STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS ON THE ROLE OF CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN ACQUISITION OF MORAL VALUES IN NJORO SUB-COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Moral values are taught in Kenyan secondary schools through Christian Religious Education (CRE)
and other subjects. Despite exposure to moral value content through CRE, students’ moral values
competencies is declining as revealed in acts of mayhem, unruliness, suicides, murder, destruction of
properties among others. This implies that teaching of CRE may have failed to accomplish its intended
objectives. This study investigated students’ perceptions on the role of Christian Religious Education
on secondary school students’ moral value acquisition in Njoro Sub-County, Kenya. The study
adopted Ex- post facto research design, the correlation type. A sample of 343 CRE students
participated in the study. Stratified proportionate random sampling techniques was used. CRE
Students’ Moral values questionnaire (CRESMVQ) was used to gather data. Face and content validity
of the instrument was ascertained by experts from the Faculty of Education and Community Studies
of Egerton University. The research instrument was piloted for reliability and its coefficient estimated
using KR20. The reliability coefficients of were 0.901. Qualitative and quantitative data was analyzed
with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 26.0. The study results
revealed that students acquired moral values through CRE. However, external factors which include
community, parents among others contributed to the decadence of the already acquired moral values.
The study findings can be of relevance to the curriculum developer such as Kenya Institute of
Curriculum Development (KICD) in the designing and reviewing of the CRE syllabus. The study can
also be of importance to the educational policy makers who are charged with the formulation of the
CRE subject objectives. The Ministry of Education may also use the study findings during decisions
making process on curriculum reforms as well as in strengthening the continuous professional
development of teachers and providing the in-service programs pertaining moral values enhancement.