Teachers and students perceptions of service quality in non formal educational institutions in Mombasa District and its environs

Abstract

Education has always been heralded as the key liberator to the ills that have bedeviled mankind since the dawn of time. These ills are poverty, ignorance and disease. The vital role played by formal education towards the uplifting of standards of living, enhancing social well-being and social economic development in a country cannot be overlooked. This undoubtedly led to the over-emphasis on the formal sector of education at the expense of the complementary and alternative modes of accessing educational opportunities, which were pushed to the back burner. With the realization that governments must work in tandem with the other stakeholders and development partners to attain the EFA 2015 goals for the provision of quality education, non-formal schools are now getting their day in the sun. The quality, relevance and contribution of this sector have now come to the fore especially due to the fact that it is positioned as an educational vehicle that targets the lower strata in society. Quality especially in the service industry is critical to attaining a ' competitive edge especially in this era of financial prudence and financial recession that is affecting every sphere of society. In addition the rapidly changing economic landscape that organizations find themselves in calls for the best Human capital available to utilize the scarce resources in the most productive and profitable way The research was about the teachers and students perceptions of service quality in non formal educational institutions in Mombasa District and its environs. The study sought to establish the perceptions of the teachers and students with a view to identifying the main XIV service quality attributes considered most important. The study will be beneficial to all educational providers as this can be a basis for making rationale investment decisions to foster service quality in the schools. The Literature review was discussed at great length which comprised of reference to books journals and reports and the internet. The research methodology comprised the site of the study, the population, data collection instruments and data analysis. The data was .analyzed and the results presented according to the data collected from non formal schools in Mombasa and its environs. The data analysis was done by use of percentages and frequencies, mean and standard deviation. The findings obtained were concluded and recommendations made by the research based on the results. The finding identified the most important service quality dimension to be the reliability factor and the least important to be the empathy factor.