Understanding the effect of domestic violence on learning effectiveness among primary school learners: A case of Rubavu District [Rwanda]

Abstract

Family has long been said to have an influence on children’s education. Thus, it can be understood that any difficult domestic situation may have repercussions on children’s education. This study was undertaken to examine the effect of domestic violence on learning effectiveness among primary school learners in Rubavu District, Rwanda. It was carried out in 35 primary schools located in the district. This study adopted the correlational research design; its population comprised 14423 primary school learners, from whom a sample of 390 participants was chosen using stratified random sampling. The data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire with five-point Likert scales. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics including frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation, and inferential statistics including analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis. The findings revealed that domestic violence perpetrated against parents has a significant effect on learning effectiveness among primary school learners (= 0.676, p-value <0.05) in Rubavu district. It was also found that domestic violence perpetrated against learners has a significant effect on learning effectiveness among primary school learners (= 1.024, p-value <0.05) in Rubavu district. Although the Government of Rwanda has taken serious measures to fight domestic violence, the study found that there are a few families in which this offence is still perpetrated. Therefore, the study recommended that there should be collaboration between local leaders, police, school managers and the affected children to apprehend and punish the perpetrators. It was also recommended that each primary school should hire a counsellor to help the affected learners. Each school should also accord special support to the affected students to enable them to succeed in their studies. The findings of this study imply that domestic violence has a detrimental effect on children’s education and that more effort should be made to get rid of this danger among Rwandan families. This study was conducted during the period of fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, therefore data collection was difficult; there were restrictions to moving from one district to another.