Syllabus issues that contribute to ineffective Geography education: An analysis of the Lesotho Grade 10 Geography syllabus

Mphekeleli Johannes Besele¹

1. Faculty of Education, National University of Lesotho, Maseru, Lesotho.

Section:Research Paper, Product Type: Journal-Paper
Vol.9 , Issue.12 , pp.17-24, Dec-2023

Online published on Dec 31, 2023

Copyright © Mphekeleli Johannes Besele . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

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Abstract :
There is a substantial number of studies that articulate on the reasons behind ineffective educational curricula amongst secondary schools around the globe. Factors that lead to or contribute to ineffective education range from resources to learners’ attitude towards the course. While these studies establish interesting findings that form the basis of empirical literature of many authors, they seem to overlook the issues within the syllabi that may contribute to ineffective education in secondary schools. This study attempted to close the gap by analyzing the Lesotho Grade 10 Geography syllabus to find issues that contribute to ineffective Geography education. This was a qualitative research that took a form of document analysis as means of collecting data. The sample comprised of the objectives, learning experiences, assessment criteria, and suggested resources, which all appear in the content section of the syllabus. The findings established that the syllabus calls for resources that cannot be accessed by every secondary school. Further, the learners do not construct and share knowledge amongst themselves because the syllabus denies them collaboration in the form of group works. The assessment suggested by the syllabus is not fully aligned to the assessment Examination Council of Lesotho. The study recommends syllabus redesign so as to map teaching and learning to the desired outcomes.

Key-Words / Index Term :
syllabus, issues, ineffective education, Geography education, Lesotho

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