Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to obtain information regarding the constraints to teaching and learning of Physical Education in first cycle public schools in Ghana. The population for the study was made up of head teachers of first cycle schools, classroom teachers of first cycle schools and physical education tutors in Colleges of Education in Ghana. A questionnaire with 40 items was developed by the researcher. It has the reliability coefficient of 0.71 (Cronbach) 0.75 (Spearman-Brown) and 0.73 (Guttman Split-Half). One major hypothesis and eight sub-hypotheses were formulated to test if the variables selected for the study were significant constraints to teaching and learning of Physical Education in First Cycle Public Schools in Ghana One sample t-test was used for analysing the data .
All the hypotheses were tested at the alpha level of 0.05. The results of the study revealed that all the variables tested were significant constraint to teaching and learning of physical education in first cycle schools in Ghana. .(t=34.594, df =1314, p<0.05) They included, Attitude of heads and classroom teachers towards the subject,(t=1.96,df=1314, p<0.05) the lack of trained physical education personnel in the first cycle schools to teach the subject,(t=27.375,df=1314,p<0.05) the nature of Physical Education programme in the colleges of education in Ghana,(t=19.321,df=1314,p<0.05) the lack of facilities to conduct Physical Education classes,(t=72.322,df=1314,p<0.05) the lack of equipment needed to teach physical education in the basic schools in Ghana,(t=35.153,df=1314, p=0.05) the non-externally examined nature of Physical Education in the basic schools in Ghana,(t=40.289,df=1314 p<0.05) the large class sizes that the first cycle public schools in Ghana possess.(t=5.567,df=1314 p<0.05) and the funding (budgetary allocation) to ix First cycle Public Basic Schools in Ghana.(t=20.278,df=1314, p<0.05) In view of the findings, it was recommended among other things that every student-teacher in the colleges of education in Ghana should offer Physical Education as a core subject for the first two years of their studies since eventually they would end up as classroom teachers and would be required to teach Physical Education.
Also the Physical Education bias programme should be reintroduced in some selected Colleges of Education in Ghana so as to train more specialists teachers for the basic schools. Furthermore, the Ghana Education Service (GES) will do well to revive all its sports shops in the regions and districts so that sports equipment can be bought by the schools and the money deducted from their capitation grant. It is again recommended that apart from Physical Education being a core subject in the basic schools, it must also be made an elective subject so that it can be externally examinable in the first cycle schools in Ghana.
