Challenges Facing Implementation of Competence Based Education in Public Junior Schools in Nambale Sub-County, Busia County, Kenya

This study assessed the challenges facing the implementation of Competence Based Education in the Public Junior Schools in Nambale Sub-County, Busia County, Kenya. The implementation of Competency Based Education requires huge financial investment and resource allocation. Therefore, this study employed a mixed-methods approach consisting of both phenomenological and cross-sectional research designs to examine the challenges facing the implementation of CBE in Kenya. The target population comprised 340 participants from 56 Public Junior Schools, 56 head teachers, teachers, 56 Board of Management chairpersons, and one Sub County directors of Education and one Teachers Service Commission. Samples of 183 respondents were selected through stratified, systematic and purposive sampling respectively. The findings revealed that implementation of CBE is significantly hindered by a shortage of trained teachers, high teacher-learner ratio, inadequate teaching and learning materials, insufficient classrooms, lack of science laboratories, weak ICT infrastructure, and limited teacher professional development. Financing challenges were also pronounced, particularly inadequate funding for infrastructure development, instructional resources, and special needs education, alongside weak accountability systems and minimal stakeholder involvement. The study concluded that government funding is insufficient to meet the demands of Public Junior Schools in the CBE implementation. The study recommends to the Ministry of Education prioritize equitable distribution of resources in Public Junior Schools, recruit more teachers, continuous teacher training, and strengthen policy frameworks on CBE delivery and diversification of funding sources. To the scholars, a comparative study is recommended to assess the impact of financing on CBE outcomes in public and private junior school. Keywords: Competence Based Education, Curriculum implementation, School Financing, Public Junior Schools