Abstract:
This research sought to find out students' perception of relevance of the
ministerial training at the Higher Diploma program at the East Africa School of
Theology in relation to their anticipated future ministries. The study adopted a crosssectional
study design and a combination of descriptive and explanatory research
approaches. The research questions guided the researcher in finding out whether the
trainees found the courses relevant in relation to their anticipated future ministries and
whether certain factors such as the previous ministerial experience and areas of
calling affected the perception of relevance of the students. The data collected for this
research involved a combination of the use of both closed-ended and open-ended
questionnaire. The researcher also requested the students to suggest areas for possible
improvement of the Higher Diploma program and ways for increasing the impact of
the graduates of the Higher Diploma program in the church and the wider community.
The researcher distributed the questionnaire personally to 27 students. The
Likert Scale of Summated ratings also formed part of the instrument. The Chi-Square
Test of Independence was the statistical instrument used to determine relationships of
factors responsible for students' perception. The Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences (SPSS) was used to code, enter and summarize the data.
The findings of this research showed that the majority of the Higher Diploma
students perceived the ministerial training at the Higher Diploma level at EAST to be
relevant to their anticipated future ministries in the church and the wider community.
There were no differences between students with previous ministerial experience and
specified area of calling and those without in their tendency to perceive the training to
be highly relevant.
Based on the findings, the researcher recommended that management of
EAST ensures periodic review of courses, to stay relevant; take into consideration
factors related to students' ministry experiences and areas of calling in curriculum
design and ensures criteria and policy for faculty selection and development.
