Influence of school board of governors' management roles on students' academic performance in public secondary schools in Kakamega north district, Kenya.

Abstract

It has been observed that managers of organizations affect how an organization works or operates. They affect the way objectives are implemented and achieve. The wayan organization is managed has an impact on how successful it may work and operate to achieve its goals. The boards of governors were mandated to manage public secondary schools in Kenya on behalf of the minister for education. Thus, the roles of the boards of governors may affect the academic performance of a school positively or negatively. This study aimed at establishing the influence of the board of governors on the academic performance of public secondary schools. It sought to establish whether planning, budgetary control, motivation of teachers, disciplinary measures on students and recruitment of teachers by the boards of governors influences the academic performance of the public secondary schools. The study was undertaken in Kakamega North District using a descriptive survey design. Selection of the sample was done through stratified random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. A total of 126 boards of governors responded to questionnaires. The instruments for data collection were questionnaires and interview schedules. A pilot study was conducted in two schools from a neighboring district and experts consulted to ascertain the reliability and validity of the instruments. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi square test using the statistical package for social sciences. The study findings indicated that the boards of governors have a direct role and influence on the academic performance of public secondary schools. This they achieve by planning, setting targets, controlling allocations in the budgets made by the parents teachers associations, motivating teachers to work, instilling discipline in the students and recruitment of teachers. Strategic planning, development of work plans and setting targets to achieve help boards of governors to be focused in their roles. It was found that schools that had strategic plans (58%) performed better than those without. They had more students with C+ and above(58%). Schools that put emphasis on teaching and learning facilities had better results compared to those that emphasized only physical facilities or salaries. Schools where teachers were motivated had more students with C-I- and above in KCSE 2011 (270 candidates) than those from none motivated teachers (48 candidates) students discipline was also found to have influence on performance. 98% of the respondents indicated that indiscipline students performed poorly in academics. Schools that were adequately staffed in subjects showed better performance 88% as compared to those who were not adequately staffed in subjects. It was therefore concluded that the board of governors roles influenced the academic performance in public secondary schools and therefore the board should be streamlined and strengthened for better academic performance. It was also recommended that all public schools should have in place strategic plans, subcommittee and proper allocation of funds with emphasis on teaching and learning aids. The study recommended further research to be carried out on ascertaining factors that undermine the system of recruiting teachers by BOGs and also establish factors that hinder proper budgeting control in the public secondary schools in the same study. The findings, conclusions and recommendations will be useful to the boards of governors, ministry of education policy makers, researchers, practitioners' academicians, professionals and all the stakeholders in the education sector.