Influence of Principals Management Practices on Quality of Education in Public Secondary Schools in Moiben Sub County, Kenya

Abstract

The study aimedat the influence of principal management practices on the quality of education in public secondary schools in the Moiben sub-county, Kenya. The research objectives sought to determine the influence of principal supervision of learning activities, principals’ human resource management practices, principal’s financial management practices and principal setting of goals and objectives on the quality of education in public secondary schools in Moiben sub-county, Kenya. The study used the effective school theory model by Lezotte (2010). This model states that a school is effective if it can demonstrate quality and equality in assessed student accomplishment. The study adopted a descriptive design. The target population was 33 public secondary schools in Moiben subcounty, 491 teachers, the QASO, and 1 CSO. The researcher used a sample of 9 principals from 9 public secondary schools and a sample of 98 teachers in Moiben sub-county. Random sampling was used to select schools from each educational zone, that is,Chepkoilel, Sergoit, Moiben, Meibeki, and Karuna.The 98 teachers were then selected at random in the subcounty. The study had a response rate of 88.78% (87teachers), 77.78% (7 principals), and 100% for the QASO and the CSO, which was considered appropriate for research. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used to collect data. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, and the findings were displayed using frequency distribution tables, bar graphs, and pie charts. Bivarience analysis was used to develop the chi-square and the correlation. The qualitative data obtained from the interview schedule was then analyzed and presented in narrative form.The study’s findings concluded that on the principal supervision of learning activities, principal checking class attendance has no significant association with the student's performance( chi square=0.786, p=0.37), the principals checking the class attendance has a significant association(chi square=10.564, p value=0.001) with the transition rate, (chi square=13.906,p=0.000), student performance(chi square= 0.57,p =0.811),transition rate(chi square=12.985, p=0.000) on record of work and performance (chi square=0.60, p=0.806), transition rate(chi square=9.063, p=0.003) on checking of student progress report, on the principal's human resource management practices, students performance (chi square=4.304, p=0.38) and transition rate( chi square=1.036, p=0.309) on principals rewarding teachers, (chi square= 4.816, p=0.028) and (chi square=0.439, p=0.508) on compensation,the principal’s financial management practices, (chi square=15.414, p=0.000), and transition rate ( chi square=5.724, p=0.017) on curriculum support material, students performance. On the principal's setting of the goals and objectives( student performance, chi square=1.749, p=0.186), students performance (chi square=1.728, p = 0.189) and transition rate (chi square=67.809, p=0.000) all influenced the quality of education. The following recommendations were made from the study: The principals should ensure that they conduct routine supervision of learning activities. School principals should ensure that there is proper management of the financial resources available. The principals should ensure that all the targeted areas are provided with the needed funds, for example, libraries, laboratories, and ICT. The principals also ought to supervise and monitor the utilization of the funds in the school that are provided by the government and that are sourced from other The Board of Management and the principals should ensure that the teachers are well compensated. The ministry of education should ensure that all the schools in each sub-county should have the school's long-term and short-term goals; this will play a big role in ensuring that quality is met as the school works towards the achievement of the set goals and objectives.The school principals should ensure that all the stakeholders are involved in the process of setting goals and objectives because ownership and diversity of values will be met.