Factors influencing board of management members’ effectiveness in human resource management in public secondary schools in Mount Elgon sub-county, Bungoma county, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors influencing BOM members‟ effectiveness in management of human resources in public secondary schools in Mt. Elgon Sub-County, Bungoma County. The study sought to: determine the extent to which BOM members‟ academic qualifications, professional experience, training in management skills influence management of human resources. Also, the study sought to determine how BOMs‟ role in recruitment of teachers and positions held currently and previously affect Human Resources Management. Besides, the study was to establish challenges encountered by BOMs‟ in management of human resources. Issues that prompted this study were that most BOM members are aware of workshops on school management but they felt that there should be increased access to training of the BOM members through decentralization of such training to schools instead of offering it at KEMI. This research was anchored on the Herzberg's theory of employee motivation (Michael, Syptak & Marsland, (1999) supported by equity theory of motivation. The investigation was conducted using the descriptive survey design. Target population consisted of the 24 public secondary schools and 312 BOMs in Mt. Elgon Sub-County. Three (3) head teachers and 3 BOMs were used for piloting study. The researcher used a sample size of 12 public secondary schools. For the BOM members, the researcher calculated the sample size basing on Mugenda and Mugenda (2003) who proposes a sample size of 20 percent of the total population. For this study, therefore, sixty one (61) BOM members were appropriate. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the analysis. From the findings, it was established that BOM members‟ positions held currently or previously contribute greatly to competence and performance. Besides, head teachers‟ and BOM members‟ age is crucial hence BOM should be appointed carefully to ensure that they are experienced to operationalize management processes effectively and efficiently. Also, BOM members have failed in their responsibilities due to challenges like political interference, unqualified and incompetent BOM members, and that some members have vested interest in procurement of supplies. Basing on the challenges still, the study established that a majority of BOMs had no degree or any public accredited profession. Therefore, most of the BOM members endorsed the decisions of the principal hence making the education level of the BOM not significant when handling human resources in schools. The study suggested that there is need to carry out a study on factors affecting Kenya Education Management Institute in training and development of BOM members‟ administration and management skills. There is also need to carry out a study on the influence of ICT on BOM members‟ effectiveness in management of human resources. The study recommended that management of educational institutions has to be effective and efficient by appointing BOM carefully to ensure that they are experienced. Given the scope and limitations of this study, the researcher recommends a replica of the study to be performed in other public secondary schools in Kenya.