The challenges of implementing an ICT curriculum in primary schools in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Kassimu A Nihuka and Florence Peter
Open University of Tanzania
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

The study reported in this paper investigated the challenges facing the implementation of information and communication technologies (ICT) under the Kiswahili as Teknolojia ya Habari na Mawasiliano (TEHAMA) curriculum in primary schools in Dar es Salaam. The study used a case study research design, and a total of 206 respondents comprising of 106 pupils and 98 teachers from 15 primary schools drawn from the districts in the Dar es Salaam region participated in the study. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from teachers and pupils. Analysis of the data through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) has shown that there are several challenges facing the effective implementation of the ICT curriculum in primary schools in Dar es Salaam. These challenges include the unwillingness of some teachers to teach ICT, a lack of interest in teaching ICT, a lack of ICT literacy among teachers and pupils, a lack of pedagogical knowledge and limited access to ICT facilities among most teachers and pupils. The study concludes that the successful implementation of an ICT curriculum in primary schools in Tanzania is still a challenging endeavour. It is therefore recommended that efforts should be made to address the identified challenges and that further researh should be conducted to evaluate a professional development programme developed to promote primary school teachers’ pedagogical knowledge so that they can exploit and implement the ICT currciulum more efficiently and effectively in primary schools in Tanzania.