Teachers’ perception of vocational education in the primary school curriculum in Kenya: a case of sotik district, Bomet County

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate teachers‟ perception towards Vocational Education in the primary school curriculum in Kenya. The specific objectives were: to assess teachers' perception of the present status of a de-vocationalised primary school curriculum in Kenya; to determine what primary school teachers perceive as the value of vocational education in the primary school curriculum in Kenya; to explore what teachers' perceive as the relevant vocational subjects to be introduced into primary school curriculum in Kenya. The study was conducted in selected public Primary Schools in Sotik District, Bomet County, Kenya. The theoretical framework of this study was guided by two theories; namely Stufflebeam‟s curriculum theoretical model based on context, input, process and product (CIPP), 2003 and the Prahalad,s Bottom of the Pyramid theory (BOP), 2005. The researcher also grafted the conceptual framework which captures fully the theme of this study. This study adopted survey research design and targeted teachers, head teachers and education officers in the area of study. The target population was 1178. A sample of 348 respondents was selected for the study. Purposive, simple and stratified random sampling techniques were used to select the respondents of the study. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used to collect data. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was also employed to analyse data. The findings indicated that vocational subjects are extremely useful at the primary school level in Kenya. Vocational education at the primary school level enables learners to appreciate vocational skills in world of work and the dignity of manual work as well as equipping them for further education in Youth Polytechnics. The findings of the study revealed that vocational subjects, such as Business Education, Agriculture, ICT/Computer Education and Home science, should be introduced as separate subjects in the primary school curriculum. The study recommends that a subject to be named “Technical and Vocational Studies (TVS)”, which embraces all these vocational subjects, should be introduced in the primary school curriculum. The findings of this study will be useful to curriculum developers, policy makers and other stake holders in Kenya.