School Management Strategies Influence on Students’ Unrests in Public Secondary Schools in Machakos County, Kenya
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Date
2024-04
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Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Students’ unrests and demonstrations have been a great challenge in t h e
education sector globally and this has aroused scholarly interests. Institutions have
come up with strategies to address the unrest, however the problem still persists.
The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of school management
strategies on curbing student unrests in public secondary schools in Machakos
County in Kenya. The objectives of this study were to determine the influence of
strategic planning on curbing students’ unrests in public secondary schools in
Machakos County in Kenya, to establish the influence of student leadership
through elections on curbing students’ unrests in public secondary schools in
Machakos County in Kenya, to assess the influence of school rules and regulations
on curbing students’ unrests in public secondary schools in Machakos County in
Kenya, and; to find out the influence of guidance and counselling programs on
curbing students’ unrests in public secondary schools in Machakos County in
Kenya. The main significance of this study is that information gotten from the study
will assist school managements in understanding and implementing selected
management strategies towards curbing student unrests. The study employed a
descriptive survey design. The study had a target population of 19216 respondents
picked from 77 public secondary schools in Machakos County. A sample size of
418 respondents was selected through stratified sampling, simple random sampling
and purposive sampling. Specifically 392 students, 13 Head of department of
guidance and counselling and 13 Principals. The data were collected using
questionnaires and interview schedules. Validity of the research instruments was
ensured through expert judgement. The reliability of the research instruments was
ascertained through test-retest method. The Quantitative data was analysed using
mean, percentages and Chi-Square using SPSS. Qualitative data was analysed
thematically and presented using verbatim quotations. The information obtained
from analysis of data was be presented in tables. The study found out that strategic
planning, school rules and regulations were significant in curbing student unrests
with P-value<0.05 at 95% confidence level, but student leadership through elections
had P-value>0.05 hence not significant in curbing student unrests. With odds ratio
of 8.371 and 6.839 respectively, strategic planning and school rules and regulations
were found to have the greatest influence in curbing student unrests, while guidance
and counselling had a relatively weak influence at 1.567 odds ratio. The study
recommends that school administrators should ensure inclusive and comprehensive
strategic planning that solves student challenges in addition to effectively enforcing
school rules and regulations in order to curb unrests in schools.
Description
A Research Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Education (Educational Administration)
in School of Education and Lifelong Learning, Kenyatta University April 2024
Supervisor.
Hellen Kiende Guantai