Date of Award
12-2016
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Master of Education (MEd)
First Supervisor/Advisor
Dr. Fulgence Swai Saronga
Second Supervisor/Advisor
Dr. Mweru Mwingi
Department
Institute for Educational Development, East Africa
Abstract
This study sought to establish the readiness of two rural government secondary schools in Uganda to teach Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a dedicated subject on the curriculum as part of the effort to equip the students with the necessary skills necessary for them to be able to access the benefits of ICTs both for enhancing their education and also for enabling them to fit and work successfully in an increasingly ICT- driven world. This qualitative study involved two schools in the rural district of Yumbe, in West Nile, Northern Uganda. The findings of this study suggest that schools still lack the traditional requirements such as classrooms and cannot afford to invest adequately in ICT infrastructure. The study found that ICT facilities were inadequate and of low quality and access to these was generally limited. The ICT teachers were not adequately qualified and they were few. Moreover, ICTs were still seen as things that interfered with, rather than promoted learning among students, and other teachers were not involved in the ICT integration process. This study, therefore, recommends the recruitment of qualified teachers and a provision for ICT support personnel in all schools implementing ICT programmes, and involvement of all teachers to support the integration of ICTs into the curriculum. The government needs to provide basic infrastructural support to the schools as well as adequate ICT equipment, and increased funding to cater for ongoing costs associated with ICT. Additionally, there is need for a clear ICT policy and sensitization on ICT-related issues. Finally, in areas for further investigation, there is need for a quantitative survey to obtain generalizable findings on a larger scale for the readiness of both government and private secondary schools to teach ICT, and another to establish the incorporation of ICT in teacher education.
Recommended Citation
Baiga Solomon. (2016). The readiness of rural government secondary schools in Uganda to teach information and communication technology (ICT) as a dedicated subject on the curriculum: A case study of two schools in Yumbe district (Unpublished Masters Thesis). Dar es salaam: Aga Khan University