Effects of physical activity on the academic achievement of pupils in selected schools in Nawaikona sub - county, Namutumba district, Uganda
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Date
2024
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Busitema University
Abstract
The study was undertaken with the purpose of finding out the effects of physical activity on the academic achievement of pupils in Selected Schools in Nawaikona Sub - County, Namutumba district, Uganda. It was guided by the study objectives to; investigate the levels of academic achievement of pupils, find out the forms of physical activity engaged in by pupils and to establish the effects of physical activity on the academic achievement of pupils in selected grant aided primary schools of Nawaikona sub – county, Namutumba district, Uganda. The targeted population here included the; head teachers, Members of the School Management committees, teachers of Primary Seven as well as the Primary seven candidates from the five selected schools. With a population of 785, research tools were issued to 403 respondents selected through the different probability sampling techniques. Out of the 403, 363 of the respondents participated meaningfully giving a response rate of 91.7% which was adequate enough for the data to be analyzed. Data was collected from primary and secondary sources was sorted, organized in frequency tables and percentage’s objective by objective. After analyzing the collected data and its trends, it was concluded that pupils are involved in sufficient PA activities such as; walking to school daily, participating in athletics, playing football playing netball, engaging in physical work like; slashing, sweeping and picking while at school though the time allocated to the teaching of Physical Education and Physical Activity in general was found to be insufficient across the schools of Nawaikona subcounty, Namutumba district. It was also established that an increase in the levels of PA will lead to a better AA among the primary school pupils. It was established with evidence that, involvement in PA, increases pupils’ interest in school, helps to keep pupils’ alert in class, enables pupils to complete given work at school, helps pupils to perform well in tests and exams, improves pupil’ health for better learning and enables pupils to remain in school until they complete the primary school. It was recommended that Schools should reinforce the involvement of learners in a variety of physical Activity for a better and improved academic performance. Learners should enjoy participating in such PA activities as; walking, running, ball games, athletics, games of low organization as well as water games like bottle filling, wading and swimming. Learning at the primary school should be programmed through play way. Play is the most effective way(method) of teaching because through play; a natural PA activity, all senses of the body are involved in the learning process, hence’ realistic and more meaningful concept development. The teaching of Physical education and other PA activities in Primary Schools should be allocated time as guided by the World Health Organization, thus, at least 60 minutes of Moderate to Vigorous Activity (MVA) per week. schools, especially at the primary level, should ensure that pupils are involved in the timetabled Physical Education lessons without deviations or omissions regardless of the class levels. The study also recommended future studies on the causes of school dropouts in the Primary schools as well as the factors affecting the teaching of Physical Education in the Primary Schools of Nawaikona subcounty, Namutumba district.
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Kiiza, A. (2024). Effects of physical activity on the academic achievement of pupils in selected schools in Nawaikona sub - county, Namutumba district, Uganda [Research report]. Busitema University.