Challenges of Curriculum Implementation in Junior Secondary Schools (A Case Study of Four Selected Junior Secondary Schools in Kpanga Chiefdom, Pujehun District)

Since the inception of Western Education in Sierra Leone, frantic efforts have been made to formulate policies in order to improve the quality of education. It has been acknowledged by various educationists that curriculum implementation is instrumental in improving the quality of education in any society. Therefore, it is seen as an approach which improves students’ academic achievements, equipping graduates with sufficient knowledge and skills for them to survive academically and socially in this modern world. On that note, the development of school curriculum is very significant in the life of a nation. The National School Curriculum as a program of learning is supposed to be a highly


Introduction
Various scholars have viewed curriculum as follows; Nichols, Shidaker, Johnson, & Singer (2006), that Curriculum is an area of education that is characterized by a lack of agreement about its definition and nature; Wortham (2006), that Curriculum is a planned set of course that is presented to teachers to arrange teaching and learning in certain level of ages; Nation & Macalister (2010) defined Curriculum as a guidance in designing courses that consist of outer circle namely Principles, Environment and needs that involve practical and theoretical considerations that will have a major effect in guiding the actual process of course production.
Inner circle that consists of goals and its centre, contents and sequences, format and presentation, monitoring and assessment; Cattington (2010), curriculum (or curriculum standards) to refer to the standards, benchmarks, and outcomes that delineate the content to be taught and learned in science classrooms.
According to Lake and Winterbottom in Kattington (2010), Curriculum is a set of rule that benefits students by providing them with practice in both content and social curriculum through the use of active learning, exploration of interests, civic responsibility, character building, and recognizing and helping the community.
According to Bao, Dat (no year) in Tomlinson (2008 Ed) ''curriculum requires too much to be accomplished within a unit and that the students want a more manageable and realistic learning goal. The process of putting the curriculum into work for the achievement of educational goals for which the curriculum is designed; the translation of the objectives of the curriculum from paper to practice''. Hence in a nutshell, curriculum implementation can be seen as the translation of "theory into practice". SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH e-ISSN: 2582-3574 p-ISSN: 2582-4406 VOL. 8, ISSUE 11, NOVEMBER 2020 www.ijellh.com 186 Subsequently, the concept of curriculum implementation can be seen as the actual engagement of learners with planned learning opportunities. Furthermore, the word implementation connotes operationalization of a well-articulated and well intentioned ideas packed as theory. Hence, it is the actual carrying out of societal culture and government spelt expectation put in the curriculum.
In consonant with the above, some curriculum proposals or conceived curriculum may remain virtually inert in the sense that they may not be functional. Of course, a curriculum may be beautifully planned but will be of no relevance if it is not effectively implemented. This is so because, no matter how well developed a curriculum may be, if it is not effectively implemented, achievement of educational goals would be impossible. This is so because; the challenges of most programs arise at the implementation stage. Acknowledging this, it is at the implementation level that many well planned curriculum and other educational policies are marred. Hence, objective of any level of education cannot be achieved if the planned programme for that level of education is not well implemented.
Consequently, the school is like a manufacturing organization where plants and machinery or equipment must be assembled and in a top operational shape to produce the intended result. In-spite of the historical trends in Sierra Leonean curriculum and reviews at various times, implementation practices are faced with challenges. For instance, teachers' inability to apply Information Communication Technology (ICT) in teaching school subjects is one of those challenges militating against effective implementation of the curriculum. Most teachers do not know how to operate a computer not to talk of teaching it in the teaching and learning process. Some of them neither forecast nor plan their lessons for teaching. Observing the importance of curriculum implementation, the teacher serves as a pivot around which the SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH e-ISSN: 2582-3574 p-ISSN: 2582-4406 VOL. 8, ISSUE 11, NOVEMBER 2020 www.ijellh.com 187 success of education revolves. It is important that they have wealth of knowledge on the above and be involved in the decision making and planning process of curriculum as no government policy on education can be realized if it does not first of all perceive the problems of and opportunities before initiating decision making process. In this regard, the challenges of curriculum implementation must be looked into for necessary and appropriate actions to be taken in order to improve the quality of secondary school education in Sierra Leone in general and Pujehun District particularly Kpanga chiefdom.

Description of Study Area
This study was conducted in Kpanga chiefdom where the targeted schools are located in Forty teachers, ten from each school were purposefully selected to participate in this study.

Research Objectives
The main objectives of the study are: 6. The information generated from the study will help add value to the lives of children by making frantic efforts to formulate policies in order to improve on the learning activities for learners.

