A study on factors affecting performance appraisal of teachers in public secondary schools of Kenya: A case of T.S.C teachers in Ruiru District

Abstract

Performance appraisal is an organizational tool that determines and measures the work done by individuals against the set standard or objectives. This ensures that the organization strives towards the attainment of its goals and that all employees participate effectively towards attainment of its goals. However, it goes without saying that this same instrument evokes many emotion feelings reaction and ideas that need to be explored by each organization that needs to be sensitive to its workforce. This study therefore explored the challenges that affect successful execution of performance appraisal in Kenyan Public secondary schools and focused public secondary schools in Ruiru District as its case study. The statement of the problem focuses on the kind of dissatisfactions created by the appraisal systems and which might hinder their success. This study is significant since it may provide information relevant to various stakeholders in the education sector as a means of enhancing the use of performance appraisal systems. It targeted target T.S.C Teachers and school heads (principals) in public secondary schools. The study was carried out in eight public secondary schools located within Ruiru District which has a total population of one hundred and twenty nine (129). Fifty percent (50%) of the population was sampled for the study representing all the eight (8) schools. A descriptive design was used to collect data. Interviews and questionnaires were used as data collection instruments, which were self- made. As such, data analysis entailed both the qualitative and quantitative analysis methods, where SPSS and Microsoft Excel were used as the analysis softwares. The researcher established that goal setting, attitude of teachers, training of appraisers, feedback and policies have significant impact on performance appraisals in public secondary schools in Ruiru district. Critical to this, was training of appraisers was lacking but very necessary for effective implementation of P.A.S. It was therefore recommended that training programmes for appraisers be initiated. Further a study need to be carried out to establish the correlation between training of appraisers and implementation of PAS.