Implementation of lifeskills education curriculum in public primary schools in Ruiru District, Kenya

Abstract

This study aimed at assessing whether the necessary conditions were present for effective implementation of life skills education curriculum (LSE) in Ruiru District, Kenya. Implementation is an essential aspect of curriculum. A curriculum, however well designed must be implemented in schools if it is to make any impact or if the students are to attain its goals and objectives. Implementation is the next logical step once a program has been developed and piloted. It involves extensive actions by many parties. Implementing a new curriculum is not easy and is often riddled with challenges. Teachers must be clear about the purpose, the nature and the benefits of the innovation. Implementation involves educating individuals about the worth of a new program component such as a new content area or a new type of material. How effective therefore is the implementation of the life skills curriculum in Ruiru District, Kenya. The purpose of the study was to make recommendations on how the implementation process can be a success. This is in recognition of the fact that this is a new curriculum and the implementation of any new curriculum poses challenges to the implementers. The study sought to find out to what extent teachers had been in-serviced, availability and adequacy of teaching/learning materials, instructional strategies used by teachers, and the difficulties the teachers may be facing while implementing the life skills education curriculum. The design of the research was descriptive survey. The targeted population consisted of the District Quality Assurance and Standards Officer, 29 head teachers and 441 teachers. All the 29 head teachers and the District Quality Assurance and Standards Officer formed part of the sample. Purposive sampling was used to select 2 teachers of Life Skills Education in each school representing lower and upper primary classes which was equivalent to 19.7% of the total population of teachers. Data was collected using a questionnaire, interview guide and observation schedule. In an attempt to improve the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, a pilot study was conducted in four primary schools in Thika District A Spearman's correlation co-efficient of 0.82 allowed the use of questionnaire for data collection. Data obtained was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) to determine the status of the implementation of LSE curriculum in Ruiru district. The study found out that in terms of in-service training, teachers were not adequately prepared to implement LSE. In an attempt to implement it, it was found that they encountered problems like inadequate teaching and learning resources and inadequate guidance on the implementation. Besides, LSE curriculum is yet to be implemented in a number of schools. Curriculum developers need to organize in service courses to guide teachers on the implementation of LSE.LSE books and other reference materials should be availed to teachers to enhance the implementation process. Teachers were also advised to prepare professional documents like schemes of work, lesson plans and teaching aids for effective teaching. Finally supervision of teachers' preparation and delivery of LSE lessons by the head teachers should be enhanced. Owing to the importance attached to LSE extensive research should be carried out to cover other public and private primary schools to find out the extent of its implementation.