Publication:

An Assessment of The Preparedness of Primary Schools For Ict Integration in Teaching And Learning in Embu West Sub County, Kenya.

The purpose of this study was to assess comprehensively the preparedness of Primary schools for the ICT integration in teaching and learning in Embu West sub-county, Kenya. The objectives of the study included: To analyze the availability of ICT learning infrastructure and equipment for successful ICT integration in primary schools in Embu West sub county, To establish the level of adequacy and functionality of ICT infrastructure and equipment for ICT integration in primary schools in Embu West sub county, To establish the level of training of teachers on ICT usage for successful ICT integration in primary schools in Embu West sub county, To find out causes of poor preparation of the primary schools on ICT integration in Embu West sub-county and To find out the level of preparedness of primary schools for ICT integration in Embu West sub-county.This study employed a cross sectional survey, where data was collected from sampled respondents at a given time. It targeted a population of various respondents that included:1 D.E.O (District Education Officer),1 D.Q.A.S.O (Dstrict Quality Assurance and Standard Officer), 4 A.E.Os (Area Education Officers), 4 T.A.Cs officers (Teacher Advisory Centers), H/Ts, Teachers and Pupils. There are forty public and private primary schools in Embu West sub-county, out of which 10 were required for the research activity. The sample size and sampling procedures adopted by the study were as follows; 1 District Education Officer, 1 District Quality Assurance and Standard Officer, 4 Area Education Officers, 4 Teacher Advisory Center officers were considered as respondents since they were few, while random sampling was used to select 10 Head Teachers, the Primary schools had an average of fifteen teachers hence random sampling was also used to select 5 teachers per school yielding a total of 50 teachers out of a population of 152 teachers and 300 Pupils out of 3000.This made a total sample size of the study to be 370 respondents. Primary data was collected in the study. The instruments for data collection consisted of questionnaire and interview schedule. The questionnaire which contained both closed and open ended questions. The questionnaires were administered to the respondents using a mail survey through dropping and picking. Questionnaires were used to collect data from D.E.O, D.Q.A.S.O, A.E.Os and TACs. Interview schedule was used to collect data from the H/Ts, Teachers, D.E.O, DQASO, A.E.Os and T.A.Cs of Embu-West sub-county, from whom valuable information was collected. Collected data was processed, coded and analyzed using various methods. Qualitative data was analyzed as the study progresses by conceptualizing, coding and categorizing information according to themes. Quantitative data was coded and entered into the SPSS computer package for analysis. Data was then presented in pie charts as well as bar graphs in order to make a visual impression of the situation on the ground. The lack of preparedness of primary school for ICT integration has many effects on students’ performance in the entire nation, Embu West subcounty being not an exception has also been affected by the same. In the 3 research done it was found that due to inadequate preparation school the performance was needed improvement in all areas of learning, be it sports, class work or co-curriculum activities. The performance curves showed that the most affected schools by the unsatisfactory performance were the public primary schools since they had a lot of things that needed to be availed in order for the process of integration to be realized.