Cultural practices and students' academic performance in selected Secondary schools in Nebbi District.

Abstract

ABSTRACT The primary focus of the study was to examine the effect of cultural practices on students’ academic performance in selected secondary schools in Nebbi District.The objectives of this study were to: find out the influence of witchcraft on students’ academic, investigate the effect superstitions on students’ academic performanceand find out the impact of traditional medical practices on students’ academic performance in selected secondary schools in Nebbi District.In this study, a cross-sectional survey design was adopted and data was collected using questionnaires and interviews. The accessible population was all the students in S3 and S4 in the selected secondary schools. The total population size was 906 consisting of 679 students, 50 parents and 177 teachers. Using simple random and purposive sampling techniques, a sample of 270 was selected to participate in the study. Data from the questionnaires was presented using frequency tables and graphs for easy interpretation, from which narratives were generated to answer the research questions. Interview data were analysed focusing on the themes that emerged and were linked to the objectives of the study. The results from hypothesis test indicated that there is no statistically significant effect of cultural practices on students’ academic performance selected secondary schools in Nebbi District. Conclusively, the influence of witchcraft on students’ academic performance was associated with evil spirits attacks and unexplained fear which made them unsettled in class.In addition to this superstitious beliefs in prayers, lucks and dreams about successes or failures before sitting exams dominated the minds of the students and these affected their academic performance.Furthermore, poor students’ academic performancewas also linked to absentmindedness and discomfort associatedwith toxicity of traditional medicine.The study recommended that there should be effort to harmonise cultural and school activities, schools should develop programs that support children as students, stakeholders should design effective forms of communications about school programs and children's progress and that strong school-community relation should also be develop.