Rationale/Justification of Study
This research work would be important as it brings about awareness and knowledge of proper curriculum implementation process in the education system. It will help to strengthen the capacity of the District Education Office, administrators, teachers and education policy makers to improve learners' educational achievement through proper implementation of the curriculum as curriculum implementation is instrumental in improving the quality of education in any society.

Research Instrument
For this study, a qualitative research design was adopted. Structured and unstructured interview questions that were divided into categories for subject teachers and Administrators were administered to all the participants. All the participants responded to all the questions asked. The information attained through the responses of the interview questions is reflected in the abstract. Understanding of the challenges faced in curriculum implementation was obtained through the perception of the subject teachers and Administrators. Detailed discussions of the findings from these interviews are presented below. The findings are presented according to the aim and the research questions which guided the study. The information collected from personal interviews was studied, analysed and the findings are presented in the sections below. Findings from the interviews with Administrators and teachers are presented separately, where 'A' represents Administration and 'T' represents Teachers. In the process of this research, it was Forty teachers, ten from each school were purposefully selected to participate in this study. All of them have been teaching for the past five years. Notwithstanding, the administrator and teachers of Youth Muslim Movement Junior Secondary School participated in the study. Whether or not pupils are successful learners depend largely upon the quality of the personal interaction between the pupils and their teachers. Also professional relationship between the teachers, put the teacher in better position to give guidance and specialized help to the child''.
She further noted ''change that involves re-socialization and interaction between and among teachers is the primary basics for social learning. New methodologies, new meanings, new behaviour and new innovations depend significantly on whether teachers are working as isolated individuals or exchanging ideas and extending support and positive feeling towards their work.
Teachers therefore are urged to engage in more positive ways of thinking and doing. Thus the teacher has to be role model to his learners''.
Theme 3 -T1-Teachers perceived knowledge of the problems in curriculum implementation Teachers perceived that one of the problems in curriculum implementation is staff shortage which forces them to teach subjects that they are not competent to teach, others being inadequate financial motivation and poor learning facilities. As a result, there is problem as teachers state the above when asked to account for poor results in their subjects. From the responses indicated by the participants, it would seem trained and qualified teachers do not have the spirit to teach in district schools especially in villages. Therefore, schools in these areas appear to have more challenges, which relate to human, material and financial challenges that sometimes impact on delivery of effective teaching and learning. However, regardless of the availability of resources, all schools including those in rural areas that have limited resources are expected to have good results in specific skills, knowledge, attitudes and values by learners. The teachers have to teach at the same level with adequately-resourced schools in the urban settings. According to administrators in Pujehun town (schools), the biggest challenge is leaving them (administrators and teachers) out of the curriculum planning process; Less effective training and workshops for administrators and teachers; lack of support from stake holders; demotivation and sometimes not well trained teachers and limited resources to meet school needs are just but a few challenges that were mentioned. All administrators of targeted schools mentioned that the biggest challenge is ensuring that teachers are involved in the planning process and motivated to implement the curriculum. They further indicated that there are issues of lack of resources, lack of information, too much administrative work and inadequate inservice training of teachers.
Consequently, administrators mentioned a number of challenges they face in implementing the curriculum, emphasizing inadequate training hence lack of knowledge, lack of resources, heavy workload and lack of teacher motivation. The challenges facing school principals in curriculum management may be easily stated, but they may not be easily eradicated.
Resources like human, material and finances are important but are also scarce in most schools in Sierra Leone, especially those which are located in townships and rural areas. Honestly enough, they may never be enough. However, measures must be put in place to improve the situation if the curriculum has to be successfully implemented. The participants noted that the administrative workload is still too much. It is understandable that this may be putting school principals under pressure, hence affecting their performance, but managing a curriculum involves juggling many key tasks. Even though the ideal situation may be to reduce the workload for principals, it may take time to see that happen. Principals have to know that the future of their schools depends on The situation in the two schools makes the curriculum managers to be lenient as they are overloaded themselves and thus in a way "understand" the plight of teachers and accept what teachers are doing under the circumstances. According to targeted administrators, the teachers are trying hard to cover the work that is supposed to be done in each class.
Managing a subject that an administrator is not convenient with is another problem that was raised by all four administrators. This makes it difficult to properly manage and control that specific subject. that these visits at times were used for harassing teachers. According to the participants, completion of prescribed work was possible because teacher union activities, workshops and courses for teacher development were held mostly during holidays.
One teacher from (Village) commenting on curriculum implementation said: During the interviews, it became apparent that teachers were willing to be monitored and supervised by the administrators for effective implementation of teaching and learning. The participants agreed that monitoring and supervision assist teachers in ensuring that they do not divert from the curriculum policy that they have to implement. Most importantly, they all have no problem with administrators for supervising and monitoring their work and the learners" work as a way of ensuring that curriculum is implemented as per subject policy guidelines. One teacher from targeted schools in Pujehun town articulated her eagerness to be supervised and said: "How supervision and monitoring is perceived by teachers is determined by the relationship that the administrator has with the teachers, the aim of the supervision should be clear and not be used to target certain individuals and be a fault finding mission".
