Influence of students’ participation in school management on academic performance in public secondary schools in Kadibo division, Kisumu county, Kenya

Abstract

Students’ participation in school management aims to highlight the empowerment of the student most important stakeholder, to be involved in the day to day running of activities of the school. The study was confined to Kadibo division, due to the downward trend in the academic performance of students over the last five years. The study examined students’ participation in school management on academic performance. The study’s objectives were: to determine how students’ involvement in discipline management influences their academic performance, to investigate the extent to which students’ involvement in academic management influences their academic performance, to determine how students’ involvement in school businessmanagement influence their academic performance, to establish the extent to which students’ involvement inco-curricular management influence their academic performance. Internal continuous assessment tests were used as an indicator of students’ performance. A descriptive survey design was used for the study. Questionnaires and interview schedules used to collect data for the study. The target population consisted of 4010students and 14 academic masters/mistresses from 14 public secondary schools. The sample size of 306 students and 8 academic masters/mistresses was used, represented by 8 public secondary schools, which were selected using purposive stratified sampling and was distributed proportionally.A pilot study was carried out to establish the reliability of the instruments and validity was ascertained by the supervisors. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean, frequency distribution tables and percentages with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The qualitative data was transcribed, organized into various themes of the study and reported in a narrative form. The analyzed data was presented using tables. The study revealed that students’ involvement in discipline management greatly influenced students’ academic performance indicated by 175(57.51%) of the respondents. The study further found out that students’ involvement in academic management greatly influenced their academic performance by 217(88.44%) of the respondents. The study further revealed that students’ involvement in school business management had a great influence on the students’ academic performance by 167(54.58%) of the respondents. The study revealed that students’ involvement in co-curricular activities had great influence in their academic performance indicated by 234(76.32%) of the respondents. The study revealed that students involved in discipline management enhanced their academic performance. The study revealed that involvement of students in their academic management improved their academic performance. The study revealed that involvement of students in school business management as members of board of managers increased their self-esteem and improved their academic performance. The study concluded that students’ involvement of in co-curricular management encouraged participation and active roles that enhanced their academic performance. The study recommends that school managers should involve students to participate in the management of schools as this would translate to better academic performance. Further research should be carried out on the influence of students’ participation in school management in private secondary schools.