HOW ARE TEACHERS TRAINED FOR TEACHING COMPETENCE-BASED GRADE FOUR AGRICULTURE? A CASE OF PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN NJORO SUB-COUNTY IN NAKURU COUNTY

Abstract

One of the major aims of vision 2030 is the ensure Kenya becomes a middle-income economy through industrialization. In the year 2017, Competence-Based Education (CBE) was introduced to produce school graduates with self-efficacy, self-reliance, effective communication, problem-solving, innovation, and digital literacy competencies. However, for students to acquire the competencies, quality teacher training is significant. This study sought to determine how teachers are trained for teaching CBE Grade Four Agriculture in the Njoro sub-County. A descriptive research design was used employing a cross-sectional survey method that generated quantitative data. A sample size of 96 teachers of agriculture was obtained from the 96 public primary schools in the six wards of Njoro Sub-County. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. The findings of this study indicated that all of the grade four teachers of agriculture had attended CBE training but the majority of them (49%) attended purely theoretical sessions, 59.4% of the teachers cited the teacher-trainers were not competent. In addition, at least 16%vof the teachers indicated that the training sessions were not relevant to teaching Agriculture subject. This study recommended that the Ministry of Education develop a framework for practical teacher training, teacher trainers should be re-trained and training sessions should be aligned towards specific subjects, teacher needs, and students 'needs to increase relevance.