Qualification Secondary Certificate Diploma Bachelor Post Graduate

A6. How long have you been employed in this school?

Years Below 1 year 1-2 years 3-4 years 5-6 years Above 6 years

A8. Salary earned per month: ______________________________________________________

A9. What motivated you to join the teaching profession? ________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________
SECTION B: SCHOOL LEADERSHIP STYLES

B1. How do you rate the leadership styles of head and deputy head teachers’ in this school?
Good and Encouraging
Average

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 Bad and Discouraging

B2. For each of the following statements about the leadership styles of head and deputy
teachers, please indicate (by ticking) the extent to which you agree them, using the
following scale: (Strongly Agree, Agree, Undecided, Disagree And Strongly Disagree).

Undecided

Disagree

Disagree
Strongly

Strongly
Statements

Agree
Agree
1. Head teacher makes his or her attitudes clear to the staff
2. Head teacher maintains definite standards of performance
3. Head teacher lets staff members know what is expected of
them
4. Head teacher rules out with an iron hand
5. Head teacher sees to it that the work of staff members is
coordinated
6. Head teacher emphasizes the meeting of deadlines
7. Head teacher works without schedules
8. Head teacher criticizes poor work
9. Head teacher is free, supportive and have respect for
differences
10. Head teacher refuses to explain his/her actions
11. Head teacher is slow to accept new ideas
12. Head teacher gets staff approval in important matters before
implementing them
13. Head teacher mobilizes and utilize the potential resources
and creativity of members for accomplishing group goals

A3. What challenges/problems do you face as a teacher in this school?

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________

A4. What do you think can be done to improve teacher motivation in this school?
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________

A5. What do you think can be done to improve head and deputy teachers’ leadership styles in this
school?
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________

SECTION C: INTRINSIC MOTIVATION AMONG TEACHERS

C1. For each of the following statements, please indicate (by ticking) the extent to which you
agree them, using the following scale: (Strongly Agree, Agree, Undecided, Disagree and
Strongly Disagree).

Undecided

Disagree

Disagree
Strongly

Strongly
Statements

Agree
Agree
1. Teaching gives me a great deal of job satisfaction
2. I enjoy teaching as a profession
3. The challenging nature of teaching has kept me in the
profession
4. Teaching is a competitive profession in this school
5. Teaching gives me recognition and respect from the
community
6. I have prospects for career development in the teaching
profession
7. The responsibilities I perform in the school give a sense of
control over others.
8. Teaching has always been one of my goals in life
9. I am more useful to the community as a teacher than any
other profession
10. Teaching enables me to interact and develop relationship
with people from many areas

B2. To what extent have the intrinsic motivators increased your morale to perform teaching
responsibilities?
To a big extent
To a small extent
Not at all

SECTION D: EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION AMONG TEACHERS

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D1. For each of the following statements about extrinsic motivation, please indicate (by ticking)
the extent to which you agree them, using the following scale: (Strongly Agree, Agree,
Undecided, Disagree and Strongly Disagree).

Undecided

Disagree

Disagree
Strongly

Strongly
Statements

Agree
Agree
1. I am paid a salary that is enough to cater for my basic needs
2. The school provides me free accommodation
3. I get free meals at school
4. Salary payments are prompt
5. The school offers weekly duty allowances
6. Extra teaching allowances paid by the school help me to
complete the syllabus
7. The school offers financial assistance to teachers with parties
8. It is possible to get advance payment from the school in case
I have a financial problem
9. The school organizes end of year party for teachers
10. Teachers who perform well are given prizes
11. Teachers are given leave of absence in case they have a
reason to justify it.
12. Teachers are given free medical care in case of ill health

D2. To what extent have the extrinsic motivators increased your morale to perform teaching
responsibilities?
To a big extent
To a small extent
Not at all

END

Thank You For Your Time And Cooperation.

75
 APPENDIX III: KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEW GUIDE

Title of the Key informant: __________________________________________

1. What form of leadership styles do head teachers have in this school (public primary schools in
Amuria district)?
________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Do you think these leadership styles are sufficient to ensure good performance of teachers and
consequential academic achievement of pupils? Support your answer
________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
3. What form of intrinsic and extrinsic motivators do teachers have in this school (public primary
schools in Amuria district)?
________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
4. Do you think these motivators are sufficient to ensure good performance of teachers and
subsequent academic excellence of pupils? Support your answer
________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Comment on the performance of head teachers and teachers towards good academic performance
of learners in this school/district
________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
6. What problems do teachers face in this school/district?
________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
7. What do you think can be done to improve leadership styles and teacher motivation in this
school/district?
________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

Thank You for Participation.

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 APPENDIX IV: FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE

Time: 30 minutes to 1 hour

Moderator: Researcher
Recorder: Researcher

QUESTIONS
1. What forms of leadership styles are exhibited by head teachers at your school?
2. Do you think these leadership styles are sufficient to ensure good performance of teachers and
subsequent academic excellence of pupils? Support your answer
3. What form of intrinsic motivators do teachers have in your school?
4. Do you think these motivators are sufficient to ensure good performance of teachers and
subsequent academic excellence of pupils? Support your answer.
5. What form of extrinsic motivators do teachers have in your school?
6. Do you think these motivators are sufficient to ensure good performance of teachers and
subsequent academic excellence of pupils? Support your answer.
7. Comment on the performance of teachers in this school/district.
8. What problems do teachers face in this school/district?
9. What do you think can be done to improve teacher motivation in this school/district?
10. What do you think can be done to improve teacher performance in this school/district?

Thank You for Participation.

77
 APPENDIX V: DOCUMENT REVIEW GUIDE

Name of Public Primary School: ……………………………………………..………...………..

Sub County: ………………… Parish: ………………………. Village: ……………………….

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The study seeks to assess the impact of managerial competence and community involvement on the
academic performance of pupils in public primary schools in Amuria district, Uganda.

DOCUMENT REVIEW GUIDE

1. School PLE result for the last 4 years

2. School enrolments of the upper classes

3. Accountability mechanisms for funds

4. Inspection reports and the key recommendations made by inspectors

5. Staff meeting minutes, the key issues discussed and the recommendations made.

78
 APPENDIX VI: WORK PLAN

DATE/MONTH ACTIVITY PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE

Developing Research Topic
January 2019 Researcher and Supervisor
and Approval
Proposal Writing. Developing
February – March 2019 Research Instruments and Researcher and Supervisor
Approval
Proposal Review and Pilot
April 2019 Researcher and Supervisor
Testing of Tools

May – July 2019 Data Collection Researcher

August – September 2019 Data Processing and Analysis Researcher

Report Writing and Final

October 2019 Researcher and Supervisor
Report Submission

APPENDIX VII: BUDGET ESTIMATES

79
No. ITEM QUANTITY COST/UNIT TOTAL COST
1. Stationery 02 reams 20,000 40,000
2. Printing and Binding 03 reports 100,000 300,000
3. Communication N/A 100,000
4. Transport N/A 250,000
5. Upkeep 20 days 10,000 200,000
6. Data Analysis N/A 300,000
7. Miscellaneous N/A 300,000 300,000
TOTAL 1,490,000

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