Nepotism and School Performance: A Case Study of Kasenge Greenhill Secondary School in Kampala District, Uganda

Abstract

The study was set to find out how nepotism affects organization performance. It was a mixed study that used both the qualitative and quantitative methods. It adopted the case study research design that helped in describing how nepotism affects school performance. In this regard, data for this study was collected on the independent variable, which was nepotism, and that of the dependent variable, which was school performance. 226 respondents were sampled. The researcher took Kasenge Green Hill secondary school as the case study and relied on observations during school visits, interviews and a combination of structured and unstructured questionnaires administered to a sample group of administrators, teachers and students, to find out how nepotism affects school performance. The findings revealed that in schools, practicing nepotism, mandatory and classic nepotism are the majority practices. Furthermore, mandatory nepotism causes more damage to academic performance than optional nepotism. It was also revealed that nepotism in the working environment brings in tension, delay in resolving grievances in the organization and a feeling of job security among relatives to employers. This makes relatives to employers lazy and indiscipline demoralizes other employees bringing about conscious reduction in efficiency among employees. It is recommended that further research should be made on how the level of employee engagement in decision making affects the morale of employees in organizations practicing nepotism.