The Southern Africa region is currently undergoing curriculum reforms like the rest of the
world and the major shift is from the traditional methods of teaching to competency-based
education to meet the changing needs and demands of society. In Eswatini, the
secondary curriculum was changed in 2006 from GCE to IGCSE and in 2009, to a
localised SGCSE now called EGCSE. However, limited studies have been undertaken to
determine if the new curriculum is relevant and implemented properly. The main objective
of this study was to analyse the Geography curriculum changes in Eswatini and establish
the nature of the changes and assess its implementation. Geography is a practical subject
hence constructivist methods are useful for Geography learners to acquire skills for lifelong
learning. Qualitative methods were employed to collect data from three teachers
from three schools through in-depth individual interviews, classroom observations and
document analysis. The data was analysed using the grounded theory. Memos were
written where the findings were categorised into themes, analysed and compared in order
to determine emerging patterns, and to triangulate the data. The results of the study
indicated that the EGCSE geography curriculum has changed in terms of its subject
matter, teaching objectives and approaches. However, when it comes to the acquisition
of the stipulated learner outcomes, problems were identified which indicated that the
learners had not mastered the skills and were thus unable to use and apply them. Scores
of learners were affected negatively as it resulted into poorer results in examinations.
Factors found to limit successful implementation of the curriculum were lack of ownership
and understanding of the curriculum by the teacher, teachers’ attitudes, some threats of
change, lack of appropriate resources to some schools, teachers’ training,
misconceptions about the curriculum and little time to adopt. Other factors included
inadequate material resources and pressure to perform in tests and examinations. The
study recommends the need for teacher training especially in practical aspects of
geography and provision of adequate resources especially to the rural schools.Curriculum and Instructional StudiesD. Phil. (Education (Curriculum Studies)
