Factors affecting instructional supervision in basic schools: Case study of Nsuta circuit in the Techiman municipality

Abstract

The study was undertaken to find out the factors, which affect supervision of instruction in the Nsuta Circuit in Techiman Municipality. The instruments used in the data collection were an interview guide and two sets of questionnaires. One set of questiormaire was used for circuit supervisors, teachers, head teachers and assistant head teachers. The other set of questionnaire was administered to 60 school prefects in the 15 randomly selected schools in the Nsuta Circuit of Techiman Municipality. The respondents were asked to indicate by ticking in a box provided on the right hand side of the questionnaire whether they agreed or disagreed with each item. Additionally, a well-structured interview guide was administered to 30 SMC/PT A executives and 5 educational administrators. A sample of one hundred and ninety-five respondents was selected. This comprises of sixty teachers, fifteen assistant head teachers, fifteen headteachers, sixty school prefects, five educational administrators in the Techiman education office and thirty SMC/PT A executives. Descriptive statistics and percentages were the main tools used in the analysis. From the results of the analysis, it was observed that, circuit supervisors and head teachers did not have enough skills and knowledge and were not sufficiently trained in supervision. School-based supervision was the type of supervision that was mostly emphasized in the Nsuta Circuit in Techiman Municipality. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that supervision in the Nsuta Circuit will improve only when head teachers and circuit supervisors were provided with the needed resource and support that will facilitate the performance of their supervisory roles.