A comparative study of the availability of resources for teaching and learning professional studies in the public and private primary teachers' colleges in Kenya: a case study of Nyanza province

Abstract

This work is an attempt to compare the resources available in the public and private primary teachers' colleges in Kenya for teaching and learning professional studies. This study is made up of five chapters.

Chapter One outlines the problem. Chapter Two is a review of related literature to the study. Chapter Three is Methodology employed in the study. Chapter Four contains data presentation, analysis and interpretation. Finally, summary, conclusions and recommendations are given in Chapter Five.

The findings revealed that there are shortages of tutors in the colleges due to the cost of employing them. Lack of training on the part of LRCs personnel also affected effective management of LRCs. It was further revealed that public colleges are superior to the private colleges in their supply of essential equipment and other secondary facilities. Books and other printed materials were found to command a lot of respect in the colleges but most of the textbooks in the LRCs are those geared towards general readership.

The findings further revealed that both tutors and student teachers have a very small range of resources to their credit. Both groups produced some materials only on teaching practice. The large classes observed in all the colleges do not encourage research work by both tutors and students.

Within the limitations of the study, the results provided a basis for further investigation. Policy options are also suggested.