Students’ Efforts and School Performance Indices (SPI) in Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations

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Introduction
Uganda is in a major educational crisis because, while opportunity for access has been expanded and enrolments have doubled since 1980s, levels of academic achievements as reflected by candidates' performances in public examinations including Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) are not equitable Rensick (1999). Candidates from Central Uganda have been performing better than those from Northern Uganda. The gaps in the performance levels have continued to widen since the mid-1980s, yet, the futures of the students depend on their level of passing examination subjects. For instance, in this study, the performances of candidates of UCE examinations from selected schools from Central and Northern Uganda for ten years (2001 -2011) were used to compare the performances of the candidates. Students' performances were transformed into School Performance Averages (SPA) showing how majority of the students performed in an examination in a certain year. For instance SPA of 1.0 indicates that majority of the students passed in Division one while SPA of 3.3 reflects that majority of the candidates passed in Division three. School Performance Averages (SPAs) were used to calculate the School Performance Indices (SPI)-"annual measure" of test score performances of schools expressed as percentages, (Mwai, et al, 2009;API, 2010). To what extent have students' efforts they put in their studies played a role in causing this disparity in their performances leading to variations in SPI in UCE examinations? Is students' effort they put in their studies, the strongest factor influencing the SPI in UCE examinations in schools from Central and Northern Uganda?
The purpose of this study was to carry out a comparative study of the influence of students' efforts on SPI in UCE examinations amongst schools in Central and Northern Uganda. The objectives were: -i) to investigate the levels of efforts put in by students from schools in Central and Northern Uganda to excel in UCE examinations; ii) to compare the strength of influence of students 'effort and other students-related factors (Students' discipline; and students' parents' contributions) on SPI in UCE examinations and iii) compare the variations in the SPI in UCE examinations among the schools from Central and Northern Uganda with the levels of efforts put in by the students in their studies. This study was guided by the following hypotheses as shown below: 1. "The efforts put in to excel in UCE examinations by students in schools from Central Uganda are not more than efforts put in by those students in schools in Northern Uganda".
They therefore advised it should be noted that whatever effort that teachers exert to enhance students learning, the honours lay with the students, hence, the proverb 'you can lead a horse to the river but you cannot force it to drink. Nicholas & Sutton, 2013;Tella, 2007 revealed that students can play a critical role in improving academic performance. Positive Students' study habit where students attend to their school work, read book to search relevant information, schedule time for doing homework, attend tutorials and ask teachers questions where they do not understand the concepts taught and work on teachers' feedback showing how they have performed and work in groups when they are given an assignment or topics for discussion is a very important aspect of students' behaviour that can enhance students' academic performance. Researches by Pace, (1984);Carol, (2003) through using descriptive statistics, ANOVA and t-tests revealed that student effort based on time invested (frequency) in doing home works, reading text books related and non-related to the courses; attending discussions with peers, academic club activities and academic seminars and attending classes is a good predictor of student learning, such that students who invest more effort in their educational endeavuors learn more. While Cabanaro (2005) found out that Students' effort was strongly related to students' learning, and the effect of students' effort on students' learning was roughly the same, regardless of the track in which a student was placed.
These researches were not done at secondary school level; not in Uganda; not in high-stake examinations like the UCE; and in single subjects like Mathematics and Reading. Quantitative methods were used, rather than qualitative methods that could have yielded a variety of perceptions from stakeholders.

Methodology
The study used both the quantitative and qualitative approaches to obtain a variety of information on the same issue and to address the strength of each method to overcome the deficiencies in each other. A descriptive survey method was used to describe the data and analytical survey that applied statistical analyses were used to establish the relationships between the variables Students related factors (students' efforts, students' discipline and students' parents' contributions) and SPI in UCE examinations. A cross-sectional parallel survey design, following causal-comparative and a correlational-regression approach was used because participants were selected from different categories of the members of the population.
The study population was made up of stakeholders of 18 "traditional" secondary schools that were established by the Missionaries before Independence and by Government in the early 1960s in Central Region and 15 secondary schools Northern Region of Uganda that have both "O" and "A" levels. The population included:-363 students; 198 teachers; 10 head teachers (HT); 10 Deputy Headteachers (DHT), 10 Directors of Studies (DOS), 10 Career Guidance Teachers (CGT), and 12 parents from each school. But in total those who responded included:-140 students; 80 teachers; 72 school leaders (Head teachers, Deputy Headteachers, Directors of Studies, Career Guidance Teachers), and 12 parents.
Two-Stage Random Sampling Method was used to sample the schools. The first stratification was based on two (2) administrative regions of Uganda: Central and Northern Uganda. In each region, the Districts where the "traditional" secondary schools existed were purposefully selected; the Central region of Uganda was represented by Kampala, Mukono and Wakiso Districts, while the Northern Region was represented by the

