The Impact of the Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) Programme on the Provision of Quality Education: The Case of Nchelenge District

The Post Jomtien Conference of March 1990, in Thailand, has seen the Zambian
Government directing its efforts to providing quality education to all, for
economic and social reasons. However, these efforts have been constrained by
problems such as lack of qualified teaching staff and teaching and learning
materials in schools.
The Government has come to recognize these problems and has sought alternatives to ordinary classroom teaching methods. One of these methods is the use of Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) programmes. This is a methodology which requires a classroom teacher to teach alongside radio instructions.
This dissertation evaluates the impact of the IRI programme on the provision of
quality education in schools. Given two categories, IRI classes and ordinary
classes, the study was aimed at scertaining which of the two categories performed better than the other in terms of learning achievement. At the same time, the study was intended to establish the performance of pupils in test items in three subjects, namely English, Science and Mathematics.
The research was a case study where both qualitative and quantitative methods were used. It involved administering questionnaires to the following
respondents: twenty teachers, twenty head teachers and three Standards
Officers. Structured interviews were given to twenty parents whose children were
involved in this research. Formative tests were administered to 40 pupils of which
20 were those who were learning in IRI classes and the other 20 were from
ordinary classes.
This study has established that there is a marked difference in performance
between IRI classes and ordinary classes. The overall 'mean' score in all three
subjects was 68.9 percent for IRI classes, while it was 62.2 percent for ordinary
classes. The study has also shown that pupils excelled in Zambian Language,
followed by English Language, the reason being that a new methodology
called New Breakthrough to Literacy (NBTL), is intensively applied at an early
stage in Grade one. This methodology enables teachers to use local languages
during lessons.
The study concludes that the IRI programme, if properly implemented and radio
reception improved upon, can have tremendous positive impact on the
provision of quality education in schools.