Different reports on Education in Uganda such as UWEZO (2016), NAPE (2014), and UNESCO’s Education for All Minority Report (2015), suggest that Uganda’s education has not achieved intended objectives and aims as stipulated in the Government White Paper (1992).

 Studies further indicate that there is a discrepancy between what employers seek from potential employees and what school graduates actually possess (Lippman et al., 2015). In Uganda,a preliminary research to identify current critical labour market soft skills needs examined the levels and acquisition of soft skills in lower secondary schools prior to this study reveals that whereas some employers are satisfied with the technical skills possessed by entry level employees, they are not satisfied with their level of soft skills (Mitana et al., 2019). This is consonant with research findings in other countries where most employers seem to be satisfied with the nature and level of technical and vocational skills possessed by school graduates but dissatisfied with their levels of soft (transferable) skills (Kautz et al., 2017).

 Whereas different bodies and organisations such as Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) have tried to assess students’ learning outcomes at secondary school level, the recourse to quantified parameters has not given a full picture of learning outcomes especially in the area of soft skills.

 Most assessments and evaluations of Uganda’s secondary education do not address soft skills development. They instead emphasise cognitive skills through standardised examinations and tests scores that concentrate on students’ mastery of content knowledge that has been traditionally examined through public examinations and assessments. 

 In the field of psychology, the Big Five model of personality factors (Goldberg, 1993) is widely used to describe factors that influence human behaviour. The Big Five factors include openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism/emotional stability (Heckman et al., 2014). The Big Five factors are comprised of sub-elements some of which are more stable personality traits while others are more malleable skills that can be improved upon (Lippman et al., 2015). This study, therefore, used the term skills and not traits to denote their malleability and relevance to education, training and employment. Soft skills are said to “refer to a broad set of skills, competencies, behaviours, attitudes, and personal qualities that enable people to effectively navigate their environment, work well with others, perform well, and achieve their goals” (Lippman et al., 2015 pp 4).

 The preliminary research prior to this study reveals that soft skills like: emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, good communication skills, resilience, assertiveness, positive attitude, integrity, self-awareness and patience are demanded by the Ugandan labour market but an empirical evidence gap concerning how they can be developed, assessed and measured still remains.

 Not assessing soft skills has presented a dichotomy between the general aims of education in Uganda and what is assessed in schools; and more importantly, between what is assessed and What is required of a student to cope with life after secondary school. Although literature has evidenced that soft skills clearly affect academic performance and life after school, policy makers and educators have not leveraged that fact (Farrington et al., 2012).

 The purpose of the study was to develop an assessment tool that would give the Ministry of Education and Sport (MoES), educators, teachers, parents, donors and other stakeholders a clearer picture of students’ learning outcomes, especially soft skills.

 This study was guided by the following objectives: to establish achievement levels of soft skills among lower secondary school students in Uganda; to establish factors that influence pedagogical approaches used in lower secondary schools in Uganda; to highlight major factors affecting students’ learning and learning outcomes in secondary schools in Uganda.

The study adopted a cross-sectional design and employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The quantitative approach involved a survey of students of senior three (S.3) in the selected schools while the qualitative approaches involved in-depth interviews with head teachers, district education officers (DEOs) and desk-based documentary review. The study population was comprised of students S.3 of lower secondary school and teachers of S.3 in all the secondary schools. S.3 students were selected for the study as the most suitable class within the lower secondary school since they would have completed at least two years in the school. A stratified three-stage cluster sampling design was used for secondary school students. The first stage involved selecting a random sample of districts, stratified regionally by: North, West, Central and East. Considering a stratified three-stage cluster sampling, a design adjusted to the national sample size of 2152 S3 students was computed. Students were selected from 144 schools equally distributed across the regions and were proportionally allocated to the selected districts. The tools developed and used included: Soft skills measurement tool, Student-teacher rating tool, Numeracy tool, Literacy tool, Teacher’s self-rating tool, Teacher-student rating, Head teacher’s interview Schedule, MoES officials’ tool, Document review framework. Prior to this reasearch, the tools were pre-tested twice for validity, reliability, acceptability, feasibility, flow of questions, to ascertain the duration of the interview and identify suitable test administrators. The test scores and additional relevant data from the field were captured using Epidata2 (version 3.02). The analysis was done using the STATA3 (version 13.1) statistical package as well as the ‘R’ environment. The soft skills, numeracy and literacy scores were estimated using the Item Response Theory (IRT) Partial Credit Model. The first level of analysis involved determining the overall percentage of students possessing the desired level of soft skills, numeracy and literacy proficiency. Secondly, the proficiency levels were correlated with other factors associated with school, household, teacher and other relevant factors related to the study objectives. The design-adjusted Chi-squared and Student-t statistics were employed to evaluate the significant differences at the 5% level. The study identified initial themes and classified them according to the set objectives as well as keeping an open mind towards emerging themes

Regarding the level of soft skills, the study reveals that students’ soft skills acquisition is still below average as revelled in the following percentages: Problem solving (49.1%), critical thinking (48.2%), responsibility (47.5%), assertiveness (44.9%), cooperation/teamwork/sense of belonging (44.7%), self-control/patience (42.8%), grit (41.8%), achievement striving (40.3%%), integrity/honesty (39.4%), compassionate/empathy (37.7%), and self-esteem (31.2%). Boys significantly scored higher than girls in the soft skills of cooperation/ teamwork/sense of belonging (65.0%), assertiveness, (65.1%) grit (61.7%) and achievement striving (64.3%). Girls however scored slightly better than boys in the soft-skill domain of responsibility. Concerning students’ learning, the results reveal that students with strong soft-skills are associated with high scores in both numeracy and literacy. Specifically, students who scored high in achievement striving (64.6%) assertiveness (63.7%), compassion (62.5%), grit (67.1%), integrity (62.0%), problem solving (61.3%), responsibility (60.4%), patience (63.7%) and teamwork (63.6%) were found to be associated with high scores in the literacy test. Similarly, the students who scored high in achievement striving (67.1%) assertiveness (62.1%), compassion (63.4%), grit (65.2%), integrity (62.7%), problem solving (65.0%), patience (64.9%) and teamwork (65.1%) were found to be associated with high scores in numeracy test. The study makes the following major conclusions regarding the future efforts aimed at improving learning outcomes in the Ugandan secondary school system: The study associated students who participate in games, sports or clubs with stronger soft skills. Thus, the results suggest that schools appreciate the importance of co-curricular activities in nurturing the students’ soft skills; the study concluded that there is a positive relationship between soft skills and the students’ numeracy and literacy scores. Thus, students who possess strong soft skills, such as achievement striving and time management, tended to score highly in literacy and numeracy

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