Influence of poverty on digital education in Uganda’s rural secondary schools: reference to covid-19 lockdown: a case study of Kayunga District in Uganda

Abstract

This study explored the impact of poverty on digital learning, examined the role of parents’ income in the success of digital education in rural schools, and provided suggestions to improve teaching and learning using digital facilities in times of pandemic in rural schools. Uganda’s rural schools lack enough facilities to support the online school system. And there is a lack of in-depth analysis of poverty's influence on digital education. This study used cross-sectional survey data utilizing quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The findings revealed that rural schools in Uganda do not receive efficient digital education where parents and guardians of the school-going children cannot afford the financial costs of the digital devices that could support children’s home digital learning. Parents' income plays an influential role in the digital education of their children. 38.7% of the parents are farmers, and 6.3% of parents are not employed at all. Over 22% of students revealed that their parents supported more than four school-going children. There is a need for governments, institutions and local communities to develop a technological infrastructure for digital learning and develop new curriculums which can support virtual classrooms. Areas that emerged for further research.