Administrative constraints facing primary school headteachers in implementing free primary education in schools of Suba East Division, Migori Distrcit

Abstract

Globally, its believed that the challenges of rapidly changing political, economic, technological society can be effectively met only by an educated and enlightened citizens. In this regard primary education is recognized as the minimum basic education which should be provided to all. A minimum level of education for all citizens is not only a basic human right but also imperative for conscious participation of the masses on the development process of a sovereign nation. It is within this dialectic that in 2003 the Kenya government introduced Free Primary Education (FPE). As a move towards ensuring quality, it is imperative that a formative evaluation of the programme is carried out to unearth its achievements and impediments. This study set out to investigate the challenges faced by headteachers in implementing FPE.

The study was carried out in Suba East Division of Migori District. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The target population comprised all the 56 primary school headteachers in the division. The stratified random sampling was used to select twenty headteachers to participate in the study. Data were collected by use of a questionnaire. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and presented in tables.

The study found that the primary school headteachers face a variety of constraints in their efforts to implement FPE. These include among other poor curriculum delivery, lack of teaching/learning facilities and over enrolment, lack of motivation among teachers, indiscipline of primary school pupils, reluctance of the community to contribute to school development, and lack of adequate training for headteachers in financial management. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education Science and Technology should look for ways of motivating the primary school teachers and at the same time offer appropriate in-service courses to head-teachers on management of finance or employ qualified accountants to handle the same. The study also recommends that this study should be replicated in other districts in the country in order to give a general picture of headteachers experiences in the whole country. This will facilitate better decision-making regarding the implementation of free primary education in the entire nation.