Investigating the challenges in the implementation of the teaching and learning of Kiswahili in Primary Schools in Uganda: a case of Rukungiri district.

Abstract

The study investigated the challenges in the implementation of the teaching and learning of Kiswahili in Primary Schools in Uganda, the case of Rukungiri District. The objectives of the study were to find out teachers‟ attitudes toward the teaching and learning of Kiswahili, to establish the availability and appropriateness of instructional resources for teaching and learning of Kiswahili and to examine the extent to which the teachers were prepared to teach and implement the Kiswahili curriculum in primary schools. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional survey design, applying majorly qualitative approaches to obtain and analyse data. Interview guides, observations and documentary reviews were used to collect the data.The respondents involved teachers who teach the Kiswahili language, head teachers, Principal Inspector of Schools (PIoS) and the District Education Officer (DEO) who were purposively sampled. Data from the respondents were analysed using the data reduction technique and presented thematically according to the study objectives. The findings revealed that the attitude towards Kiswahili has improved, schools were willing to implement the teaching of Kiswahili but they were not prepared enough. The findings also indicated that instructional materials, especially textbooks were relevant and had appropriate content but were inadequate. For teachers, the study established that teachers were ill-prepared and even those who were ill-prepared ran away from schools for better remuneration packages. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) should provide in-depth training courses to teachers, provide more and varied instructional resources, recruit and deploy competent teachers and above all avail the funds to implement the teaching and learning of Kiswahili.