Effectiveness of the Induction Course in Education Management on Management Practices of Head Teachers in Public Primary Schools in Nairobi County

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue IX, September 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186

Effectiveness of the Induction Course in Education Management on Management Practices of Head Teachers in Public Primary Schools in Nairobi County

Joel Ongoto¹, Dr. Martin Ogola², Prof. Joseph Malusu³

¹PhD Student, Department of Educational Management, Policy and Curriculum Studies, Kenyatta University, P.O. Box 43844, Nairobi, Kenya
²Lecturer, Department of Educational Management, Policy and Curriculum Studies, Kenyatta University, P.O. Box 43844, Nairobi, Kenya
³Associate Professor of Education, Mwenge Catholic University, P.O Box 1226, P.O. Box 1226, Moshi, Tanzania

Abstract: – To address gaps in management of public primary schools and provision of quality education, the Ministry of Education periodically supports head teachers of public primary schools to undertake induction courses in education management in order to improve management practices at school level. One of the many induction courses supported by the Ministry of Education and organised by Kenya Education Management Institute is the Induction Course in Educational Management. This course targets all education managers in public schools with the aim of improving management practices. Despite Kenya Education Management Institute conducting the induction course targeting school managers, poor management practices still are witnessed in many public primary schools. The research objective of this study was to examine the effect of induction preparation procedures by Kenya education management institute on effective management of public primary schools in Kenya. The study was anchored on Total Quality Management theory. Descriptive survey research design was employed. The target population for the study were ninety-six public primary schools head teachers, chairpersons of boards of management, senior teachers, subordinate staff members, school prefects and staff trainers from Kenya Education Management Institute. Simple random sampling was used to select the sample for this study. Data for the study was collected using structured questionnaires and analysed using descriptive statistics with the aid of the Statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software. Results revealed that despite the fact that induction preparation procedures had a significant influence on effective management of public primary schools in Kenya, to a large extent, majority of the head teachers were not knowledgeable on the policy guidelines regarding preparation for in-service training. Policy preparation guidelines were unclear to head teachers and there were no clear follow-up mechanisms after the in-service training. The study recommends development of clear policies and guidelines on preparation of head teachers for in-service training. Kenya Education Management Institute should support the induction course as it had clear benefits for the targeted school managers and to put in place evaluation mechanisms of all its in-service training programmes targeting school managers.

Key Words: Induction Preparation Procedures and Effective School Management

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