SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN UGANDA SECONDARY HYBRID E.LEARNING FOR RURAL ABSTRACT For the last two decades, a number of policies ai- months in 2007 and they were independently exa- med at increasing participation of female students mined four times. The repeated measures data HYBRID E-LEARNING FOR RURAL in higher education have been implemented by that were collected were analysed using multilevel Uganda Government. However, the participation methods to establish the effects of the hybrid e- SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN UGANDA of female students in the engineering courses in learning intervention and school contexts on the Makerere University, Uganda’s biggest University, performance of the students in external exami- CO-EVOLUTION IN TRIPLE HELIX PROCESSES has remained between 17% to 20% only. Further- nations. more, over 90% of the female engineering stu- dents are from the ‘elite’ and advantaged urban Results of the analysis showed that, 41% of the schools located in the capital city, Kampala, and its students passed and were eligible for university surrounding Districts of Mukono and Wakiso. Ru- admission. Furthermore, it was found that within- ral secondary schools perform poorly in Physics student factors were chiefly responsible for the and Mathematics; the key technology and engine- performance of students in Physics, while for Mat- ering subjects. One rural District, which has failed hematics, the school contexts were more domi- Peter Okidi Lating to send female students to Makerere University nant. However, after extrapolation of the perfor- for engineering training, is Arua- a remote, poor mance of the students over twelve months, up to and insecure District in the West Nile Region of 72% of the students would have passed and be Uganda. eligible to join higher institutions of learning. The main objective of the doctoral research was The study, which focused e-learning for two to improve the performance in Physics and Mat- schools in the rural district of Arua, included co- hematics, at Advanced Level Examinations, of two evolving elements in a Triple Helix Processes. The rural girls’ secondary schools in Arua (Muni and results were the setting up of the ICT/GIS Re- Ediofe) through application of e-learning. Both search Centre in Arua. The Centre is not only schools have no functional science laboratories helping the community in the West Nile region of and libraries. They also have no qualified and com- Uganda but also near by communities in South- mitted teachers who can competently teach at ern Sudan and Eastern Democratic Republic of that level of education. The research included Congo. The Centre has helped to establish an In- participatory action research methodology and formation Society in the region. the use of interactive multimedia CD-ROMs for Physics and Mathematics as the main course deli- Keywords: Secondary Schools, Hybrid E-Learning, very platform. During the study, twenty nine fema- Multilevel Analysis, Rural, Gender, Triple Helix, Okidi Lating Peter le students from the two schools effectively used Physics and Mathematics, Mode 2, CD-ROMs, ICT the hybrid e-learning tools and applications for six Research Centre, Information Society, Uganda. Blekinge Institute of Technology Doctoral Dissertation Series No. 2009:01 2009:01 ISSN 1653-2090 School of Technoculture, Humanities and Planning 2009:01 ISBN 978-91-7295-158-7 Hybrid E-learning for Rural Secondary Schools in Uganda Co-evolution in Triple Helix Processes Peter Okidi Lating (YBRID% LEARNING FOR2URAL3ECONDARY3CHOOLSIN5GANDA #O EVOLUTIONIN4RIPLE(ELIX0ROCESSES 0ETER/KIDI,ATING Blekinge Institute of Technology Doctoral Dissertation Series No 2009:01 Hybrid E-learning for Rural Secondary Schools in Uganda Co-evolution in Triple Helix Processes Peter Okidi Lating Division of Technoscience Studies School of Technoculture, Humanities and Planning Blekinge Institute of Technology SWEDEN "LEKINGE)NSTITUTEOF4ECHNOLOGY "LEKINGE)NSTITUTEOF4ECHNOLOGY SITUATEDONTHESOUTHEASTCOASTOF3WEDEN STARTEDINANDINGAINEDTHERIGHTTORUN0H$PROGRAMMESINTECHNOLOGY 2ESEARCHPROGRAMMESHAVEBEENSTARTEDINTHEFOLLOWINGAREAS !PPLIEDSIGNALPROCESSING #OMPUTERSCIENCE #OMPUTERSYSTEMSTECHNOLOGY $EVELOPMENTOF$IGITAL'AMES (UMANWORKSCIENCEWITHASPECIALFOCUSON)4 )NTERACTION$ESIGN -ECHANICALENGINEERING 3OFTWAREENGINEERING 3PATIALPLANNING 4ECHNOSICENCESTUDIES 4ELECOMMUNICATIONSYSTEMS 2ESEARCHSTUDIESARECARRIEDOUTINFACULTIES ANDABOUTATHIRDOFTHEANNUALBUDGETISDEDICATEDTORESEARCH "LEKINGE)NSTITUEOF4ECHNOLOGY 3 +ARLSKRONA 3WEDEN WWWBTHSE © 2009 Peter Okidi Lating Division of Technoscience Studies ¥1FUFS0LJEJ-BUJOH School of Technoculture, Humanities Studies 4DIPPMPG5FDIOPDVMUVSF )VNBOJUJFTBOE1MBOOJOH Publisher:%JWJTJPOPG5FDIOPTDJFODF4UVEJFT Blekinge Institute of Technology Printed(SBQIJD%FTJHOBOE5ZQFTFUUJOH#JMECPMBHFUJ,ZSLIVMU by Printfabriken, Karlskrona, Sweden 2009 ISBN 978-91-7295-158-71VCMJTIFS#MFLJOHF*OTUJUVUFPG5FDIOPMPHZ Blekinge1SJOUFECZ1SJOUGBCSJLFO ,BSMTLSPOB 4XFEFO Institute of Technology Doctoral Dissertation Series *4#/ ISSN 1653-2090VSOOCOTFCUI urn:nbn:se:bth-00424 is work is dedicated to my dear wife, Christine Alanyo, children, Felix Langol, Atim Joan, Mwaka Stephen, Aredo Joy Goretti and Okot Samuel, my mother, the late Antonietta Labogi, who succumbed to pancreatic cancer in January, 2008. 