Factors Associated with Attendance of Early Childhood Education Programmes by Children Less Than 5 Years in Uganda

Attendance of organized early childhood education (ECE) programmes is still low in Uganda. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with the attendance of ECE programmes in Uganda. Data from the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey 2016 were analysed using a logistic regression model. The study sample was 5175 children aged 36-59 months and their mothers' selected using two-stage stratified sampling with probability proportional to size. Sex of child, age of a child, wealth index, mother's education as well as children reading books, playing, naming, counting, and drawing with their mothers were significantly associated with ECE attendance. These findings indicate the crucial role played by parents, especially mothers in the lives of their children. Therefore, there is a need to sensitize parents about the importance of ECE, the critical role they have to play, and how to go about it in the provision of support for learning to their children. Furthermore, there is a need for the government to establish public ECE facilities that could provide services at subsidized fees for poor households in Uganda that cannot afford fees paid by private ECE centres.