Publication: Assessment of managerial challenges affecting the performance of tender committees in public secondary schools in Imenti South district.
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2013-11
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Mount Kenya University
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Abstract
The central problem of thi
s
study is that despite the adoption of KESSP program in secondary
schools where every school is required to have a functional tender committee the procurement
process has not improved in a number of secondary schools in Imenti South District. This
research sought to find out the managerial issues that have challenged the tender committees in their
work. The study was guided by three objectives: to find out how secondary schools procure for
goods and services; to investigate the level of implementation of Public Procurement and Disposal
Act 2005; and to investigate the challenges facing managers as they use public procurement process
in schools. The research was guided by three research questions: what procurement methods do
secondary schools use to procure for goods and services?; to what extent have schools complied
with PPDA 2005?; and what are the challenges facing public procurement (tendering) in schools?
The significance of the study was to determine ways of improving the effectiveness of public
procurement in secondary schools. This could be achieved by providing possible solutions to
challenges identified. The study was guided by Fielder’s Contingency Theory on Leadership which
measures the effectiveness of a group performance. In the study the conditions under which the
tender committees operate formed the independent variable while the performance of these
committees makes up the dependent variable. Extensive literature review was conducted under the
following subheadings: secondary school management and administration, management styles,
procurement process and a review of related studies in Kenya. The research adopted descriptive
research survey in its research method. The research targeted 20 schools out of the 70 schools in
Imenti South District. Purposive sampling technique was used to sample the schools, Principals and
the Deputy Principals. Simple random sampling technique was used to sample the 3 teachers out of
the six who are members of the tender committee. Questionnaires were employed as the main
instrument for collecting information. Before carrying out the actual study piloting was conducted
to determine the validity of the instruments. Split-half method was used to determine the reliability
of the instruments. Data was collected by the researcher with the help of an assistant.
Questionnaires were issued and collected after two weeks. Data was analyzed using Statistical
Package for Social Sciences version 10.0 program. This was done with the assistance of a computer
programmer. From the analysis, it was established that direct procurement is the most commonly
used procurement method. This is against the requirement of PPDA2005. It was also established
that although most schools have tender committee, schools do not fully follow up the required
procedure in procuring goods and services. The study also established that schools are facing
challenges like: untrained members of the tender committee; financial problems; principals not fully
making use of the tender committee in making procurement decisions; lack of planning and to a
small extent external interference lack of integrity on the part of members. Finally, this study
recommends that to improve public procurement in secondary schools: training of members of the
tender committee should be done regularly, timely financing of schools by the government and
parents, regular auditing of school procurement process, amending the Public Procurement and
Disposal Act 2005 to enable it serve the needs of schools and other institutions having similar
challenges.
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Education management