Introduction [TJ]

8.3.1 Methodology

Research Instruments

A national workshop was held in September 2000 for familiarisation and adaptation of the instruments. During the national workshop the research team and other stakeholders were introduced to the design, methodology and instruments for the study. Using the input from the different stakeholders during the workshop, the instruments were adapted to the national setting and then pilot-tested in one of the SchoolNet schools near Kampala. As a result of the pilot test, changes were made to the pre-tested instruments and two additional instruments were designed.

A decision was made to design separate instruments for school administrators and the SchoolNet Uganda National Coordinator, essentially because the information needed from the two sources was very different. The instrument for Area Specialists was divided into separate response sections for the various types of specialists, i.e., policy makers, curriculum developers, connectivity specialists etc. An additional instrument was designed to collect information on the school profiles.
Sampling of Schools and Respondents

Two of the schools sampled, Gayaza High School and Namilyango College, were included because they were among the first three pilot schools to be connected to the Internet in November 1996 by the WorLD Program. The other two sample schools, Nabisunsa Girls School and Kings College Budo, were connected in 1998. Two of the schools were girls’ schools, one was a boys’ school and the other was mixed. All were boarding schools. About 30 students were sampled from each school using random sampling – this included computer users and non-users. 141 learner questionnaires were analysed.

Four educators were also sampled from each of the sample schools, making a total of 16 educators. In addition, another seven educators from other SchoolNet Schools participated. In total, 23 educator responses were analysed.
Data Collection

Preliminary visits were made to each of the schools to introduce the exercise and to make appointments. The learner questionnaires were administered with little problem and overall the exercise lasted between 30-45 minutes in each of the schools. Educator questionnaires were difficult to obtain due to end-of-year activities. Likewise there were problems in interviewing both the school coordinators and the head teachers for the same reasons. In total, 18 interviews were conducted as follows:

Head teachers	4
School Coordinators	5
Members  National Steering Committee	3
Ministry of Education ICT Task Force	2
National Coordinator	1
Technical Coordinator	1
Director, NCDC (Curriculum Developer)	1
ICT specialist	1

In addition, 30 e-mail questionnaires were returned by educators for analysis.

8.4 Findings

The major areas that emerged as issues in this evaluation were connectivity, access to ICTs, and the professional development of teachers. From an institutional perspective, the main issues were sustainability, management and ownership.

This section firstly examines the types of learners and educators interviewed in the four sample schools. Thereafter the issues raised above will be discussed.

8.4.1 Beneficiaries

The Schools

All the four schools sampled in this study are located within a 25-kilometer radius of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. Two of the schools are located to the east, one is located to the west and the other is located north of the city. Namilyango College is found in Mukono district. It is located 16 kilometres along the main Kampala-Jinja highway. Namilyango College is a boys’ boarding school. The student population is approximately 1 100 students with a teaching staff of 61. Namilyango College is the oldest boarding secondary school in Uganda, founded in 1902 by the Mill Hill Fathers.

Gayaza High School is located approximately 17 kilometres north of Kampala. It has a student population of approximately 1 050 students with 60 teaching staff. Gayaza is the oldest girls’ boarding school having been established in 1 905 by the Church Missionary Society.
Kings College Budo is located on Budo Hill approximately 25 kilometres from Kampala on the Kampala-Masaka highway. Budo was founded in 1906 also by the Church Missionary Society and has a student population of 1 200 and a teaching staff of 70.

Nabisunsa Girls School is located 7 kilometres on the Kampala-Jinja highway. It was founded in the late 1950s by three Prominent Muslim leaders namely Haji Kakungulu, Haji Gava and Haji Kasule. It is one of the first Muslims girls’ secondary schools in the country. The school has a student population of 1 100 students and 60 teaching staff.

The student populations in all four schools reflect the growing need and demand for secondary education in Uganda. All these schools are government schools and rank among the top ten best performing schools in the national ‘O’ and ‘A’ level exams. These schools admit the best performing pupils in the Primary Leaving Examinations.
Unlike in the past, the majority of the students admitted to these schools are from Kampala and the surrounding districts. Very few students are from upcountry. The majority of these students come from middle-class families, with very few from low-income families. The students’ backgrounds do influence their exposure and access to ICTs. They are more likely than students in rural areas to have had prior access to computers, to continue to have access to them either at home or in the numerous cafes that are being established, and to be trained elsewhere than at school. Their parents are also more likely to appreciate the use of ICTs and to be able to contribute towards the purchase and maintenance of computers in schools.
The Learners

There were about equal numbers of males and females in the sample (N= 141). Learners ranged in age from 13 to 21 with a mean age of 16.5 years. Slightly more than half of the learners were Advanced (‘A’) level students. The rest were Ordinary (‘O’) level.

The Educators

The majority of educators sampled were male (74% N = 23). The experience in all the schools sampled, even the girls’ schools, was that there were more male teachers engaged in the use of computers than females. Of the 23 educators interviewed, there were 12 teachers, 8 Heads of Department, and three head-teachers.

The educators had varying years of teaching experience, ranging from less than a year to more than ten years. The majority had three of more years of teaching experience. All the educators were graduates, with four holding a Master’s degree and two a Post-graduate diploma.