Dissertation (MA Education)
This study assessed the impact of School-Based In-service education and training on
teacher’s competence to support learners to acquire the intended competences in
primary schools in Magu District. The study was underpinned by constructivist
curriculum theory and outcome based evaluation model. The study sought to achieve
three objectives: assessing and critically analysing the strengths and limitations of
school-based INSET program, determining the behavioural changes among
beneficiaries of school-based INSET program and determining the success factors of
the program. Sixty (60) respondents were randomly and purposively sampled
including 1 District Academic Officer (DAO), 1 school inspector, 2 Ward Education
Officers (WEO), 5 Head teachers, 1 TRC Coordinator and 50 primary school
teachers. The data were gathered through structured interview, questionnaire,
observation and documentary analysis where qualitative data were coded,
categorized and organized into thematic and the quantitative data were analyzed
using percentage, frequencies, means and standard deviation. The key findings of the
study indicate that teacher’s competence on classroom management practice was
significantly improved after attending the school-based INSET program. This was
signified with teacher’s awareness of the LCA and ability in preparation of scheme
of work, lesson plan and lesson notes. On the other side, the findings point out the
low ability of teachers in preparation of teaching and learning materials. However,
the findings suggest that the program could be successfully implemented with
improvement on financial management mechanism, accreditation system and time
schedule. Therefore, it can be concluded that school-based INSET is a suitable
model for improving teacher’s competence in primary schools as it can cover large
population with minimum costs.