The leadership impact of Karamojong teachers on the enrolment and retention of learners in Moroto municipality government primary schools, Uganda

Abstract

Despite the efforts of the government of Uganda to train school leaders in the Karamoja region, the enrolment and completion rate of Karamojong pupils in Moroto municipality primary schools remains low. Previous research attributes this to historical and environmental factors that promote Karamojong parents’ failure to attach value to formal education. This study analyses the leadership impact of Karamojong teachers on the enrolment and retention of learners in schools. It adopts an exploratory qualitative approach to gather data using interviews, informal conversations, field observations, and secondary documents from 15 participants using purposive sampling techniques, namely headteachers, deputy headteachers, directors of studies, heads of departments, and parents to examine the organizational structure of government primary schools in Moroto Municipality and identify the practices that influence enrolment and retention. The intercultural educational leadership framework and the concept of Indigenous relatedness in the educational setting guided the thematic analysis of the data. The findings show that involving learners in cocurricular activities, guidance and counselling, academic performance, provision of meals, and involving parents in decision making were key activities in the retention of learners in school. Some parents do remain opposed to having their children in school and argue that formal education erodes Karamojong traditions and values.