Strategic planning practices and school performance: the case of public and private primary schools, Nairobi province

Abstract

The key question guiding the study is: Are the strategic planning practices supportive to better academic performance in primary schools. This question is pertinent given the fact that primary education provides the basic learning foundation to mold young minds to intellectual stardom. It has been left to speculation that public schools are currently facing a performance slump, which it is believed, has been heightened by the pressures of the current Free Primary Education (FPE) policy. The main problem with primary schools has been a very low adoption record of strategic planning partly attributed to weak mechanisms to empower school stewards and managers especially in public institutions. Analysis in this study show that schools' overall academic performance is positively dependent on implementation of certain strategic planning practices. No direct relationship between planning horizon and academic performance was observed for primary schools. Differences in demographic profiles between private and public schools were also identified as contributors to performance.