Influence of Teacher Level of Information and Communication Technology Skills on Implementation of English Curriculum in Public Secondary Schools in Kakamega North Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

The Government of Kenya (GoK) touts teacher level of ICT skills as a key factor, determining learner grades in national examinations. The GoK invests heavily in-service trainings to equip a professional teacher with ICT skills and competencies for quality performance and satisfactory learner performance in national examinations. Despite the efforts by the GoK, there is a worrying trend of students completing school with reading and writing difficulties. The Kenya National Examinations Council (2020) contends students’ poor performance in English for the past 5 years, falling short of the average mean of 50%. The continued inability of many students having below average scores in English as a subject may be regarded as evidence as a failing learning system in classrooms necessitating a relook at teacher level of ICT and implementation of English curriculum in school. The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of teacher level of ICT skills on implementation of English curriculum in public secondary schools in Kakamega North Sub-County, Kenya. The study used descriptive research design. A sample of 44 principals, 88 teachers of English and 345 form three students across the 50 public secondary schools in Kakamega North Sub-County, Kenya, were targeted. A questionnaire, interview schedule, classroom practice observation schedule, and focus group discussion guide were used to collect data. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically, whereas quantitative data was presented through tables, percentages and frequencies. Chi-square test was performed to test the hypothesis. The response rate was 79.5%. The findings indicated that there were teachers who neither participated in ICT workshops (67.1%) nor attended conferences on choice of teaching and learning materials (47.1%), a gap pointing on teachers. Interviews and FGD results show, teacher level of ICT skills is crucial if quality results are to be realized. The study found a significant association between teacher level of ICT skills and implementation of English curriculum in school. The study concluded teacher level of ICT skills in teaching of English is a major concern.