Factors Influencing The Integration Of ICT In Resource Planning In Secondary Schools In Mashuuru District, Kajiado County, Kenya

Abstract

Most of the meetings held in Mashuuru Sub county had experienced wastage of time in tracing the previous records, a times missing records as a result of misplacing them. These were as a result of handling records in manual sheets which get lost each and every time. The sub county being located in a semi-arid area, some donors from Non- Governmental organizations had played a great role in providing Computers in some of the school. According to Mashuuru district inspection report carried out on 20th March, 2014 there were problems of record keeping, the files with confidential information were nowhere to be seen. The principals who had integrated ICT had kept their documents safe and were easily accessible. During their General annual meeting on 10th October 2014 by the District Education Board (D.E.B.) Most principals could not present their Human resource planning details in schools in power point form apart from the few who had integrated ICT in their schools (Mashuuru District office 2014). Due to this, the researcher decided to investigate the problem. This study sought to investigate factors influencing ICT integration in Resource Planning in secondary schools in Mashuuru district, Kajiado County. Specifically, the study sought to establish the availability of ICT infrastructure, establish the level of training of personnel, determine the influence of the teachers’ perception and establish the influence of principal age, all in the integration of ICT in resource planning in schools. The study employed descriptive survey design with both qualitative and quantitative approaches targeting 13 secondary schools teachers in Mashuuru district. A sample of 88 respondents was randomly selected to participate in the study while 13 principals were purposefully selected and interviewed for argumentation purposes of the study findings. Data was mainly collected using a questionnaire tool. Structured interviews were also used in collecting quality data from the principals. The study established that most schools had desktops, phones, television, laptops, DVD players, projectors and radios. Based on linear regression, availability of ICT infrastructure, Rsquared was 0.224 which explained (22.4%) of the factors influencing integration of ICT in resource planning in schools. The study found out that most teachers were well trained in Microsoft word, emails, Google search and excel. The regression model’s adjusted R-squared was 0.145which explain (14.5%) extent at which training factors influenced integration of ICT in resource planning in schools. The regression model’s adjusted R-squared was 0.043 in which explains (4.3%) of the teachers' perception factors influencing integration of ICT in resource planning. The regression model’s adjusted R-squared was 21.9 as which explains (21.9%) of resource planning as influenced by the age of the principle as an independent variable. This therefore explains (21.9%) of the principle's age factor affecting ICT integration in resource planning. Therefore, the remaining (36.9%) should be explained by other factors possibly not captured in this study. The study concluded that that availability of ICT infrastructure, training and principals' age greatly influence the integration of ICT in resource planning in schools. It was concluded teachers, schools managers, the education officials and the government should work hand in hard to make sure that ICT infrastructure are availed and the staff gets adequate training in order to enhance ICT integration in resource planning in schools.