| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to identify and establish the attitude of teachers towards the teaching of life skills education as a way of developing the practice of morality through secondary school curriculum in Kenya. It was a case study of some selected schools in Thika West District. Data for the study was collected using questionnaires which had both open and closed ended question. The data collected was analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative techniques.
The research findings revealed that the majority of secondary schools in Thika West District were offering life skills education but allocating a single lesson in the curriculum in a week. This implied that very little time was spent to teach life skills and therefore the coverage was small. Thus the learners were not well prepared and equipped with psychosocial competencies that would help them to manage their socio-moral lives in a healthy and productive manner.
The research findings were that most schools were allocating this vital subject area only one lesson in a week. Some schools had no allocation at all in the normal class hours; they only taught it after regular classes or any other time. The conclusion of the study was that life skills time in the week constantly was eaten up by examinable subjects as teachers tried to cover the syllabus in order to generate good mean scores for their schools. Therefore the leaners were inadequately prepared to deal with demands and challenges of every day's life. This could be the reason why most secondary school students resort to risky behavior such as drug abuse, rioting, violence, dropping out and engaging in pre-marital sex.
The study recommended that the government, through the Ministry of Education, should put strategies for effective implementation of the life skills education programme in secondary schools in Kenya. This should include in-servicing teachers who are the programme implementers in schools. Also, the government, through the Kenya Institute of Education, should avail all the necessary teaching and learning materials for effective implementation of the subject.
In addition school inspectors should monitor the programme to ensure that the subject is offered at all levels of education. There is need to strengthen life skills education in order to equip the youth with abilities for positive adaptive behavior. Schools should, thus, commit themselves to provide life skills at all levels. This should be the work of all teachers in school and therefore there is need to have all teachers in-serviced to enable them offer holistic help. | en_US |
