Assessing the challenges in the implementation of the religious and moral education programme, the case of selected teacher training colleges in Ghana

Abstract

The investigation assessed the challenges inherent in the implementation of the Religious and Moral Education programme(RME) in some selected teacher training colleges in the Eastern and Volta Regions of Ghana. The descriptive survey design was employed to unearth the challenges there in. The simple random sampling, purposive sampling and the convenient sampling techniques were used to select the regions, colleges and respondents for the study respectively. In all, the sample for the study consisted of 319 respondents, comprising 34 RME tutors and 285 third year RME students. The sample was drawn from eight teacher training colleges with four from each of the two regions. The instruments used in gathering relevant data for the study were two sets of questionnaires and an observation guide. Extant documents were also analysed. Data from the three sources were triangulated to draw conclusions. Nine research questions were posed and one hypothesis formulated to guide the study. Data gathered were analysed using frequencies, percentages and means. The directions of responses were determined by computing the mean of means and testing of a hypothesis using the independent sample t-test at an alpha of 0.05. Some of the major findings of the study were that majority of the RME tutors were qualified and competent; both tutors and students had a favourable perception of RME though the colleges lacked the resources to make the subject interesting; RME tutors also lacked the skill in using other assessment techniques apart from exercises and quizzes. The aims and objectives of RME were clear to both tutors and students.