Mentor: Dr. Rebecca M. Nyonyintono, Director, Research and Innovations, Ndejje University Topic: The Relationship Between Advertising, Enrolment and Infrastructure Development in Secondary Schools in Kampala District, Uganda, (2009)
Key words: Advertising, enrolment, infrastructure development, secondary school
ABSTRACT:
Three questions were investigated: Does advertising increase the enrolment in private secondary schools? Does the advertised infrastructure exist in the schools? What mechanisms do parents employ to ascertain whether the infrastructure advertised existed and their children are having quality education as advertised?
Three hypotheses were tested:
1: Secondary schools that advertise tended to have better student enrolment than those that do not.
2: Secondary School advertisement used factual information and not archetypal images and motifs to communicate the message.
3: There were no discrepancies between the advertisements and what actually existed in the schools.
Data was organized using tables, semiotic analysis sheets and archetypal symbolic code sheets. Hypothesis 1 was tested using t-Test for independent means (t), and the formula: t=(x-y)-o/sx-y. at 95% significance- level. Hypothesis 2 and 3 were tested using one-way chi square using the formula: x 2 = ∑ (Q-E) 2 /E. at 95% significance-level.
The study discovered that there was no significant relationship between secondary school advertising and increased enrolment in the advertising school, that secondary school advertisements used archetypal images and motif to communicate the message, that the schools had the infrastructure they advertised and that parents do not regularly visit the schools and do not have mechanism of ascertaining whether the schools have the infrastructure they claim to have, or teach as they claim to teach.
It is recommended that; schools investigate other methods of communicating their services to the public since the revenue spent on TV adverting does not lead to significantly increased enrolment. Stakeholders and secondary school regulators should ensure that the cost of advertising is not passed over to the parents.
Annual fairs or shows can be used to advertise different services and resources schools have. Media houses should adopt interactive, cost-effective programmes for schools to advertise themselves and to guide parents in choosing where to place their children.
Parents should utilize their social networks to get information about suitable secondary schools for their children and actively monitor their children’s education to ensure that schools deliver what they claim to offer.