Students' Efforts and School Performance Indices (SPI) in Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations
International Journal for Innovation Education and Research Vol. 11 No. 5 (2023), pg. 11 Arua, Gulu, Kitgum and Zombo. The second stratification was based on location of the schools, so both urban and rural schools were included. The students and parents were randomly selected from each category of schools to participate in the research. Teachers who were teaching senior three and five classes were purposefully selected. The Headteachers (HTs), Deputy Headteachers (DHTs), Directors of Studies (DOS) and Career Guidance Teachers (CGTs) of the selected schools automatically qualified to participate in the sample, thus, purposefully selected.
Questionnaire was designed to seek information from the teachers using a 5-likert scale Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), be Neutral (N), Disagree (DA) or Strongly Disagree (SDA), or Very Often (VO), Often (O), Seldom (S), Not At All (NAT), Not Sure (NS).
Questionnaire for students had two parts. In part one, the students were expected to either Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), be Neutral (N), Disagree (DA) or Strongly Disagree (SDA). In part two, the students were expected to state length of time they spent on carrying out school activities (40 -60 hours, 31 -45 hours, 15 -30 hours, 15 hours, less than 15 hours) or state the number of home works done, text books read in a week.
All these were to help to ascertain the amount of effort a student puts in to excel in UCE examinations.
Interview guide were used to collect data from the school leaders (HTs, DHT, DOS, CGTs) and Parents to report their views, opinions, perceptions and attitudes on efforts put in by students to excel in UCE examinations. They were expected to report activities students carry out at school and at home that reveal that the students are putting in effort to excel in UCE examinations.
The school records-UNEB results (UCE examination results from 2001 -2011), Assessment Records, School Timetables (both Official and Extra), Minutes of House, Class, Academic Meetings, were utilized. This helped to find additional information on the efforts put in by the candidates to excel in UCE examinations.
The Data was analysed in three (3)  Responses from teachers and students were coded as SA = 5; A = 4; N = 3; DA = 2 SDA = 1 from which the school Means( ̅̅̅ ) were calculated. The School Means( ) ̅̅̅̅̅ were aggregated into Regional Means( ) ̅̅̅̅̅ and used to test the null hypotheses using t-test, α = one tailed = 0.05, df = n-2 where n = number of schools because these were independent samples of schools and the purposes were to see whether the differences between the Means of the two groups (Schools in Northern Uganda and Schools in Central Uganda) were statistically significant.
The formular used was: In the second phase, the descriptive responses from the Headteachers (HTs), Deputy Headteachers (DHTs), Directors of Studies (DOS), Career Guidance Teachers (CGTs) and parents were grouped to find out which response was most popular or least popular among each category of leaders.

Students' Efforts and School Performance Indices (SPI) in Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations
International Journal for Innovation Education and Research Vol. 11 No. 5 (2023), pg. 12 In the third phase, in order to determine if students' efforts, had the most impact on the students' performances in UCE examinations and thereafter on the SPI, the researcher used Partial regression coefficient test.

Introduction
The focus was to determine if the variations in the SPI in UCE examinations amongst the schools in Central and Northern Uganda was a result of variations in the level of efforts put in by the students studying in schools from Central and Northern Uganda. Aware that students' academic achievements are influenced by a number of factors-students' efforts, students' disciplines and students' parents' contributions, assumptions have been that there were no differences in the levels of efforts put in by students in their studies and in the strength of the factors influencing the students' performances and SPI in UCE examinations. Therefore two null hypotheses were tested to answer the assumptions.

Null hypothesis1, "The efforts put in to excel in UCE examinations by students studying in schools from
Central Uganda are not more than put in by those students studying in schools in Northern Uganda" Teachers were asked to either agree or disagree with 10 statements that reflect the actions of the students' level of efforts put in during their studies. The summary of the responses by the teachers are shown in Table   1 below.   From Table 1 above, assessments by the teachers showed that students studying in schools from Central Uganda put in more effort to excel in UCE examinations than the students studying in schools from Northern Uganda. Higher percentages of teachers from schools in Central Uganda "strongly agreed" and "agreed" that their students carried out items (1, 8, 9, and 10).
Responses from teachers were coded from which the school Means( ̅̅̅ ) were calculated. The School Means( ) ̅̅̅̅̅ were aggregated into Regional Means( ) ̅̅̅̅̅ and used to test the null hypothesis 1 using t-test, α = one tailed = 0.05, df = n-2 where n = number of schools because these were independent samples of schools and the purposes were to see whether the differences between the Means of the two groups (Schools in Northern Uganda and in Central Uganda) were statistically significant as shown in Table 2 below. α= One tailed = 0,05

