Students’ Access to ICT Tools and Implementation of the ‘O’ Level ICT Curriculum in Government Secondary Schools Mbale District, Uganda

In the current digital era, ICT use in the classroom is important for giving students opportunities to learn and apply the required skills. Therefore, this study sought to identify the level of ICT tools’ accessibility by O’ Level students in government secondary schools in Mbale District. A quantitative research design was used to collect the data from a sample of 192 that included school head teachers, teachers and students. Overall, the key challenges found identified in using ICT tools were: lack of access to laptops, printers and computer laboratories, projectors and screen. This poor accessibility was due to; high student-computer ratio, unreliable power supply, lack of trained ICT personnel, lack adequate funding for ICT tool procurement and maintenance, inadequate administrative support, limited time for practice, and unstable and slow internet. The results show that students in the study area were not easily accessing the necessary ICT tools and this had a significant relationship with the implementation of the O’ Level ICT curriculum. It is recommended that the responsible education stakeholders enhance increased student access to ICT tools.