6 7 Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the generous financial support I received from Sida/SAREC for purposes of carrying out the PhD research in the remote, poor and insecure rural district of Arua in the West Nile Region of Uganda. I am extremely grateful for the constant guidance and assistance I received from both supervisors: Dr. Samuel Baker Kucel of Makerere University, Uganda, and Professor Lena Trojer of Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden. Special gratitude is extended to Arua District Local Council which unreservedly offered buildings for housing the ICT Research Center in Arua town. In this regard, Mr. Saibo Kamilo (the Vice Local Council V Chairman), Mr. Stanley Adrabo (formerly the Deputy Chief Administration Officer) and Mr. Dawin Dawa (the District Information Officer) deserve to be individually recognized for their close collaboration with me throughout the period of the study in the District. It will not be fair if I do not recognize the leadership of the two advanced-level sec- ondary schools for offering the female students who participated in the hybrid e-learning project. Special thanks go to the headmistresses of both schools: Sr. Susan Ndeezo of St. Mary’s Ediofe Girls, and Mrs. Margaret Ayiseni of Muni Girls. ey fully participated in the integration of e-learning in their schools. I acknowledge the invaluable contribution made by SchoolNet Uganda and Makerere College School; an elite secondary school in Kampala. SchoolNet Uganda helped to develop ICT pedagogic skills of science teachers in the project schools. It also donated a server with pre-loaded science content for use by both the students and their teachers. e server was used for setting up the digital library for the participating students. Mr. Daniel Kakinda, the Executive Director, SchoolNet Uganda deserves special recognition for this support. Senior teachers of Makerere College School developed content for the hybrid e-learning project. Special thanks go to Mr. Kato Dennis, Head of Department of Physics, Mr. Sairo Sulaiman, a senior Mathematics teacher and Ms. Jennifer Nalule Bbosa, a Physics Laboratory Technician. It is my pleasure to thank the following staff of Blekinge Institute of Technology for the various supports they rendered to me while in Sweden: Mr. Peter Giger, Dr. Pirjo Elovaara, Dr.Peter Ekdahl, Mr. Silvio Ocasic, Anita Carlsson and Ms Madeleine Persson. From the faculty of Technology, Makerere University, I would like to thank all the col- leagues in the faculty for their useful academic interaction throughout the four years of the research activities. Lastly, I am also indebted to my family especially my wife Ms Christine Alanyo and children (Felix Langol, Atim Joan, Mwaka Stephen, Aredo Joy Goretti and Okot Samuel) for tolerating my long absence from home during the study period. 8 9 Table of Contents Abstract 14 Introductory Remarks 16 PART I 17 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 25 1.1 Background to the Study 25 1.1.1 Some Remarks about Uganda 25 1.1.2 Regulation of the Education Sector in Uganda 26 1.1.3 Enrolment by Gender for Engineering Courses in Makerere University 27 1.1.4 Policy Interventions for Improvement of Female Students Participation in Makerere University 30 1.1.5 Research Area Location 31 1.1.5.1 Arua District 31 1.1.5.2 Situational Analysis of Muni and Ediofe 33 1.1.6 Attempts by the Ministry of Education to Improve Science and Mathematics Education in Uganda 41 1.1.6.1In-Service Secondary Teacher Education Project 41 1.1.6.2 Support to the Education Strategic Investment Plan Project 42 1.1.6.3 Uganda Post-Primary Education and Training Project 43 1.1.6.4 Repairs to Formerly Top Schools 44 1.1.6.5 Government to Build Teachers Houses 44 1.1.6.6 Strategic Investment in Education 44 1.1.6.7 Secondary Science and Mathematics Training Project 44 1.1.6.8 Minimum Requirements of Examination Centres by UNEB 45 1.1.6.9 UNEB O-Level Syllabus Amended 45 1.1.6.10 Some Concluding Remarks 45 1.2 Research Problem Statements and the Research uestions 46 1.2.1 Problem Statements 46 1.2.2 e Research uestions 47 1.3 Objectives of the Study 47 1.3.1 Main Research Objective 47 1.3.2 Specific Research Objectives 48 1.4 Scope of the Study 48 1.5 Ethical Considerations 49 8 9 CHAPTER TWO: CONTEXTUAL