Implementation of the Zambian 2013 revised secondary school curriculum in Chipata district: winning strategies.

Abstract

The study sought to investigate the implementation of the revised 2013 secondary school curriculum had qualified teachers, available teaching and learning resources and relevant and adequate infrastructure and establish winning strategies. The mixed method design and particularly the embedded design with more of qualitative approach was used. Questionnaires were used to collect data from secondary school teachers, open ended interviews were conducted with the education standards officers and the head teachers. Data from pupils was collected through focus group discussions and examination document analysis was conducted. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS and qualitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The major findings of the study indicated that the 2013 revised secondary school curriculum implementation did not have adequate qualified teachers for the vocational pathways. The study also established that teaching and learning resources and infrastructure were inadequate to facilitate the implementation of the revised curriculum and to some extent affected the effective implementation of the curriculum and the performance of the pupils in exams especially in social studies at grade nine level. However, some strategies that helped other schools effectively implement the revised curriculum despite the challenges were established. Some of the strategies included intensified monitoring, improvisation of teaching and learning resources and infrastructure development through PTA The researcher hence made recommendations that the revised curriculum should be monitored by the curriculum specialists, provincial standards officers, and district standards officers and at school level to come up with solutions to the challenges encountered and that primary school teachers should be trained to teach the vocational and academic pathways as to strengthen the implementation from primary school.