| dc.description.abstract | A headteacher's public and professional reputations depends more on the standard of discipline in his or her school than any other single factor. This is because good discipline brings about good results in every field of school endeavors. A principal who lets discipline slip out of his or her hand risks trouble. The main purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of headteachers' administrative task on the discipline of students in secondary schools in Kikuyu Division, Kiambu District. The study strived to find out if students discipline was associated with the teachers administrative task which included among other things, management of the curriculum, provision and maintenance of physical facilities and the head teachers relationship with the community, staff and the students. The literature review discussed the influence of headteachers administrative tasks on the discipline of students. This was discussed under the following titles; discipline, causes of indiscipline, the head teacher, administrative tasks of headteachers and their influence on discipline. From the literature review a conceptual framework was developed. The study was conducted using an ex-post facto design. This design was selected for this study because the variables namely; headteachers administrative tasks and students discipline indexes will have already occurred. The study targeted all the public secondary schools in Kikuyu Division. Data was collected by use of questionnaires for the headteacher and focused group interviews for the counselling teacher, prefects and the P.T.A. members. The questionnaire sought to find how often and efficiently the headteachers perform their administrative tasks. The focused group interview was to affirm the results from the questionnaires. The reliability and validity test for the instrument were compiled using the split half method. The result of reliability test indicated that the instrument was reliable. The questionnaires were administered to all the public schools in Kikuyu Division whose headteacher had been in school for more than one year. The responses in the instruments were tabulated, loaded and processed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the responses. Analysis of data was compiled by use of frequencies and percentages. The Pearson Chi-square was used to determine influence of headteachers administrative tasks on student discipline in public secondary schools in Kikuyu Division, Kiambu District The analysis of the data is presented in both narrative and tabular forms. The recommendations of the study were as follows:- I. In as much as the findings of the study reveal that most of the students in Kikuyu Division are disciplined, it is recommended that more emphasis be put on guiding and counseling the students to enhance discipline in the schools 2. It is also recommended that curriculum implementation be more vigorously monitored by the headteachers and MoEST inspectors with a view to ensuring syllabus coverage at the right time. 3. The headteachers should foster cordial relations with their students to ensure that they are disciplined. Guidance and counseling should be emphasized when instilling student discipline. 4. Headteachers cannot discipline students without the support of the teachers and the community. It is therefore recommended that the headteacher-teacher-community relations be enhanced to ensure student discipline 5. It is also recommended that headteachers should not mismanage, misappropriate and embezzle school funds and other physical facilities to obviate dissent from the students 6. To avoid public secondary schools experiencing a lot of discipline problems MOEST should train the principals on how to handle discipline issues. 7. Schools must provide recreational facilities that encourage character building. 8. The MOEST should be able to facilitate the training of principals on matters concerning guidance and counseling in order to enhance their administrative skills. Suggestions for further study included: Research on the influence of headteachers administrative task on student discipline could be extended by examining the attitudes of secondary school students in other provinces or districts and compare the finding with those of this study. The study can also be replicated in urban areas with adjustments in the scope and the variables to determine any similarities with finding of this study. | en |
