Challenges Facing The Implementation Of Smasse Project In Kericho District, Kericho County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to identify the challenges facing the implementation of SMASSE project in Kericho District, Kericho County. The study was guided by the following objectives: 1.To identify the challenges faced by public secondary school principals as they facilitate the implementation of SMASSE project. 2. To investigate the challenges faced by mathematics and science teachers on the use of ASEI/PDSI concept in their lessons. 3. To find out the effect of ASEI/PDSI approach on student attitude and participation in mathematics and science lessons. 4. To make suitable recommendations. The study was conducted using survey design. The target population for the study was 21 principals, 84 Mathematics and Science teachers and 1763 form 2 students. The study sampled 7 out of 21 public secondary schools using purposive simple random sampling. Lottery technique was employed to get samples from different categories of schools. 7 principals, 28 teachers and 210 students were sampled to participate in the study out which all the 7 principals, 25 teachers and 201 students responded to the questionnaires which were used to collect data in the study. 2 schools were randomly selected for piloting of the instruments. These schools were not part of the sample for the main study. Content validity of the instruments was ascertained by a panel of three district SMASSE- INSET trainers. Reliability of the instruments was tested during piloting using test-retest method. After the piloting and testing, the instruments were adjusted accordingly before the actual data collection. Having established the validity and reliability of the instruments, the researcher administered the questionnaires to the sampled respondents. After collection, the data was organized to facilitate analysis. The coded data was entered into the computer using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS).Descriptive statistics was used to analyze data quantitatively. Data was analyzed using means, frequencies and percentages. Results were presented in form of frequencies, charts and percentages as they easily communicate the research findings to the majority of the readers. From the findings the main challenge faced by the principals was shortage of teachers in mathematics and science subjects. The teachers on the other hand listed low morale, lack of sufficient time, heavy workload, overloaded syllabus, large class sizes and pressure to cover the syllabus as major impediments to the application of ASEI-PDSI approach in teaching. Despite the challenges, use of ASEI-PDSI approach has contributed to students having a positive attitude towards Mathematics and Science subjects and increased their participation in learning activities. Follow-up visits on the project implementation by the Quality Assurance and Standards Officers were found to be minimal. These findings will be of great significance to CEMASTEA and District planning committees, Principals and teachers who are charged with implementation of the SMASSE project. From the study many students express a positive attitude and were satisfied with the teaching of mathematics and sciences. However performance in these subjects in the K.C.S.E examination is still very poor in most schools. There is need for further research to find out the causes of poor performance despite the positive change in attitude of students and implementation of SMASSE project.