Challenges of the Board of Management in Management of Staff and Students Personnel in Secondary Schools in Gatundu South District, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges of Board of Management in management of staff and students personnel in public secondary schools in Gatundu South District. The objectives were to assess the roles of board members in management of staff and student personnel, assess the influence of board members level of education and professional qualifications in handling personnel matters, establish the influence of board members competence on academic performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education, and find out their constraints in management of staff and student personnel in a bid to come up with ways on how to improve and revitalize the management of staff and students in public secondary schools. A descriptive survey design was used in the study. The study targeted 30 public secondary schools in Gatundu South District. The stratified sampling technique was used to get specific categories of schools required for the study. In this study a sample constituted 6 schools out of 30 public schools categorized as boys boarding, girls boarding, and mixed boarding and day schools. The simple random technique was used to select the schools in each category. From each selected school category the study selected the Principal and five members of the board who were selected using the lottery method. Questionnaires were used as instruments for data collection. The questionnaire was of 2 categories. One for the Principals of the selected schools; the second category was given to the selected board members. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics using measures of central tendency (medium, means, and modes), Analysis of Variance, Chi-square, frequencies, and percentiles. The analyzed data was presented using tables, charts and graphs. Among the key findings of this study was that most board members did not understand their roles since they were not well inducted, majority had certificates, few had diplomas and degrees and a group that never finished high school. The study also found out that there was a relationship between board members academic qualifications and performance. Although participation by the board was high in some task areas such as student‟s selection, it was low in some like development and motivation of teachers and support staff which was attributed to lack of financial resources. Lack of training and poor relationships among board members and Principals was evident. The study recommends that board members be selected through competitive interviews, Principals be given the full mandate of inducting them on their roles; the bureaucratic discipline procedures be reviewed. The ministry should provide regular training of board members to enhance their management skills.