TEACHING AND LEARNING RESOURCES AND TEACHERS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPUTER STUDIES CURRICULUM IN SELECTED PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN NDOLA DISTRICT OF ZAMBIA

Abstract

The government of the Republic of Zambia in 2013 decided to revise its primary and secondary school curriculum in order for the education system to address the much needed societal challenges. Among other subjects that the 2013 education curriculum framework brought on board was Computer Studies as a compulsory subject in both primary and junior secondary schools. Researchers in this study sought to analyse the availability of teaching and learning resources in the implementation of Computer Studies curriculum in selected public primary schools in Ndola district of Zambia given that this was a new subject that had not existed in the curriculum before. Qualitative research approach was used where the researchers employed a descriptive design. 54 primary schools which were clustered into 9 zones were targeted and the study sample comprised of 9 schools one from each of the 9 zones. A total of 72 respondents made up of 9 Head teachers, 18 teachers of Computer Studies and 45 learners of Computer Studies were purposively sampled. Semi-structured interview guide, an observation checklist guide, document analysis and focus group discussion guide were used to collect data and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Research findings indicated that teaching and learning resources in schools were inadequate which hampered the effective implementation of the curriculum. Besides, teachers of Computer Studies were not qualified and trained to teach the subject. Hence, the researchers recommended that the government through the Ministry of General Education (MoGE) should provide funds (grants) to schools to procure more computers and their accessories and provide infrastructure such as computer laboratories. MoGE should also recruit qualified teachers of Computer Studies in all public primary schools while universities and colleges of education should incorporate Computer Studies education in their curriculum so that they could produce teachers who are competent in matters that have to do with information and communication technology (ICT). In addition, continuous professional development (CPD) should be a must for all teaching staff so as to acquaint themselves with the evolving nature of computer education. Article visualizations: