An analysis of leadership training on management of lower primary grades in selected primary schools of kafue district, Zambia.

Abstract

Leadership training symbolizes one of the instructional tools that school leaders can employ in order to deliver quality education in lower primary grades in Zambia. The delivery of quality education has been reiterated by Zambia in the Vision 2030 whose objective is to offer all-encompassing and quality education to all children by the year 2030. The objective of this study was therefore to analyse how school leadership training could improve the management of lower primary grades in selected primary schools of Kafue district. In order to achieve the objective of the research, a qualitative, interpretivist approach was adopted. The research design was descriptive in nature. The sample size comprised twenty-four (24) respondents, who were drawn from three (03) primary schools, in Kafue District, Zambia. Overall, the research found that school leadership was critical in the management of lower primary school grades as such grades are the bedrock and foundation of the entire educational ladder. School leaders should provide academic, professional, moral, financial and social support to teachers in order to motivate them for school improvement and lower primary school results improvement. They should set directions, develop teachers and make the school organisation work through monitoring teacher preparedness and the learning activity. Based on the research findings, the primary recommendation of the research was that school head teachers, senior teachers and school in-service coordinators should ensure that Teacher Group Meetings (TGMs), Continuous Professional Development (CPD), and School Program of In-service for the Term (SPRINT) activities take place in their schools as they are a cost-effective way of raising teacher capacity and professional development. In addition, monitoring of teacher preparedness should be taken as a priority in order to improve results.