An investigation into the type of training New Breakthrough to literacy(NBTL) teachers undergo: The case of Mumuni Zone in Lusaka Urban District
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Date
2014-08-25
Authors
Nguvu, Petronella Ngambo
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Abstract
NBTL I s a much more recent development in the Ministry of Education in Zambia. The Molteno project, a South Africa non-government organization together with the 1996 policy -"Education our future" influenced the adoption of the New Break through to literacy (NBTL) in the Ministry of Education. This course aimed at introducing initial literacy at Grade 1 through the seven official Zambia languages. (Ministry of Education, 2002). This study therefore sought to investigate the type of training that NBTL teachers of Mununi zone in Lusaka have undergone.In the literature review, much of the concepts related to the study are revealed. These concepts emphasize the need and demand for teacher development through In-service and pre-service education. Further a brief overview of pre-service and in-service teacher training programme in Zambia is provided. This provides in brief informant on how INSET as well as pre-service education has been provided in Zambia. Finally, the literature review also shows the importance of teaching in local languages by providing justifications for proponders such as Paulo Freire, Antonio Gramsci and Awonyi. In order to collect data, a descriptive research design was used following a baseline set up. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to collect and analyse the data. A sample of 30 respondents was selected purposively to whom the questionnaire and interview techniques were administered.
The research findings revealed a number of issues concerning INSET for NBTL teachers. These findings are analysed by use of percentage tables and narrations. They are also discussed on the basis of the research objectives. In terms of INSET programmes for NBTL teachers, the findings revealed that Chalimbana Teacher Training college, now NISTCOL has been instrumental in providing INSET in NBTL through correspondence in the new Primary Teacher's Diploma course. The District Resource Centre held a workshop at ZAMISE on NBTL and the Curriculuni Development centre (CDC) also organized a workshop on Basic Education School Curriculum. All these including school based workshops have provided training to NBTL teachers. The findings also revealed problems such are inadequate time, over loaded curriculum, language barrier and even
over enrolment as some of the hindrances to the effective implementation of NBTL.The study therefore made a number of recommendations some of which in include the following:
.A proper and careful research must be done in order to identify the real training needs of the NBTL teacher. NBTL teachers as well as INSET planners must be involved in the whole research process.
•The Ministry of Education should try as much as possible to train its teachers on how to write educational materials so that they can contribute to the producing of these materials.
•The government should establish another institution to offer in-service education for teachers, such as NISTCOL.
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Keywords
Literacy , Reading(elementary) , Language Art(elementary)