| dc.description.abstract | This study dealt with the influence of education stakeholders' participation on academic performance in public primary schools of Kisima Divisions, Buuri District of Meru County. It sought to investigate who are the stakeholders in public primary schools. The study was intended to minimize conflict between various parties within the management of primary schools and embark on a serious mission of improving academic standards.
The study was focused to achieve the following objectives; to assess how the headteachers management skills in public primary schools influence academic performance, to establish the influence of teachers participation in academic programs on academic performance in public primary schools, to investigate the influence of parents participation in academic programs on academic performance in public primary schools, to evaluate the influence of pupils participation in academic programs on academic performance in public primary schools.
The study took qualitative as well as quantitative approach. Descriptive survey design was used. The division has twelve public primary schools. A sample of respondents was selected using purposive sampling. Education stakeholders of these public primary schools were sampled. All the sampled stakeholders 100% filled the questionnaires and participated in oral interviews. The data collected was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively.
Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the quantitative data. The research findings gave a better understanding on how stakeholders should co-operate to manage public primary schools for better academic results. From the findings, pupils, parents and teachers tend to live up to the image of the headteachers. The participation of the headteachers proves to be of great importance to the success of academic performance in the public primary schools. Parents involvement with their children's educational process through attending school functions participating in the decision making process, encouraging pupils to manage their social and academic time wisely and modeling desirable behavior for their children represent a valuable resource for schools.
The study revealed that there was gender disparity in all the four categories of the stakeholders. Due to the government policy to freeze employment of teachers, the study revealed that majority of the teachers 66.7% were above 40 years. The rest were the young 33.3% who were either employed by PTA, non-governmental organization (NGO) e.g. Lewa Education Trust (LET) and a few who were employed on contract last year 2010 under the Economic Stimulus Programme (EPS) by the Ministry of Education, (MOE).
The involvement of education stakeholders in policy dialogue planning and implementation requires the efforts and contributions of all stakeholders. Each stakeholder has a responsibility and duty to ensure improved academic performance in the public primary schools. From the study's findings headteachers need to be well equipped with knowledge and skills in management and leadership to be able to improve public primary schools academic performance. | en_US |
