The effectiveness of micro-computer cultures on secondary schools management in Buuri sub-county, Meru county, Kenya.

Abstract

The study focused on investigating the effectiveness of the micro-computer cultures on secondary school management in Buuri sub-county. The objectives of the study were to investigate the presence of micro-computer cultures in secondary school management, assess the role of micro- computer cultures on secondary school management, frequency of using micro-computer cultures in secondary school management and identify the challenges of using micro-computer cultures in secondary school management in Buuri sub-county. The study assumed that the respondents were to be cooperative and provide reliable responses, respondents would be available during the period of study and the researcher did not know the effectiveness of micro-computer cultures on secondary school management. The study was conducted in Buuri sub-county secondary schools in Kenya covering a period between 2011 and 2014. The study was guided by Henri Fayol’s theory of management developed in 1916 which was concerned with increasing efficiency among the top management in an organization. The study used mixed method of both qualitative and quantitative research. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design to analyze the effectiveness of micro-computer cultures on secondary school management. The study was to target public secondary school principals, teachers and students in Buuri sub-county. The study used purposive sampling to sample the principals and random sampling to sample students and teachers. The data was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 17. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the population under study. Data was collected using questionnaires that were drawn by the researcher. A total of 22 questionnaires were distributed to principals, 180 to teachers and 326 to students in Buuri Sub County. All the questionnaires from the 22 principals were successfully completed; 159 questionnaires from the teachers and 228 questionnaires from the students were also completed and thus over 77% of the questionnaires were returned. The study found out that close to 72% of the schools in Buuri Sub County had less than 30 functional computers. The results also show that 60% of the secondary schools had less than four computers utilized for management purposes. The results show that more than 50% of the schools utilized internet and email for communication in secondary schools. The study concluded that micro-computer cultures are largely used in Buuri sub-county for examination analysis. The study also concluded that communication in secondary schools in Buuri sub-county had been diversified to include social media such as Facebook, twitter and internet based short messages. The study also concluded that the financial management software such as inventory, payroll package and accounts package were utilized at low percentages ranging between 8%-21%. The study also concluded that inappropriate computer software was the challenge that featured most