Influence of head teachers' practices in management of school feeding programme on primary school pupils' retention in Mbeere South District, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of head teachers' practices in Management of School Feeding Programme on Primary School Pupils' Retention in Mbeere South District, Kenya. Five research objectives were formulated to guide the study. The study sought to determine the strategies used by head teachers to influence pupils' retention, establish methods they use to mobilize resources to support School Feeding Programme, determine the extent to which the programme is influenced by funds from various sources, analyze the challenges faced by head teachers as they implement the programme and the strategies they use to ensure that food is kept safely in the store, free from misappropriation by support staff. The study was guided by Vroom Valence Expectancy theory of motivation where food was used as an incentive to attract children to school. The study used descriptive survey design and was conducted on 22 public primary schools in Mbeere South district. Random sampling was used to select twenty two head teachers, eighty eight teachers and three hundred and sixty pupils. Data was collected using two types of questionnaires and a Focus Group Discussion guide. The collected data was analyzed using frequencies, percentages and averages. The statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for generating tables, figures and diagrams. The findings revealed that proper management of School Feeding Programme had a big influence of 95 percent on the retention of pupils in Mbeere South district. Head teachers mobilized resources to supplement what the Government and Non-Governmental Organizations supplied, addressing the challenges that they encountered during implementation as well as employing methods to ensure that food was kept safely in the store. The researcher recommended that the Government and all the stakeholders in education fraternity should support School Feeding Programme under all cost because among many other factors, it was rated the strongest in enhancing retention in schools. In conclusion, the researcher suggested that a similar study should be done in other parts of the country on Head teachers' practices in management of School Feeding Programme on primary school pupils' retention in order to enable generalization of findings.