Students' Efforts and School Performance Indices (SPI) in Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations
As shown in Table 2 above, the finding was further confirmed by the result of the statistical test, t calculated 3.6724 is greater than t theoretical 2.12, = 0.05, df = 16, rejecting the null hypothesis one.
The students themselves were asked to assess their own efforts put in preparation for the UCE examinations.
They were asked to either agree or disagree with statements that reflect the level of efforts they put in to study before sitting the UCE examinations. They were further asked to state the length of time they invest in carrying out school activities related to learning. The summary of students' responses are summarised in Table 3 below.

Students' Efforts and School Performance Indices (SPI) in Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations
International Journal for Innovation Education and Research Vol. 11 No. 5 (2023), pg. 15

Students' Efforts and School Performance Indices (SPI) in Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations
International From Table 3 above, the percentages of responses from the students of schools from Central and Northern Uganda did not show any significant differences, implying that the students did not see any difference in the level of efforts they put in to excel in UCE examinations. The result through frequency count was further tested statistically as shown in Table 4 below.

Students' Efforts and School Performance Indices (SPI) in Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations
International Journal for Innovation Education and Research Vol. 11 No. 5 (2023), pg. 17 t theoretical = 2.12 α= One tailed = 0,05 The statistical test in Table 4 above further reveals that null hypothesis one has been accepted by the students, t calculated -0.4669 is less than t theoretical 1.746, α one tailed=0.05, df=16. All students think that they put in a lot of effort to achieve good performances in UCE examinations. In any case the students from one region may not be well aware of what their friends in other regions do. The teachers' assessment contradicts the assessment by the students themselves.
The school leaders and Parents were asked to report their views, opinions, perceptions and attitudes on efforts put in by students to excel in UCE examinations. They were expected to report activities students were carrying out at school and at home that reveal that the students are putting in effort to excel in UCE examinations. The results of their responses were summarised as in

Students' Efforts and School Performance Indices (SPI) in Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations
International As in Table 5 above, the teachers were supported by the school leaders -HTs, DHTs, DOS and CGTand parents. 100% of HTs, 75% of DHT, 100% of DOS, 80% of CGT and 100% of parents from schools from

Students' Efforts and School Performance Indices (SPI) in Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations
International were forced to read and attend classes; students had no self-drive to excel in academics but wait to be forced.
As a result, the students began to work hard when examinations were at the corner"; students prefer reading pamphlets rather than textbooks; students make inadequate preparations and perform poorly; students' efforts are minimal, they are being pushed by teachers, they need continuous guiding"

Null hypothesis 2 "There is no difference in the strength of students' factors influencing the SPI in UCE examinations in Central and Northern Uganda".
Partial regression coefficient test was used to test if the Students' effort had the most influence on the students' academic performances as reflected by the SPI as shown in Table 6 below.

Summary
Generally, the results showed that there were differences in the levels of students' efforts put in study activities by students in schools from Central and Northern Uganda. Teachers, parents and school leaders: -HTs, DHTs, DOS, and CGTs of schools from Central and Northern Uganda reported that students studying in schools in Central Uganda put more effort in their studies, than the students studying in schools in Northern Uganda.
The students' effort they put in their studies was found to be to the second strongest students related factor influencing the SPI in UCE examinations.

Discussion
The School leaders of schools from Central and Northern Uganda have said that to a large extent the students studying in schools from Central Uganda put in a lot more efforts in their academic and club activities than the students studying in schools in Northern Uganda. This was confirmed by t calculated ( Olatoun (2010) because the students in schools in Central Uganda have displayed signs of self-esteem, selfconcept, study habits and motivation that affect their academic success as revealed by school leaders, teachers and parents. Therefore, the students of schools from Central and Northern Uganda could be compared to Suzan and Robert in the story of Biggs and Tang (2007 practice, and performance and revealed that studies of gifted children have found perseverance to be a stronger However, this finding may still need some further investigation as it contradicts the findings by Carol, (2003) who found out those students' efforts needed to be motivated through the provision of conduisive activities and environments to enable the students to learn. Some of these motivation activities as cited by Todd and Larry, (2005) included Rank-Order; and those instituted by Turman's Assessment Committee,

Students' Efforts and School Performance Indices (SPI) in Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations
of making students take examinations during the day, having the Faculty Proctors present, reminding the students earlier and making the President of the University talking to the students. Other academic activities to motivate the efforts of students cited included continuous assessment, Bunza, (1999) and Mwere, (1999). Further still, are the teachers of schools in Northern Uganda applying the teaching styles as suggested by Biggs and Tang, (2007) that gets the students to use the level of cognitive processes needed to achieve the intended outcomes that the more academic students use spontaneously; or the deep learning approach as suggested by Biggs and Tang, (20079 and Entwistle, (2009). Do they work towards narrowing the gap between the motivated and unmotivated students?

