Effects Of Governance Practices On Academic Performance Among Selected Public Secondary Schools In Buuri Subcounty, Meru County

Abstract

The Kenya Education Act 2013 outlines the school management structure, specifically spelling out the composition of the board as the organ responsible for the management of secondary education in Kenya. Despite, this management structure suggested by the Ministry of Education for all the schools, there has been great variability in the performance of schools in Kenya. Governance practices are regarded as significant in influencing performance of learning institutions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of governance practices on performance among secondary schools in Buuri sub-county; Meru County. The study was guided by the following specific objectives; to examine the effect of stakeholders support, leadership style, organization politics, communication and composition of board on performance among secondary schools in Buuri sub-county; Meru County. The study was guided by three theories namely; conservation of resources theory, agency theory and social exchange theory. Review of past literature was done to establish the existing research gaps. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. It targeted a population of fifteen public secondary schools in Buuri Sub County, Meru County. All the fifteen public secondary schools formed the study population. This is because the number of schools was small. A total of 60 respondents were surveyed from all the schools. The researcher used questionnaires to collect primary data. Data constituted governance practices that the respondents employ in running of schools. The study adopted the drop and pick method in collecting the data. Validity and reliability of the data collection instrument was conducted to ensure that it measured the constructs of the study. Descriptive statistics such as mean and percentages were computed to capture the characteristics of the variables under study while inferential statistics, specifically the Pearson correlation and regression coefficient was used to assess the relationship of the independent and dependent variables. The findings indicated that governance practices (stakeholders support, leadership style, communication and board composition) have a positive and significant effect on performance of learning institutions. However, organizational politics was found to have a negative and significant effect on performance of learning institutions. The study concluded that all governance practices positively influence performance of learning institutions, except organizational politics, which was found to negatively influence performance of learning institutions. Based on the findings, the study recommends that learning institutions in Meru County need to strengthen their stakeholders support, leadership style, communication, organisational politics and board composition related aspects. The results have enormous implications on running of the learning institutions. The study has provided valuable contributions in the learning institutions and informs policy formulation on good governance in the education sector.