Influence of the Curriculum Support Materials Procured Through Free Secondary Education Tuition Fund and Quality of Curriculum Implementation in Public Secondary Schools in Makueni County

Abstract

The success of the curriculum implementation process is influenced by three major factors; teachers’ competence, students’ characteristics and quality of the curriculum support materials. The study examined the influence of curriculum support materials procured through FSETF on quality of curriculum implementation in public secondary schools in Makueni County. The study employed a mixed methods research design. The sampling matrix comprised of 38 principals, 210 For 4 class teachers and 346 Form four students. Three instruments were used to collect data; semi structured questionnaires, interview guides and observation checklist. Qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis while the quantitative data was analyzed using both descriptive inferential analyses. Descriptive statistics consisted of frequencies and percentages while inferential statistics comprised of chi-square statistic which tested the association between the variables. The study found out that there were several problems associated with the curriculum support materials supplied to schools and in particular the textbooks. In addition, the results of the study showed that there is a significant relationship between the quality of curriculum support materials and the quality of the curriculum implementation process. In view of these findings, study recommends that the Ministry of Education should put in place water tight mechanism for vetting the curriculum support materials supplied to schools in order to ascertain high standards.