CHALLENGES FACING DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIC PLANS IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MWINGI CENTRAL DISTRICT, KENYA

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1 CHALLENGES FACING DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIC PLANS IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MWINGI CENTRAL DISTRICT, KENYA By Koma Timothy Mutua Reg. No. GMB/M/0870/08/11 A Research Project Submitted In Partial Fulfilment of The Requirements for the Award Of Master Of Business Administration Degree (Strategic Management), In The School Of Business, Kabarak University September, 2013 i

2 DECLARATION I declare that this project is my original work and has not been submitted in any other university or institution for examination. SIGNATURE: DATE: KOMA TIMOTHY MUTUA REG. NO. GMB/M/0870/08/11 ii

3 RECOMMENDATION This is to confirm that the work in this project was done by the student under our supervision. SIGNATURE: DATE: DR. NJANJA L. School of Business, Kabarak University. SIGNATURE: DATE: DR. ZAKAYO C. School of Business, Kabarak University. iii

4 COPYRIGHT All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transcribed, in any form or by means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of publisher. iv

5 DEDICATION To my wife Jane Mutuo Mutua and Son Edwin Muuo v

6 You have been a pillar of my strength, always encouraging me to cruise on. Your immeasurable patience, love and support has made me reach this far. To my parents, brothers and sisters, you always believed that I could achieve great success in my studies and encouraged me to get back to school for a master s degree. ACKNOWLEGMENT I express my heartfelt appreciation to the almighty God for giving me good health, strength and sound mind to accomplish this work. To a great extent I wish to thank my lecturers at Kabarak University who took me through MBA course. More particularly special thanks go to my two supervisors Dr. Njanja and Dr. Zakayo who tirelessly guided me in writing this research project. vi

7 Lastly I thank my wife Jane Mutuo and son Edwin Muuo who in a big way gave me moral support during the entire period of writing this research project. TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE... i DECLARATION... ii RECOMMENDATION... iii COPYRIGHT... iv DEDICATION... v vii

8 ACKNOWLEGMENT... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS... vii APPENDICES... x LIST OF FIGURES... xi LIST OF TABLES...xii DEFINITION OF TERMS... xiii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS... xiv ABSTRACT... xv CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study Secondary School Education in Kenya Secondary School Education in Mwingi Central District Statement of the Problem Research Objectives General Objective Specific Objectives Research Questions Scope of the Study Significance of the Study Limitations of the Study Assumptions of the Study... 6 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction Theoretical framework The classical approach to business strategy theory The Resource Based View to business strategy theory... 9 viii

9 2.3 Empirical Review School management and development of strategic plans Resources in development of strategic plans Teacher skills in development of strategic plans Government policies in development of strategic plans Conceptual Framework Summary and gap to be filled CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction Research Design Target Population Sampling Strategy Data collection tools and instrument Validity Reliability Data Analysis and Presentation CHAPTER FOUR DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION 4.1 Introduction Background Information Commitment of School Management in Development of Strategic Plan Allocation of Adequate Resources in Development of Strategic Plans Teacher Skills in Development of Strategic Plans Adherence to Government Policies in Development of Strategic Plans Results of Spearman Rank Correlation Factor analysis CHAPTER FIVE ix

10 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Introduction Summary of the study findings Conclusion of the study Recommendations Suggestions for Further Research REFERENCES APPENDICES APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PRINCIPALS/TEACHERS/BOM MEMBERS APPENDIX B: PROPOSED RESEARCH TIME SCHEDULE APPENDIX C: RESEARCH BUDGET x

11 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Conceptual Framework Figure 4.1 Educational Management Course Figure 4.2 Number of Streams Figure 4.3 Number of TSC Employed Teachers Figure 4.4 Number of BOM Employed Teachers Figure 4.5 On Going Projects Figure 4.6 Consulting the Ministry of Public Works Figure 4.7 Scree Plot for the Eigen Values against the Number of Factors xi

