A study of the role of the sponsor in public secondary school administration in Kakamega district
Abstract
This study is about the role of the sponsor in public secondary school administration.
The study is a result of research on the perceptions of both sponsors and headteachers
on what this role is and ought to be.
The study is divided into five chapters. In chapter one, the whole study is introduced
through the background to the study, the statement of the problem, the purpose,
objectives, hypotheses, significance, limitations, delimitation's, basic assumptions
definition of significant terms and the orgnisation of the study. This is meant to set out
what the study is all about.
In chapter two, the literature relating to prior research on the issues of the study is
reviewed. This is organized through the missionary introduction of education in
Kenya, the government funding of education for Africans in Kenya, African
Independent Schools, Government takeover of independent schools, post independent
financing of schools and treatment of the sponsor and lastly the theoretical framework
of the study. This literature generally reveals that education was brought to Kenya by
missionaries who built schools next to churches. The missionaries constructed the
schools, hired and paid teachers and generally maintained the physical facilities of the
schools. It is this practice that led to the idea that the churches had sponsored the
schools. The literature also reveals that each of the churches that came to Kenya was
using education as a means of evangelisation of Africans. The churches therefore did
not follow the same curriculum. After the Fraser and Phelps-Stokes commissions, the
colonial government stepped in to standardize education for Africans through the
provision of grants to the schools. To avert the resistance of churches to these grants,
the government agreed to leave each church to maintain its religious traditions and to
determine who was to teach in the schools. Some schools were set up by Africans as
independent schools but these were soon taken over by the government. After
independence, the government enacted the Education Act and the Teachers Service
Commission Act consequent upon the recommendations of the Ominde Report. The
Teachers Service Commission now employs and pays all teachers in public schools.
The Education Act spells out the role of the sponsor. This study looks at this role of
sponsor as spelt out in the Education Act and as perceived by both the sponsors and
the headteachers. It also evaluates the Ominde Report and discusses whether the Education Act adequately implemented the recommendations of the Report at least in
relation to the sponsor.
In chapter three the research methodology is dealt with, particularly, the research
design, the target population, sampling procedures and sample size, the research
instruments and their validity and reliability and lastly the data collection procedures
and data analysis techniques. In chapter four, the study deals with the reporting of
data, analysis of data and discussion of findings. The data relates to the questionnaires
send to headteachers and sponsors eliciting responses as to their perception of the role
of the sponsor. The data is analysed in accordance with the six hypotheses of the
study and the responses as analysed with the chi-square tests are recorded.
Lastly, chapter five deals with the summary, conclusions and recommendations of the
study. The research seems to show that the sponsors have no right to demand a say in
the appointment of headteachers in the schools they sponsor because the Teachers
Service Commission employs and pays teachers and the parents through the Parents
Teachers Association build and maintain the schools. The research makes various
recommendations in relation to the future treatment of church sponsors by the
government.
Sponsorhip
University of NairobiCollections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [5964]