Children's schooling status: Household and individual factors associated with school enrollment, non-enrollment and dropping out among Ugandan children

Despite impressive global school enrollment, especially at the primary school level, there are still some corners of the world where equal access to education remains far from reach. The current study sought to expand on previous research by further examining child, parent, and household characteristics that are associated with children's schooling status (CSS), namely enrollment, dropout and non-enrollment. The study utilized a cross-sectional 2014 dataset of the Uwezo Uganda National Learning Assessment survey with a sample size of n = 28,147. The survey recorded an 87.94% child enrollment rate, 2.91% of the sample dropped out of school, and 9.16% reported non-enrollment. Two multiple multinomial logistic models were employed, one with only main effects and one with an interaction term between a mother's education level and the child's gender. Based on the effect sizes and ranked in descending order of magnitude, household head's primary level of education and mother's level of education, preschool attendance, household head's secondary or higher level of education, presence of one or no biological parent/s, disability, household wealth, the child's age and the number of children in the household significantly predicted never enrolling in school. Similarly, ranked in descending order of magnitude, a mother's primary level of education, the presence of one or no biological parent/s, disability, age, the child's gender, household wealth, and preschool attendance significantly predicted dropping out of school. Finally, the interaction model indicated that girls whose mother had a primary education were less likely to either drop out or never enroll in school compared to those with a mother who did not complete formal education.