12 LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Target Population Table 3.2 Sample Population Table 4.1 Gender Table 4.2 Age Table 4.3 Teaching/Work experience Table 4.4 Academic qualification Table 4.5 School Category Table 4.6 School Management Statements in Development of Strategic Plans Table 4.7 Allocation of adequate resources in Development of strategic plans Table 4.8 Descriptive Statistics for School Enrolment Table 4.9 Teacher skills in Development of strategic plan Table 4.10 School Management and Development of Schools Strategic Plan Table 4.11 Teachers Skills influences Development of Schools Strategic Plan Table 4.12 Eigen Values, Percent of Variance, Cumulative Percent of Variance Table 4.13 Loadings for Varimax Rotated Factor Matrix of Four Factor Model xii

13 DEFINITION OF TERMS Challenge short comings and hurdles to overcome in pursuit to achieve a planned strategy. Develop To design, formulate or make a new idea, product, system over a period of time. Hindering To prevent or slow down the realization of set targets. Management Is the activity of controlling and organizing the work that a company or organization does. Prepare To provide someone with the training, skills and experience that they will need to do a job or to deal with a situation. Resources This includes money, property, skills, human, land, time and information available for use. Rubber stamp To approve what has been agreed without minding of the implication thereafter. Strategy The framework which guides those choices that determine the nature and direction of an organization. Strategic planning Process of defining organizational strategy, direction and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy. Successful Having the effect or result that was intended. xiii

14 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS BOM CDF CEO FSE GOK HR KCSE KEMI MOE PESTLE R & D SPSS SWOT TSC -Board of Management. -Constituency Development Fund -Chief Executive Officer -Free Secondary Education -Government of Kenya -Human Resources -Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education -Kenya Education Management Institute -Ministry of Education -Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental analysis. -Research and Development -Statistical Package for Social Scientists - Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats -Teachers Service Commission xiv

15 ABSTRACT The purpose of this project was to establish whether commitment of school management, availability of adequate resources, teacher skills and adherence to government policies were challenges facing development of strategic plans in public secondary schools in Mwingi Central District. This was to enlighten the ministry of education officials, politicians, school sponsors and general public on pivotal role played by the principals, teachers and BOM members in offering strategic leadership in development of strategic plans in schools. The study was backed by literature review of related studies conducted in other parts of the world. A descriptive research survey was used in this study. The target population of the study was 263 teachers, 324 BOM members and 27 principals from 27 public secondary schools in Mwingi Central District. Simple random sampling was used to select 9 schools from which 27 teachers (3 per school) and 27 BOM members (3 per school) were randomly selected to participate in the study. Purposive sampling was used to select 9 principals from the selected schools. The sample size was therefore 63 respondents. Data was collected using selfadministered questionnaires to principals, BOM members and teachers. The questionnaire was pilot tested to enhance validity and reliability. The collected data from the field was coded and entered in the computer Using Statistical package for the Social Scientists (SPSS). Descriptive statistics was used to analyse quantitative data. Qualitative data was first reviewed and key themes categorised together. The data was coded and interpreted by attaching significance to the themes and patterns observed. The results of the data were presented using tables, pie charts and graphs. The study therefore concluded that incompetent school management; inadequate teacher skills in relation to strategic plan and inadequate resources were challenges facing development of strategic plans in Mwingi Central District. This study recommended that school management needs to encourage and facilitate the teaching staff to attend education management courses, seminars and workshops on strategic planning, to enable teachers gain skills and knowledge on school strategic plans. Moreover, awareness needs to be created to the stakeholders on the importance of having school strategic plans since this makes the schools to be result oriented. The BOM members also need to be educated on the importance of development of school strategic plan. Furthermore, there is need to increase resources allocated towards the development of strategic plan in schools. Keywords: - Commitment of School Management, Availability of Resources, Teacher Skills and Adherence to Government Policies. xv