Factors influencing board of management members’ effectiveness in human resource management in public secondary schools in Athi River District, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors influencing Board of Management members’ effectiveness in Human Resource Management in public secondary schools in Athi River District, Kenya. The specific objectives were to identify the influence of BOM members’ level of education, BOM members’ administrative experience, attendance of seminars/workshops and BOM members’ gender on their effectiveness in human resource management in public secondary schools in Athi-River District. The target population consisted of the 210 BOM members, 280 teachers, and 14 head teachers from 14 public secondary schools. The study sampled 63 BOM members and 84 teachers. The total sample size was 148 respondents made up of 63 BoM members, one Sub-County Education Officer and 84 teachers. Stratified sampling was used since it helped to select 84 teachers from different categories of the 14 secondary schools. Stratification helped to involve teachers from the 14 secondary schools. Purposive sampling was then used to select the Sub County Education Officer. Questionnaires for Board of Management members, Sub-County Education Officer and teachers were used for data collection. Instrument reliability analysis was done through test-retest method. Pearson’s product moment’s correlation was used to test reliability. A coefficient of 0.7 for BOM questionnaires and 0.8 for Sub-County Education Officers and teachers questionnaires indicated that the instruments were reliable. Validity was ensured through discussion with the experts including supervisors and colleagues. Primary data was collected and analyzed using quantitative and qualitative techniques that involved thematic analysis and descriptive statistics. The data was presented in tables and graphs. Secondary data was obtained from journals and schools data base. Data collected was analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used. It was found from cross tabulation that BOM members’ with university as their highest level of education performed better in human resource management in the secondary schools while male gender, board members with more than 10 years administrative experience and had attended seminars/workshops were effective in managing human resource management practices in the secondary schools. The BOM members’ should be sensitized on the importance of higher level of education on human resource management in schools. They should be encouraged to enroll for developing courses on human resource management to better their knowledge. The study may give an insight to the BOM on their roles to ensure effectiveness of human resource management. There should be further research on the effect of HRM on academic performance of secondary students