Abstract:
Pastoral programme for instruction in primary schools should be a concern for
school teachers. Spiritual formation is an important aspect ofa child's life. In the Old
Testament, God ordered the parents to teach their children God's commandments.
This study set out to assess the pastoral concerns in three primary schools, with a
view of identifying any weaknesses, and coming up with solutions. Twenty four
participants were involved in the survey, which was done through interviews,
questionnaires and observation. The data was analyzed using qualitative methods of
open, axial and selective coding.
The study revealed that teachers face a lot of problems during pastoral
programme facilitation. They do not have the necessary training, teaching materials
and they are over loaded. These are some of the issues that I observed during the
study. Recommendations have been suggested and the most important one is to give
in-service courses to the teachers during the holidays. These recommendations will be
forwarded to the Ministry of Education and to the clergy to see if they would adopt
the suggested way forward. Children are faced with many issues and pastoral
programme could assist in addressing the child's spiritual formation that will lead to
responsible citizenship.
