Association of school, classroom environment factors and academic performance of girls in mathematics in public primary schools in Gombe Division, Wakiso District

education

Performance in mathematics has become a serious issue of discussion. The study aimed at establishing the association of school, classroom environment factors and academic performance of girls in mathematics in public primary schools in Gombe Division, Wakiso District, Uganda. Descriptive and correlation research designs and mix of quantitative and qualitative approaches of data collection were employed. The study involved 69 mathematics teachers and 23 head teachers working in the 23 primary schools in Gombe division. Mathematics teachers were the primary respondents while head teachers formed the key informants. The study findings showed that mathematics teachers rated girls’ performance in mathematics as good, there is moderate latrine stance ratio for girls, low availability of changing rooms for adolescent girls, low availability of female teachers of mathematics in upper primary, high level of support to mathematics teachers by head teachers, high existence of safety measures to protect girls against sexual harassment, high level of regularity of class and parent teacher association (PTA) meetings which created good school community partnerships. There was high use of teaching resources, good level of relationship and teachers’ level of assessment and feedback. There was positive correlation between school environment factors (rho = .376), classroom environment factors (rho=.597) and academic performance of girls in mathematics. The study recommended that schools and Ministry of education to improve school and classroom environment factors since they have significant relationship with academic performance.

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