An Assessment of Digital Literacy skills on the Implementing of Competency-Based Education Among Agriculture Teachers in Public Schools in Tigania Zone, Meru County, Kenya

Abstract

The global trends and increasing demand for twenty-first-century skills have prompted countries like Kenya to adopt a Competency-Based Education curriculum. Despite its implementation, the experiential digital needs and the absence of adequate literature on agriculture teachers at junior school level are inadequate hence calling for investigation. The current study assesses the influence of digital literacy Levels on Competency Based Education implementation. The study employed a descriptive survey research design. The target population was 295 Agriculture Teachers, and the sampling procedure was done through a multistage process at different levels: The stratified approach sampled Tigania West, Tigania Central, and Tigania East sub-counties, which constituted the Tigania Zone of Meru County. Simple random sampling technique was applied to choose the junior schools and, purposive sampling for Agriculture Teachers to participate in the study. The sample size was 169, comprising Agriculture Teachers. Data collection involved self-administered questionnaires for the Agriculture Teachers. The reliability was approximated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient at 0.81 for the questionnaire. Data was analyzed using statistical techniques with the help of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.0. Quantitative data were presented using frequency distribution tables and pie chart. The finding demonstrated 40.6% of Agriculture Teachers had moderate digital literacy skills. Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r = 0.614, p < 0.01) a strong positive relationship between teachers’ digital literacy and their effectiveness in implementing CBE. The higher levels of digital literacy among Agriculture Teachers tend to be associated with better implementation of Competency-Based Education in junior schools. Agriculture Teachers need ongoing capacity-building in digital literacy.