Sharing the same view, another teacher in Pujehun (Township) states: "At first I was one of the teachers who were sceptical about monitoring and supervision as in my opinion I thought that I am more qualified than the person who wants to supervise my attention. The result might be that teachers will not cover the scope of work that is prescribed for the year which will lead to poor performance in the subject.
Generally, teachers expressed a few concerns which must be attended to by the administrators to ensure effective implementation of the curriculum. Some of the concerns included, provision of resources for teaching and learning, sharing of departmental circulars on curriculum-related issues with teachers, in-house training and development. The lack of resources is a primary factor that hinders effective curriculum management and is widely experienced in targeted schools. Successful curriculum implementation requires resources such as material, human and financial resources as these determine how much can be done at any given time.
Theme 6: A3. Role of administrators in managing the curriculum.
During the interviews, three administrators indicated that it is important to know the curriculum and understand it in order to lead others. They reported that they make effort to study Sharing the same view, one administrator outside of Pujehun reported that they do planning for the term and year with teachers. They also arrange regular meetings with teachers.
Through monitoring, teachers get to know what is expected of them, especially in terms of teaching and learning processes. They indicated that they are not involved in curriculum planning activities except for monitoring the progress of their teachers in the teaching/learning process. This can be annoying as knowledge of a process makes a difference.  They also stated that induction programmes have to be made for new principals; this would assist the principal in knowing where to start in his/her new role. The principal in one of the schools (Village) was in a teaching post that was not dealing with management issues before becoming a principal. However, serving on management is not a prerequisite to be a principal, and was nevertheless appointed to the post. The skills that she had have been acquired on the job.
However, the principal indicated that ability to work as a team is a skill that is necessary for effective curriculum management. making, have to be consulted on issues that are discussed by the administrators before a final decision is taken, which will later affect them. Teachers felt that they should be given chance to discuss and suggest how they wish things should be done about curriculum issues. Moreover, the duty of the administrator during these meetings is to ensure that decisions taken do not deviate from the educational policies. Teachers will then have to own up to their decisions.
The Government through the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, supplies government assisted schools with subject policies. The Policy Statement has clear guidelines as to what to teach in each and every week in each subject. All four Junior Secondary schools have subject policies for all the subjects that are taught in the schools.
Completed and signed form of class visits was available in all four schools. Each teacher had a Developmental Support Group which includes an immediate head and a subject teacher who also teaches the same subject or who does not teach the subject but has expertise on the subject. Findings of the visit are discussed with the teacher and if he/she agrees with the contents of the findings sign the observation sheets. All the observation sheets were signed by the teachers who have been visited.
Templates that are used for school based moderation were available in each of the four participating schools. Moderation of ''teachers" and ''learners" work is done termly in all the schools. The researcher also discovered a curriculum coverage tracking tool in the schools that assist the administrators and the teachers to see how quick or slow is the progress of the teacher on work coverage.
The study revealed that all four targeted schools have subject committees. These committees are formed by teachers teaching the same subject. These committees are a platform where specific curriculum issues that relate to certain subjects are discussed. Subject head is the It became apparent from the findings that there are major curriculum challenges facing administrators in managing the curriculum implementation in their schools. However, the attitude that administrators display towards curriculum management will determine how they deal with these challenges. As school leaders, they must act as agents for good curriculum management practices and they should be empowered with the necessary skills, knowledge and values to have better understanding of curriculum management practices. If not, their schools will decline and there will be no direction or vision that the school will follow.
The study revealed that the leadership roles and responsibilities of the administrators as curriculum managers are filled with overwhelming responsibilities. Therefore, they experience the nature and extent of their curriculum duties as a very complex and demanding situation.
Apart from the curriculum management and implementation roles and responsibilities, they are also responsible for managing, monitoring and evaluating the curriculum as an on-going process for effective implementation by the teachers. At the same time, teachers have their own challenges in executing their responsibilities. Administrators as instructional leaders should contribute to generating a creative climate where effective curriculum delivery can flourish. The ideal management style displayed by school leaders will contribute to strong teamwork among teachers to solve problems experienced around curriculum management. The current educational curriculum document includes more work that should be covered in each term. This resulted in teachers teaching to cover quantity of work instead of doing quality teaching. SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH e-ISSN: 2582-3574 p-ISSN: 2582-4406 VOL. 8, ISSUE 11, NOVEMBER 2020 www.ijellh.com 208 Administrators viewed their roles as curriculum managers who carry the responsibility to improve academic performance in serious light. All the four administrators theoretically seemed to know their role and responsibility in managing the curriculum in their schools. They understood that they were the key role players at school level as they were responsible for the execution of government policies and had a duty to improve the academic performance in their schools. They make effort to acquaint themselves with curriculum changes so that they may be able to offer support to teachers, monitor their work and lead the planning sessions. Curriculum implementation requires certain level of competency from administrators as they play a leading role in curriculum implementation. Treating teachers with respect and making them part of decision making is necessary. This would limit resistance that could be met as they will own the decision. They will feel part of the team that has a responsibility to take the school forward. At times teachers can be difficult therefore a principal has to have good leadership and management skills. Communicating the vision to teachers is important and also

