Students’ voice and power accountability relationship for curriculum implementation in Ethiopian primary schools: A qualitative study

This study was aimed at exploring the students’ voice and power accountability relationships for curriculum implementation in rural public primary schools in the east Wollega zone, Oromia region, Ethiopia. An exploratory case study type and a multiple case study research design with a qualitative approach were employed to achieve the study’s objectives. A purposive sampling technique was used to select the schools and the respondents. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, non-participant observations, and documents. The study reveals that the students’ voice accountability relationships were insufficient to hold the Woreda (district) Education Offices’ curriculum and instruction experts accountable. This is due to the loosely coupled triangular accountability system and experts’ sense of superiority and carelessness to focus on political matters rather than taking disciplinary measures against curriculum implementers for poorly implemented curricula.The results of this study also affirm that students’ power accountability relationships were inhibited by local norms to respect teachers, the absence of an updated accountability policy, weak dialogue, their hopelessness for further education, poor feedback from School Management Bodies (SMBs) to students’ requests, a politicized school environment, and fear of teachers’ revenge against students for holding teachers accountable for the curriculum’s implementation. Finally, the study indicates that students were unable to strengthen their power to hold teachers accountable for the successful implementation of the curriculum because SMBs suffered from violated autonomy in establishing formal accountability procedures. The study suggests that the government should design an innovative educational accountability policy and empower students with democratic voice and power.