Publication: An assessment of levels on training of public secondary School principals and its implications on their administrative Performance in Yatta sub-county
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2013-10
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Mount Kenya University
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Abstract
The purpose of the study was to assess the levels of training of secondary school principals and
its implications on their administrative performance in Yatta Sub-county of Machakos County
with the specific aim of making recommendations to improve school leadership and
management in Kenya. Theoretically, the research drew its foundations from Katz’s Three
Skills Approach, which proposes that as people move to more administrative duties they need
more human and conceptual skills than technical skills. The study applied a descriptive survey
design. The target population was 42 public secondary school principals in Yatta sub-county.
Probability and nonprobability sampling approaches were utilised due to the nature of the target
population. Simple random sampling was used to sample 13 principals, which was 30% of the
target population. A self-administered questionnaire was the main tool of data collection. Data
was analysed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS v17) computer programme.
Frequency distributions, percentages, means, standard deviations and standard errors were
calculated. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was also calculated to determine the relationship
between the principals’ characteristics and the performance indices identified as student
performance in examinations and co-curricular activities and the discipline of the staff and
students. Descriptive statistics presented the results of each analysis. The findings show a
positive correlation between the level of training and administrative performance and that
regardless of the school type and category, secondary schools are faced by many challenges. It
was concluded that secondary school principals need training in financial management,
procurement procedures, ICT and management information systems, maintenance of discipline
and strategic planning and any training programme aimed at improving the capacity of
secondary school principals should primarily address these issues. The study recommends that
the Ministry of Education and related agencies should provide training opportunities for
secondary school principals aimed at addressing the aforementioned issues and any training
programmes for secondary school principals should be continuous.