The influence of quality assurance practices on supervision of teaching and learning in Botswana Primary Schools, a case of South-East Region

Abstract

There has been a decline in academic performance in primary schools and quality assurance practices in primary schools have been in question. The gist of this study was to investigate the influence of quality assurance practices on supervision of teaching and learning in primary schools in Botswana: A Case of the South - East Region, Gaborone, Botswana. The study had four fold objectives: i) To find out what primary school teachers and education officers understand by the concept of quality assurance in teaching and learning, ii) To find out the roles of school leaders and education officers in quality assurance, iii) To establish strategies used to assure quality teaching and learning in primary schools and iv) To find out challenges that are faced by school leaders and education officers in practicing quality assurance in primary schools. The study was informed by the Systems Theory which advocates that schools are open systems and for organizations to be effective they have to interact with the external environment. The study adopted the qualitative research approach which also employed the interpretive paradigm. The researcher conducted interviews with school heads, HoDs, teachers and education officers. A purposive and convenience sampling method was used and a total of thirteen respondents were used in the study. The study used interview schedules, for education officers, school heads, HoD’s and teachers to collect data. Teachers and HoDs used the same interview guide. The major finding was that quality assurance practices are minimal and there is inadequate supervision, monitoring and evaluation of services and processes in primary schools. School leaders are drivers of internal quality assurance practices while education officers are drivers of external quality assurance practices. Some strategies are in place to ensure quality assurance in schools and these are supervision, monitoring and evaluation as well as inspection. However, there are some challenges faced in practicing quality assurance in schools such as inadequate resources, unconducive environments and incompetency in schools. Several recommendations have been made for example, the Government of Botswana should abolish the dual responsibility between the two Ministries and consider creating an independent Ministry for the entire primary education because of its vastness, on the issue of incompetency in school leadership, educational management and leadership should be a pre requisite for every teacher during formal training.