Influence of school-based factors on students unrest in public secondary schools in Kwale county, Kenya

Abstract

The study aimed at investigating the influence of school-based factors on students unrest in public secondary schools in Kwale County, Kenya. The study was guided by the following objectives; to establish how principals management of access to drugs and substance, teachers‟ use of guidance and counselling, teachers‟ discipline management approaches and teachers‟ compliance with children‟s rights influence students‟ unrest in public secondary schools in Kwale County, Kenya. This study was based on System theory by Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1996). The study used descriptive survey design. The target population of this study comprised 60 public secondary schools, 60 principals, 600 teachers, 120 prefects form 3 and 4 classes in Kwale County, Kenya. The sample size was 240 respondents that included 30 principals, 120 teachers, 60 prefects (form 3 and 4) and 30 school presidents. One hundred and ninety five responded of which 30 were principals, 95 teachers, 40 prefects form 3 and 4 classes and 30 school presidents. The BOM members were stratified in to two to involve 8 male and 7 female members from each school. Stratified sampling was used to select the respondents. Questionnaires for teachers and class prefects and interview schedules for principals were used for data collection. Reliability analysis was done through test-retest method. Reliability coefficient of 0.7 deemed the instrument reliable. Validity was ensured through discussion with the experts including supervisors and colleagues. Primary data was collected and analyzed using quantitative and qualitative techniques and presented in tables and graphs. Secondary data was obtained from journals and schools data base. Data collected was analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used. The findings showed that the four schools that were effective in the management of access to drugs and substance abuse in terms of principals‟ management had three cases of school unrests compared to six for those schools that were not effective in managing drugs and substances. The study also found out that the two schools which had teachers‟ practice better guidance and counselling among the students had only two cases of school unrests compared to six for those schools that did not have better guidance and counselling. Schools that were effective in using various discipline approaches and whose teachers complied with children‟s rights had only one case of students‟ unrest in their secondary schools compared to three for those schools that lacked. The study recommends that government initiate programmes that enhance principal‟s management of access to drugs and substance since the current methods being applied seem not to be effective. This is because the teachers highlighted lack of proper practices to check on drugs and substance abuse in the public secondary schools. This can be done through the DEOs and principals in the public secondary schools. There should be further research on the influence of head teachers‟ leadership styles on students‟ unrest in public secondary schools in Kwale County, and the effect of teacher – students‟ ratio on student unrest in public secondary schools in Kwale County, Kenya.