Uganda: factors affecting student learning in primary school

Estimates from the World Bank (2021) suggest that 83 percent of 10-year-old children in Uganda may not be proficient in reading (the estimate includes out-of-school children). This means that they are considered as “learning poor”. National student assessments also suggest low levels of proficiency for students in primary and secondary schools. This situation is likely to have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic that led to school closures for two years. What can be done to improve student learning? This brief provides tentative answers based on an analysis of a Service Delivery Indicators (SDI) survey. The analysis looks at student performance on tests for English, numeracy, nonverbal reasoning, and the student’s overall score for the three dimensions combined. Explanatory factors include a wide range of school, teacher, child, and community characteristics. The analysis also permits a comparison of student performance by type of school.