Influence Of Head Teachers’ Management Strategies On Kenya Certificate Of Primary Education Performance In Public Primary Schools In Kieni East District

Abstract

The head teacher is the leader in a school, the pivot around which many aspects of the school revolve, and the person in charge of every detail of the running of the school, be it academic or administrative. K.C.P.E results in Kieni East District in general point to the fact that measures need to be put in place to ensure better performance (D.E.O report, 2014). The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of head teachers’ management strategies on K.C.P.E performance in public primary schools in Kieni East District. Specifically, the researcher aimed to examine the following objectives, Influence of Curriculum and Instruction on academic Performance, Influence of Staff Personnel on K.C.P.E Performance, Influence of Student Personnel Management on K.C.P.E Performance, Influence of Finance Management on K.C.P.E Performance and Influence of School Community Relations on K.C.P.E Performance in public primary schools in Kieni East District. Descriptive survey design was used because information was collected without changing the environment (i.e., nothing was manipulated). It was the best method for collecting information that demonstrated relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Questionnaires were used to collect data from 30 head teachers and 121 teachers in public primary schools in Kieni East District. Frequencies and percentages were used in the analysis with the help of SPSS software. The study found that, the teachers did not always finish the syllabus in time and in addition, the teachers indicated that the head teacher did not always supervise curriculum. The study found that head teachers of primary schools in Kieni East District had good management practices in personnel management of staff; however this was not extended to the students especially in the area of decision making which led to poor performance. The study also found that head teachers had good financial management skills however this was at a very basic level since the school heads could not for example audit finances. The study finds that head teachers rarely supervised curriculum implementation. The findings also indicated that the school head had poor management of physical facilities. The study found that head teachers of primary schools in Kieni East District had good management practices in community relations. The research showed that the head teachers had poor management practices in personnel management, curriculum implementation and physical facilities; which led to poor performance in KCPE due poor relationship with the students, failure to complete syllabus coverage and overcrowding in classes. The study concluded that the headteachers of public primary schools in Kieni East District had good management practices in finance and community relations. They also had poor management in personnel management, curriculum implementation xiii and physical facilities The recommendation were (a) that the Ministry of Education should provide special training to primary school head teachers to improve their skills in financial management; (b) that Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (QASOs) should ensure supervision of teachers by head teachers and place emphasis on curriculum implementation and syllabus coverage; and (c) the head teachers of public primary schools should involve teachers in managing school facilities.