Administrative factors influencing quality of education in public secondary schools in Kitui, Kisii and Nairobi counties, Kenya

Abstract

Quality of education has remained at the heart of educational administration over the years. The purpose of this study was to investigate the administrative factors influencing quality of education in public secondary schools in Kenya. The study objectives were: to establish the extent to which school physical facilities, teacher motivation levels, financial resources and teaching/learning materials influence quality of education in public secondary schools in Kitui, Kisii and Nairobi counties. The study was guided by the general systems theory. The study used a correlational research design focusing on a target population of 783 public secondary school principals and 8617 public secondary teachers employed by the Teachers Service Commission. Kitui, Kisii and Nairobi counties represent low, medium and high social-economic potential counties in Kenya respectively. Stratified sampling was used to classify schools in these counties into National, Extra County, County and sub County categories. The sample population was 260 schools and 368 teachers. By stratified proportionate sampling, the study sample consisted of 4 national schools, 11 extra county schools, 40 county schools and 205 sub county schools. The schools were randomly selected in each category to ensure representativeness of all school types. The instruments used to collect data included the teachers questionnaire, principals’ questionnaire and observation guide. Reliability coefficient for the questionnaires was 0.7 for teacher questionnaire and 0.72 for principals’ questionnaire. Data was analyzed using frequencies, percentages, means, T- test, Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficients and regression analysis. The findings revealed that- school physical facilities predicted quality of education at 9.4, percent, teacher motivation predicted quality of education at 8.7 percent, school financial resources predicted quality of education at 2.3 percent while teaching and learning resources predicted quality of education at 23.2 percent. When considered jointly, school physical facilities were found to have the greatest influence on quality of education in terms of KCSE mean score while teaching and learning resources influenced transition rate from form one to four and number of trophies won in co-curricular activities the most. Administrative factors were therefore found to influence quality of education positively. The study recommends schools to diversify their financing sources in order to provide quality education. Teachers Service Commission should come up with teacher incentive policy to motivate teachers. More research should be done to investigate administrative factors influencing quality of education in public primary schools, private primary and secondary schools; and public and private universities.