Demographic Factors and Administrative Staff’s Adoption of Information and Communication Technology in Primary Schools, Soroti District, Uganda.

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between the demographic factors of the administrative staff in primary schools of Soroti district, Uganda and their adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in doing school work. Specifically, the study was based on four research questions, namely: Is there a relationship between administrative staff’s religion and their adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in primary schools in Soroti district, Uganda?; Is there a relationship between administrative staff’s age and their adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in primary schools in Soroti district, Uganda?; Is there a relationship between administrative staff’s gender and their adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) in primary schools in Soroti district, Uganda?;and Is there a relationship between administrative academic staff’s educational qualifications and their adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) in primary schools in Soroti district, Uganda? The data were collected with the help of seven research assistants all of whom were primary school teachers. The data were got from ten sub counties which make Soroti district .Taking a sample of 450 members of the administrative staff (headteachers, deputy headteachers and Directors of Studies) from 150 primary schools out of the 168 in the district, 438 usable questionnaires were returned and 60 of the very questionnaire respondents were also subjected to oral interviews. The study took a descriptive correlational survey design with qualitative and quantitative approaches. The findings of the study were that there was no significant relationship between school administrators’ religion and their adoption of ICT in primary schools in Soroti district (Sig< 0.017); there was a significant relationship between administrative staff’s age and their adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in primary schools in Soroti district (Sig > 0.004); the relationship between administrative staff’s gender and their adoption of Soroti district can best be explained by other factors, not the administrators’ demographic factors, except the Age factor. It was therefore recommended that there is need for the government to bring religious leaders on board so that they can advocate ICT usage by school administrators in Soroti district. This will make the school administrators appreciate ICT usage. Also, The finding that there is a significant relationship between primary school administrators’ age and their adoption of ICT suggests that the aged administrators should be trained in different computer packages and then be urged to appreciate ICT just as the young ones do. In addition, the finding that both male and female administrative staff use ICT in executing their duties to a low extent suggests that there is need for the government of Uganda to equally train both men and women school administrators in the use of technological devices and to justify to them their relevance in education. Lastly, there is need for administrators of educational qualifications, Grade 111, Grade V, Bachelors degree or Masters degree to incorporate technology in doing their work. Those who are illiterate should be trained. This is based on the finding that some administrators were very poor in ICT.Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in primary schools in Soroti municipality, Uganda was insignificant (sig<0.0275. ); and the relationship between the administrative staff’s academic qualifications and their adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in primary schools in Soroti municipality, Uganda was not significant (sig.< 0.150). Thus, the general conclusion was that the poor adoption of ICT by the administrators of the primary schools in