Influence of Instructional Resources on Implementation of Primary School Curriculum in Nguu Division, Makueni County

Abstract

Schools play critical roles in implementation of primary school curriculum. However, syllabus coverage and pupils' academic performance has been dismal. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of provision of instructional resources on implementation of primary school curriculum in Nguu Division, Makueni County. This study was guided by the systems theory. The study objectives sought to: investigate the influence of schools' provision of instructional resources and the influence of adequacy of instructional resources on implementation of primary school curriculum in Nguu Division. The target population for this study comprised of 32 head teachers, 221 teachers and one Sub-County Director. The total study population was 254 from which a sample size of 10 head teachers, 66 teachers and one Sub-County director of Education. Simple random sampling was used to select the head teachers and teachers. Purposeful sampling was used to select one sub- County director of Education. The study used Descriptive survey research design. The study used questionnaires and interview guides as tools for data collection to ensure triangulation of the data. Once data was collected from the field, it was coded and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics was used to analyze and present data using frequency distribution tables with percentages, means, mode and standard deviations. Qualitative data generated from the open ended items was organized into themes. The findings of the study established that there was lack of school instructional materials in most schools which included; text books, exercise books, charts, maps, atlases and realia materials. This research found out that schools which were endowed well with instructional materials had good performance than those that had few. The study recommended that teachers should improvise teaching- learning resources like charts so that the schools would only purchase the ones which were hard to improvise. The Ministry of Education should ensure they supply instructional material adequately for use by teachers for effective teaching and learning.