Administrative competencies of secondary school headteachers in Nandi District

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish whether secondary school headteachers possessed competencies which they require in order to be effective in their work as administrators and managers of the schools in Nandi District. The method used for conducting the research was descriptive survey method. Two divisions were sampled and used for conducting the study. Six schools were sampled from the two divisions - three from each division. These three schools were all boarding and included a boys' school, girls' school and mixed secondary school. 36 teachers, 12 heads of department and 6 headteachers took part in the study. The main instrument for data collection was a questionnaire. The heads of department and teachers viewed the headteachers as possessing adequate to high competencies in various administrative task areas like in the area of acquiring and distributing instructional materials, in the area of disciplining students, in the area of maintaining proper discipline among the staff and supervision of physical resources. This study recommended that in those task areas where headteachers do not seem to possess the necessary competencies to perform their administrative and management responsibilities effectively, a training programme should be mounted to train them on the necessary skills to enable them perform their administrative tasks effectively. The study recommended that future research be based on the effect of age and sex on administrative effectiveness.