Thesis:

Role of teachers employed by board of governors on Student’s performance in public secondary schools in Mvita District, Mombasa County-Kenya

The use of BOG teachers had been a common practice for a long time now in our public secondary schools, their use had almost quadrupled. In some quarters, as it was the case with the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) about government contract teachers, there was concern about the role of BOG teachers in imparting knowledge to students in public secondary schools. There was no empirical data to show their role on the students’ performance. There was need, therefore, to assess the role of the BOG teachers on the students’ performance in order to come up with tangible evidence in terms of empirical data and advice our policy makers appropriately. The purpose of the study, therefore, was to investigate the role of BOG teachers on the students’ performance in public secondary schools in Mvita District, Kenya. The study employed a descriptive survey research design; targeting a population of 764 respondents consisting of 15 head teachers, 15 BOG chairpersons, 74 BOG teachers, 60 Head of Departments (HODs) and 600 students in Mvita District. The sample size was 153 respondents, made up of 3 head teachers, 15 BOG teachers, 12 HODs and 120 students. Proportionate sampling technique was used to select the head teachers, students, HODs and BOG teachers while purposive sampling was used to select the BOG chairpersons. Questionnaires were used as instruments for collecting data from the head teachers, students, HODs and BOG teachers while interview schedule was administered to the BOG chairpersons. Validity of the instruments was done through experts in research and piloting whereas reliability was tested by subjecting the instruments to a pilot study through the split-half technique and then Spearman Brown Prophesy formula was used to compute a reliability coefficient. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics after data had been cleaned and coded. Quantitative data was analyzed using frequency counts, means and percentages while qualitative data was analyzed by tallying the numbers of similar responses. Results of data analysis were then presented using frequency distribution tables, bar graphs and pie charts. Results showed that teachers employed by the BOG played a vital role in improving the students’ performance in public secondary schools. It was recommended that school management should strive to improve the general welfare of the BOG teachers. It was suggested that further research should be done on the same topic, but other factors such as the school environment, class size and student teacher ratio that may contribute to the students’ performance must be given priority.