Assessment of pastoral program in selected primary schools in Nairobi and its environs

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.