Conclusions
The study concluded that, All education stakeholders in the district must be involved in the education process for curriculum implementation to be effective. Principals as change agents working together with their teachers are responsible for ensuring that effective curriculum implementation is taking place in their schools. For the principal to manage the curriculum well, he needs to be well grounded in curriculum implementation since he has to offer support and guidance.
The findings of the study revealed that there are some principals and teachers who have limited knowledge on the understanding of team work strategies. This might be due to the huge workload that they are experiencing in their schools. Notwithstanding, they know and understand the roles they have to play in curriculum implementation.
This then pose a challenge to the administrator that has to deal with teachers who resist change.
Teamwork and shared vision are important in any achievement of a goal. The goal that has to be attained in schools is effective curriculum implementation. The administrators cannot achieve this without the support of the teachers, and the teachers cannot achieve without the SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH e-ISSN: 2582-3574 p-ISSN: 2582-4406 VOL. 8, ISSUE 11, NOVEMBER 2020 www.ijellh.com 211 support of the principal. It is therefore important for the two to work together towards the attainment of the goal. What the principal aims to achieve should be shared with teachers so that everybody in the school know what is expected of him/her and the role that he/she has to play towards the fulfilment of that vision.
If successful curriculum implementation is to occur, Good implementation plan is necessary so as to guide the implementation process and be used as a compass by the administrators to guide the process to the right direction. Capacitation of teachers in preparation for curriculum implementation is significant for successful curriculum implementation Clearly, teacher trainings in some tertiary institutions in Sierra Leone comprises more theory and does not adequately prepare teachers for classroom activities. Appointment to a principal position post is determined by five years teaching experience, matric and a teaching qualification, no experience in management post is necessary, this might be impacting on performance of schools as new principal gains experience on the job. Proper training should be offered to principals first before a curriculum is introduced so that they can be able to deal with curriculum implementation. Theoretically principals know their roles in managing the curriculum, and challenges that they experience in schools inhibit them in effectively executing them. Workload facing teachers in schools affect curriculum implementation.
Human resources shortage which results in administrators having to teach various classes inhibit them in effectively doing their job. On the other hand, teachers cite the poor quality of training offered when a new curriculum is introduced. As a result of poor training received by teachers, standard of education is compromised. There are a large number of learners in secondary schools who cannot read, write and solve simple mathematical problems. Thereafter, SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH e-ISSN: 2582-3574 p-ISSN: 2582-4406 VOL. 8, ISSUE 11, NOVEMBER 2020 www.ijellh.com 212 support by district official is minimal. Lack of resources in schools also affects curriculum implementation.
Performance of pupils in examinations necessitates that the challenges faced by teachers towards curriculum implementation be considered since Performance of districts determines the performance of the province and the country at large.

Recommendations
 Teachers' inputs in curriculum implementation are very important. Therefore, they should be placed at the centre of national curriculum processes. (Participation in curriculum development and implementation).
 Teachers' willingness to participate should not be taken for granted; teachers need to be motivated for effective curriculum implementation. Teachers' motivation is also another major component in curriculum implementation  The study revealed that ''working with children is the main determinant of teacher's job satisfaction''. Generally, teachers feel motivated when what they do benefits society, and they are able to spend a sufficient proportion of their time working with children. In other words, to motivate teachers to adapt to curriculum change, they need to be convinced that they are contributing towards education at large, and that their contribution will make a difference in the lives of their students. Teachers interpret the curriculum: they are designers as well as decision makers in executing the curriculum. They should write lesson plans or lesson notes daily, weekly and yearly. They should prepare activities for