Abstract:
The study explored both school and community-based factors that influence
implementation of the Basic school Religious and Moral Education curriculum in
the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana. It was an exploratory survey study that
adopted the sequential explanatory mixed method as a model. Six research
questions and two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The population
consisted of 515 people (446 teachers and 61 head teachers) with a sample size of
288. Data were gathered from questionnaire, interviews and observations. The
convenience, simple random and the purposive sampling techniques were used to
select the schools and the respondents. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies,
percentages, charts, tables, means, and standard deviations were used to analyse
the research questions whereas inferential statistics (multiple regressions) was
used in analyzing the research hypothesis. Both the descriptive and multiple
regression results showed that teachers, pupils, head teachers, parents as well as
school and community-based instructional resources contribute directly or
indirectly towards the RME curriculum implementation process at the basic
school level. It was however revealed in the study that lack of in-service training
courses, the absence and/or inadequacy of requisite instructional resources, and
failure of parents in supervising their wards’ learning negatively affected the
successful teaching and learning of RME. On the basis of these findings, it was
recommended that all the necessary processes involved in the RME curriculum
implementation, including staff development, regular supervision as well as
adequate provision of instructional resources be considered
