Unpacking ICT Readiness and Students' Preparedness for National Examinations During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Uganda. A Case of Kamuli and Jinja Districts of Uganda

Although the advent of the novel Covid 19 pandemic led to education disruptions in Uganda, it as well widened the scope and role that information and communication technology can play in education. There was always a negative attitude towards embracing technology in the teaching and learning for purported reasons such as; financial, insufficient technical skills, insufficient equipment, management support, school culture, perceived usefulness, time consuming and others. This study set out to establish the extent of readiness in using information and communication technology (ICT) in the absence of physical class interaction that was not possible due to intermittent total lock downs. The objectives of the study were; to examine the relationship between ICT infrastructure and student preparedness for national examinations; to investigate the relationship between technological skills and student preparedness for National examinations; and to assess the relationship between management support and student preparedness for National examinations. The study employed a cross sectional research design, data were collected and analyzed quantitatively using descriptive and inferential statistics using the Pearson chi square analysis of independence. The key findings revealed that the students’ performance was independent of ICT infrastructure (P value=0.992>0.07), technological skills (P value=0.143>0.07) and management support (P value=0.075>0.07) which implied that the students were not prepared to use ICT as preparation for national examinations. The study may be of significance to; curriculum developers, MoES and policy makers, society and schools’ administration. The study thus recommends that Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) and curriculum developers, embed and embrace the uptake of ICT as part of instruction in the schools of Uganda to prepare for similar education disruptions.