Evaluating the impact of construction project management and stakeholder involvement on education infrastructure development in Uganda : case study of Mbale district local government

Abstract

Despite public spending, education infrastructure in Uganda has remained poor and inadequate. Poor educational infrastructure impedes the achievement of the SDGs and prosperity for all, which slows socio-economic growth in any given society. This study evaluated the impact of construction project management in education infrastructure development where key actors in contract administration of education infrastructure in Mbale District Local Government were targeted. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted and both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used. A questionnaire, interview guide and document reviews were used to collect both primary and secondary data from a sample of 108 respondents determined by Krejcie and Morgan’s table. While SPSS was used for quantitative data analysis, qualitative data were analyzed in the form of themes. The study established that construction project management has a positive influence on education infrastructure development (Adjusted R2 = 0.918, P<0.05). Specifically, it was revealed that contract management practices (Adjusted R2 = 0.892, P<0.05) and stakeholder involvement (Adjusted R2 = 0.917, P<0.05) have a significant effect on education infrastructure development. As a result, the study concluded that construction project management plays a vital role in enhancing education infrastructure development and a methodology derived to help local governments to achieve sustainable education infrastructure development. Therefore, the study recommended that Local Governments should carry out construction needs assessment before any project is undertaken. There should be a sound management team in place and there should be adherence to good contract management principles and practices, sound monitoring and supervision systems and a thorough assessment of contractors’ capability should be done before contract award.