Conclusions
The focus was to examine the extent to which students in schools from Central and Northern Uganda vary in their efforts put in their studies. Secondly, the study aimed at finding out if the variations in SPI in UCE examinations observed among the schools in Central and Northern Uganda was matching with the variations in the levels of efforts put in by these students in their studies.
I would like to conclude that the students in Central Uganda invest more effort in their studies than those from Northern Uganda. Therefore, the students in Central Uganda have higher chances to perform better in UCE examinations than the students in Northern Uganda. This is reflected in higher SPI (69≤ 118, Appendix 1, Odama S, 2017) in UCE examinations observed in schools in Central Uganda that are not by chance, but a reflection of the efforts of the students. This makes the teachers to be ready to contribute to their efforts to help the students.
Therefore, in summary, the questions that were asked by Karooro (2002) if the candidates from the best performing regions like Central Region had more "potentials" than their counter parts from the poorest performing regions like Northern Region, have been answered by this study. It is not that the students from Central Uganda have more potential but rather they put in more effort in their studies than the students studying in schools in Northern Uganda. All these gave the opportunity for the schools from Central Uganda to are the students' characteristics that should be developed if good academic achievements are required.

Students' Efforts and School Performance Indices (SPI) in Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations
International Journal for Innovation Education and Research Vol. 11 No. 5 (2023), pg. 23 Secondly, the resource based view as cited by Mugimu (2004) as upheld by Penrose (1959) and School Charges Review Task Force (1994) that schools perform better when they have resources have also been disproved. But rather the view by Kor Y.Y and Mahoney J. T. (2004) that it is not mere possession of the resources, but due to effective and innovative management and utilisation of the resources is upheld. All the schools selected had the resources but the students in schools in Central Uganda put more efforts while utelising the resources for the purpose of their academic excellence.
In recommendation, the primary objective of the students, teachers and administrators should be to perform better in UCE examinations, thus, they should focus on activities that meet better achievement in UCE examinations and good SPI. The school management should identify those students performing poorly, monitor their utilization of study time and assist them in resolving their problems regarding poor performances. All students must be encouraged to participate in remedial, extra lessons, field trips, educational or subject conferences or seminars and preps.
Teachers need to guide the students to get involved in the teaching-learning process so as to help the students acquire self-regulated learning techniques. Teachers should emphasise mastery of content as well as critical thinking skills and inquiry that is usually embedded in active student-student interactions or small group activities. Therefore, organising field trips, experiments, group discussions will help the teacher to get every student to be engaged, be able to learn more and retain more.
The students need to cultivate the reading culture by developing personal initiatives driven by goal orientation, what one wants to be after school that makes them read and perform. As suggested by Pintrich et al (1990), the students need to develop the "will" and the "skill" and self-regulated learning ability to be successful in the classroom and perform well in UCE examinations. Students should put in more effort in their studies by spending more time on reading, group and peer discussions, carrying out experiments, attending remedial lessons, extra lessons, seminars and preps. During holidays they should ensure that they save time to have group discussions with their peers, do the take home assignments and other activities that will help them to learn. Students should be active in the meetings like-House meetings, Under Performance and Class meetingsto help them to learn and excel in their performances.
However, there is need to investigate further why the students in schools in Northern Uganda do not put much effort

Students' Efforts and School Performance Indices (SPI) in Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations
International

Students' Efforts and School Performance Indices (SPI) in Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations
International

Students' Efforts and School Performance Indices (SPI) in Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations
International Journal for Innovation Education and Research Vol. 11 No. 5 (2023)

Students' Efforts and School Performance Indices (SPI) in Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations
International Journal for Innovation Education and Research Vol. 11 No. 5 (2023)

Students' Efforts and School Performance Indices (SPI) in Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations
International Journal for Innovation Education and Research Vol. 11 No. 5 (2023) Year Div. I Div.
II Div.  Year Div. I Div.

Students' Efforts and School Performance Indices (SPI) in Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations
International Journal for Innovation Education and Research Vol. 11 No. 5 (2023), pg. 40 Year Div. I Div.