ANALYZING BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION: THE CASE OF SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN YEKA SUB CITY

ABSTRACT This study investigated barriers to effective curriculum implementation in selected secondary schools of Yeka Sub-City, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The research was motivated by persistent issue regarding the gap between intended curriculum goal and actual classroom practices despite ongoing educational reforms in Ethiopia. Specifically, the study examined teacher related, resource-related, administrative and leadership-related, and student-related barriers affecting curriculum implementation. A descriptive survey design was employed. The study involved 350 teachers selected through proportional sampling from seven secondary schools and 28 school principals selected through a census sampling technique. Data were collected using questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics, including frequencies and percentages. The findings indicated significant differences in the understanding of curriculum implementation barriers across schools. Teachers in lower-activities schools reported higher confidence in their understanding of student-centered teaching methods and competency based assessment than teachers in higher-performing schools. However, these similar schools reported greater challenges related to learners’ lack of fundamental knowledge and basic skills. Resource-related barriers, especially scarcity of textbooks and overcrowded classrooms, were identified as major challenges across all schools. Significant understanding gaps were also identified between teachers and principals regarding preparation time, classroom facilities, and supervision practices. Furthermore, lower-performing schools reported greater examination pressure and lower levels of collaborative planning, while higher-performing schools motivation stronger commitment to competency-based teaching and collaborative professional practices. The study concludes that effective curriculum implementation is challenged by interconnected teacher, student, resource, and leadership factors. It further shows that schools reporting fewer barriers may not necessarily be implementing the curriculum effectively, whereas schools identifying more challenges often demonstrate greater awareness of implementation realities. Therefore, reliance on self-reported satisfaction measures alone may provide a misleading picture of curriculum implementation quality. The study recommends differentiated professional development for teachers, improved provision of textbooks and instructional resources, targeted interventions to address students’ foundational learning gaps, strengthened instructional supervision and feedback systems, institutionalized collaborative planning practices, reduced examination-oriented teaching, participatory workload assessments, and the adoption of objective curriculum implementation monitoring mechanisms such as classroom observations, resource audits, and external evaluations. Keywords: Curriculum Implementation, Curriculum Barriers, Teacher Perceptions, School Leadership, Educational Resources, Secondary Schools, Yeka Sub-City, Ethiopia. ix