An investigation of physical resources maintenance on service Delivery by public secondary school managers in Kenya. A case Of tharaka south district in Tharaka Nithi County-Kenya

Abstract

Resource maintenance is a continuous and progressive process of taking care of the available resources; material, financial and human to ensure that they remain in good working condition in order to enable an organization achieve its intended long-term and short-term mission. The various physical resources in the school including classrooms, furniture, laboratories and their equipment and the dormitories need to be well maintained so that they may be useful to the school for as long a period as possible. With proper maintenance, this will ensure minimal wastage of these resources and improve on service delivery. This study sought to investigate the effect of physical resources maintenance on service delivery by public secondary schools managers in Kenya: A case of Tharaka South District in Tharaka Nithi County. The study employed descriptive survey research design. The target population was 150 subjects from the 30 public secondary schools in Tharaka South District. Data were collected from a sample of 110 participants comprising of head teachers, H.O.D (curriculum), H.O.D (boarding) and 2 head boy(s)/ girl(s) of each school. The existing literature related to the study was reviewed and the gaps identified. Theoretical and conceptual frameworks were well formulated to guide the study. The instrument of data collection were questionnaires prepared for the headteachers, HODs and head boy(s)/ girl(s). The validity of the instruments was established through piloting and expert opinions. Reliability was tested by subjecting the instruments to a pilot study through the test-retest technique with r ≥ 0.6 as the acceptable level. The Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics in form of frequencies, percentages, tables and figures while qualitative data was be analyzed by tallying the numbers of similar responses. Results of data analysis have been presented using frequency distribution tables, percentages and graphs. The results of the study show the causes of mismanagement of resources in the schools, thus this will enable the school managers to avoid this problem in future. The study findings indicate that physical resources maintenance generally improves service delivery by the secondary school managers. As such, these resources should be regularly maintained so that the management function in the school and service delivery is enhanced for better achievement of the school’s goals of education. The study suggests the best methods of resource maintenance so that this task is done properly thus ensuring that there is economic use of all the available resources in the school. Once the right methods of resource maintenance are adopted by the school managers, then management of these schools will be made easier. The findings of this study will also be significant through serving as a source of reference and a benchmark for further research on the same field in future.