Purpose As climate change shocks and stresses increasingly affect urban areas in developing countries, resilience is imperative for the purposes of preparation, recovery and adaptation. This study aims to investigate demographic characteristics and social networks that influence the household capacity to prepare, recover and adapt when faced with prolonged droughts or erratic rainfall events in Mbale municipality in Eastern Uganda. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional research design was used to elicit subjective opinions. Previous studies indicate the importance of subjective approaches for measuring social resilience but their use has not been well explored in the context of quantifying urban resilience to climate change shocks and stresses. This study uses 389 structured household interviews to capture demographic characteristics, social networks and resilience capacities. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for analysis. Findings The ability of low-income households to meet their daily expenditure needs, household size, and networks with relatives and non government organizations (NGOs) were significant determinants of preparedness, recovery and adaptation to prolonged droughts or erratic rainfall events. Practical implications The results imply that policymakers and practitioners have an important role vis-à-vis encouraging activities that boost the ability of households to meet their daily expenditure needs, promoting small household size and reinforcing social networks that enhance household resilience. Originality/value Even the low-income households are substantially more likely to prepare for and recover from prolonged droughts or erratic rainfall events if they can meet their daily expenditure needs. This finding is noteworthy because the poorest in society are generally the most vulnerable to hazards.

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The variabilities in rainfall and temperature in a catchment affect water availability and sustainability. This study assessed the variabilities in rainfall and temperature (1981–2015) and river flow (1998–2015) in the Sipi sub-catchment on annual and seasonal scales. Observed daily rainfall and temperature data for Buginyanya and Kapchorwa weather stations were obtained from the Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA), while the daily river-flow data for Sipi were obtained from the Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE). The study used descriptive statistics, the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Mann–Kendall trend analysis, and Sen’s slope estimator. Results indicate a high coefficient of variation (CV) (CV > 30) for August, September, October, and November (ASON) seasonal rainfall, while annual rainfall had a moderate coefficient of variation (20 ˂ CV ˂ 30). The trend analysis shows that ASON minimum and mean temperatures increased at α = 0.001 and α = 0.05 levels of significance respectively in both stations and over the entire catchment. Furthermore, annual and March, April, and May (MAM) river flows increased at an α = 0.05 level of significance. A total of 14 extremely wet and dry events occurred in the sub-catchment during the post-2000 period, as compared to five in the pre-2000. The significant increased trend of river flow could be attributed to the impacts of climate and land-use changes. Therefore, future studies may need to quantify the impacts of future climate and land-use changes on water resources in the sub-catchment.

Although studies on relationships between entry qualification and academic performance show that students who excelled academically in entry qualification often perform better than those with low entry qualification in subsequent examinations, this argument has been questioned. This study explored the relationship between entry grades of undergraduate students and academic performance in public universities in Uganda in the first and final years of their studies. A retrospective cohort analysis of data for undergraduate students of Gulu and Makerere Universities using a sample of 2825 academic records from 2013-2016 was conducted. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis were used for analysis. Results revealed a significant relationship between entry scores and students’ academic performance for those admitted on national merit, district quota, affirmative action schemes and private sponsorship schemes in four university programs. However, there was no significant correlation between entry scores and students’ academic performance in the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery programs. Although male students joined with lower grades than females, their performance in the final year was better than their female counterparts. Therefore, this study confirms that the entry qualification score predicts academic outcomes in the early and exit stages of the university. These findings support the current Government entry criteria for public universities, provide important information for the admission committee decisions, and may have implications for admission policies. However, the lack of a significant correlation between entry qualification scores and students’ academic performance in Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery could indicate the need to revisit admissions criteria for this program. Future studies should go beyond the commonly used GPA to measure academic performance by including non-cognitive factors such as practical skills, clinical skills, and professionalism. Furthermore, the role of background and sociodemographic factors in influencing academic performance at public universities should be considered alongside the pre-entry qualification score

Poor academic performance in science subjects continues to be a major setback in schools of developing countries, despite several interventions to curb the vice. This study investigated the trend in academic performance in mathematics and integrated science in Kigumba town council in Kiryandongo district in Uganda. It used a retrospective cohort analysis design of 8 government-aided and privately funded primary schools while employing documentary analysis to obtain primary leaving examinations (PLE) results. PLE data obtained using documentary analysis was subjected to trend analysis to determine trends in pupils’ performance in the last decade. The findings indicate that performance in mathematics and integrated science in private schools was better than that in government schools over the last decade. In conclusion, teachers in Ugandan government primary schools need to be more committed to teaching mathematics and integrated science so as to improve the academic performance of pupils. In turn, the government and other stakeholders need to provide the necessary prerequisites to enable the teachers to do their work effectively