School Improvement and Support Officer as Curriculum Leader in Pru East District- Ghana: Roles, Challenges, And the Way Forward

Abstract

This study investigatedthe roles and challenges of the School Improvement and Support Officer (SISO) as curriculum leader in Pru East district and the way forward. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The tools used for collecting the needed data were questionnaire and semi-structured interview. The questionnaire was designed for SISO, head teachers and teachers to collect data about their current status as supervisors, and roles of the SISO in schools. They were asked to rate the items in 5 points Likert scale. The semi-structured interview was conducted for only the nine selected SISOs about the challenges affecting supervision in the Pru East district and suggest appropriate solutions for improvement. The data that were obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed by using descriptive statistics viz., frequency and percentage while the steps involved in inductive analysis approach was followed to analyze the data obtained from the semi-structured interview.The major findings of the studies revealed that majority (5) of the SISOs have work experience more than ten years and mostly played roles such as; monitoring and implementing new educational policies in schools, served as experts of curricula activities, and advises teachers on the preparation of scheme of work and lesson plans. Also, challenges that militate against effective supervision include; lack of means of transport to schools in the hinterland, no offices for the SISOs at the circuit level where teachers could easily locate them in times of needs, inadequate logistics like safety boots, raincoat, life jacket motorbike and fuel for the SISOs to visit all the schools, overburdened with workload due to many schools under their supervision, and inadequate higher qualification (Master of Education in School Supervision).Appropriate suggestions were provided to improve supervision in schools.