Origin and development of key religious organizations in Kenya: their influence on curriculum implementation in public secondary schools

Abstract

Historically, religious organizations in Kenya have had great influence on education. Their participation has been viewed by stakeholders as either positive or negative. The objective of this study was establish the origins and development of key religious organizations in Western area of Kenya and their influence on curriculum implementation in public secondary schools. The study is based on Ludwig Von Bertalanffy theory of General Systems from which the systems approach in the learning process is derived. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The target population for this study was all secondary schools in the region of study, County Directors of Education, Sub-County Education Officers, principals and teachers in secondary schools, religious leaders and students. Of the twenty two sub-counties, the study used purposive sampling to carry out the study in ten sub-counties. This gave a total of 650 students, 102 teachers, and 60 principals of secondary schools, 5 Islamic leaders, 10 church leaders, 2 County Directors of Education, 4 Education Officers and 1 curriculum developer. This gave a sample size of 834 respondents. The instruments for data collection were questionnaires for principals, teachers, students and interview schedule for religious leaders as well as education officers. Focus Group Discussion and Observation Schedule were also used. To establish validity and reliability, the instruments for data collection were assessed by two experts from the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Technology. The questionnaires were also piloted and the anomalies were corrected before the study was conducted. Presentation of data was based on the objective of the study and was put in form of tables, bar-graphs and descriptions. The findings were as follows: key religious organizations have influence on curriculum implementation. Majority of the schools in the study area were founded by key religious organizations. The study found out that parents, local communities and the Government of Kenya play a crucial role in curriculum implementation. From the above findings the following conclusions were made: religious organizations play an important role in curriculum implementation in public secondary schools The Roman Catholic Church and Friends Church are dominant in the study area. The recommendation was that there should be clear policy guidelines on the role of religious organizations on curriculum implementation in public secondary schools.