The administrative problems that public Secondary School head teachers face in Kenya : a case study of Kitui District
Loading...
Date
2011-10-18
Authors
Ndana, John Mbuvi
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
This study aimed at investigating the administrative problems that public secondary school head teachers face in Kenya with reference to Kitui District of Eastern province. There is need for efficient and effective management and running of secondary schools. Over the years, however there has been concern over the mismanagement of public secondary schools, often resulting to poor performance of these schools in national examination and frequent students' unrests. The conceptualization of this study was based on the fact that schools just as the business enterprises need effective management to achieve the set goals and objectives. Schools as functional organizations have a purpose, which they must be seen to fulfill effectively and efficiently. The research was based on a descriptive design. The researcher adopted a stratified random sampling strategy on a target population of 85 public secondary schools in Kitui District. Primary data was collected by the use of questionnaires which were self administered by the researcher with the help of two research assistants. Secondary data was obtained from books, journals, and periodicals, on administrative problems in secondary schools and general management of schools as well as the functioning and roles of various school management committees.
The research embraced a research methodology that gave valuable results as desired by the study research questions and research objectives. A descriptive research survey design was employed. Questionnaires with closed and open ended questions were applied to ensure that the research instruments gave formidable data and thus ensuring reliability of the instrument. The research used descriptive survey design, and measures of central tendencies were used to describe the results after analyzing the collected data with Statistical Package for Social Statistics (SPSS). The analysis was thereafter presented using graphs, tables and charts. The study established that lack of adequate training and experience on financial management might be the main cause of school mismanagement and hence poor academic performance. Every aspect of school management is affected by the way money is allocated. The findings indicate that head teachers spend more time reviewing finance matters with parents, teachers and the B.O.G. Issues of discipline came second in importance to the Head master as finance, because the head teachers would probably delegate them to the Deputy and other teachers. The study concluded that inadequate training and experience of the Head teacher in school financial management; discipline and teacher relation could be the cause of poor school performance. This is because the role of the Head teacher revolves around the three issues. The study came up with various recommendations touching on various stakeholders that included the parents, teachers, headteachers and the BOG of the schools. These recommendations point out that the government should train headteachers on financial management. This would ensure that school funds are not mismanaged. The government should also provide grants to help in the operation of schools especially on matters to do with tuition. The Ministry of Education should put mechanisms in place to ensure that headteachers run schools without external interference. Headteachers should delegate their powers to their deputies with supervision. The research was conducted in Kitui district, Eastern Province. It is therefore limited to this region and therefore a recommendation has been made that a further extensive research should be done to come up with a comprehensive fmding on the administrative problems facing secondary school headteachers in Kenya. Key to this is a recommendation that future research should allow respondents to express freely their views by using even oral methods of collecting data.
Description
Department of Educational Management Policy & Curriculum Studies, 46 p. The LB 2970 .K4N36 2008
Keywords
School management and organization --Kenya, High schools --Administration --Kenya, Education, Secondary --Kenya