SINGLE SHIFT IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES AND STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN LOWER PRIMARY PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN RWANDA, A CASE OF KARONGI DISTRICT

The research investigated the single shift implementation strategies and students academic performance in lower primary public schools in Rwanda, a case study of Karongi district. According to the data, 77.6% of respondents strongly agreed that the first objective of the implementation of single shift in their school is well organized and effectively managed 82.2% strongly agreed that the necessary infrastructure and facilities are available to support the implementation of single shift in our school and 90.0% strongly agreed that the teaching staff in their school is adequately trained and prepared for the implementation of single shift. This result reveals that the schools single-shift implementation is well organized, there is the availability of necessary infrastructure, and the teaching staff is adequately trained, which are indicators of the single-shift implementation strategies. For the second objective, the study found that 79.8% strongly agreed that the academic performance of students in our school has improved since the implementation of single shift. The study found a strong positive relationship between enhanced teacher-student interaction, improved school infrastructures, improved class attendance, increased qualified teachers, curriculum design and improved grades. These findings suggest that enhanced teacher-student interaction, improved school infrastructure, improved class attendance, improved grades, and improved curriculum design all contribute to improved outcomes. Lastly, as the p-value is smaller than 0.05, the aforementioned characteristics are positively correlated with academic achievement in lower primary public schools in the Karongi district of Rwanda. It is advised that reconsidering students take responsibility for their learning, attend regularly, seek help, develop good study habits, participate in extracurricular activities, and implement student-centred pedagogies. Teachers should provide individualized support, use various methods, collaborate, and continuously update their skills.