The effects of automatic promotion on the academic performance of primary school pupils in Kabarwa Sub County, Bukedea district
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Date
2025
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Busitema University
Abstract
This study investigated the causes of poor PLE subjects’ performance in government primary schools Kabwara Sub County, Bukedea District. The study answered the following questions; does Pupil’s attendance affect their performance in PLE subjects in Primary Schools in Kabwara Sub County, Bukedea District?, does teachers’ attendance affect the pupil’s performance in PLE subjects in Primary Schools in Kabwara Sub County, Bukedea District?, does the coverage in PLE subjects syllabus affect pupil’s performance in PLE subjects in Primary Schools in Kabwara Sub County, Bukedea District?, The study was guided by descriptive survey design and targeted a population of 6523 comprising of 7 head teachers, 98 teachers and 6403 pupil’s. Both stratified and random sampling was applied to sample the respondents. The data was analysed according to the questions using tables, frequency, percentages, pie charts and standard deviations. It was found that pupil’s attendance, teachers’ attendance, syllabus completion was not always effective leading to poor performance of PLE subjects and worse was with syllabus completion. Therefore, the study recommended automatic promotion to be curbed by the effort of community and local government in primary schools. This study employed a difference-in-differences analysis technique to estimate the average treatment effect of automatic promotion on students’ cognitive learning outcomes in Bukedea’s primary education. Regression results indicate a positive policy effect on learning achievements in literacy and numeracy at primary three (P3) and primary six (P6). Specifically, the implementation of automatic promotion policy has translated in to an increase in learning outcomes in reading and PLE subjects at P3 and P6, all statistically significant at conventional levels. Decomposing the effect along gender and school location (rural or urban) dimensions reveals positive and statistically significant effect on literacy and numeracy in both grades. The effect on students’ scores in rural areas is higher than that on students in urban schools. In terms of gender, the effect is relatively similar for female students and their male counterparts. These results are contrary to the popular belief among many Bukedeans, but consistent with earlier scholarly works that have attributed automatic promotion with positive impact on learning outcomes.
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Opio, J. G. (2025). The effects of automatic promotion on the academic performance of primary school pupils in Kabarwa Sub County, Bukedea District [Research report]. Busitema University.