An assessment of the effectiveness of quality assurance and standards officers: a case of secondary schools in Baringo District, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of quality assurance and standards officers. This study was conducted in Baringo district of Rift Valley Province. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. It utilized both probability and non-probability sampling techniques to identify the respondents.A total of 145 respondents participated. These included 5 QASOs, 20 head teachers and 120 teachers. All the 5 QASOs at the district education office were purposively selected twenty head teachers from the selected schools automatically qualified for the study while the 120 teachers were selected through simple random sampling. The study was guided by McGregor's theories 'X' and 'V' that view human beings as uncooperative and constantly in need of coercion to work, and as proactive and often operate with minimum supervision respectively. The researcher used questionnaire, document analysis and interview schedules as research tools. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics with presentations made in frequency tables and percentages. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) aided in the analysis of data. The findings of this study revealed that QASOs in most cases inspected schools only once in a year and most of the respondents were of the opinion that schools should be inspected once a term. Jt was established that head teachers do not frequently advice and discuss with the teachers on inspection reports. Head teachers monthly inspect students' work. The study established that QASOs do not frequently involve teachers in the inspection process and sometimes they show good public relations when they are carrying out inspection. The study established that there is a relationship between inspection and performance. The study real ized that teachers and head teachers are beginning to develop a positive opinion towards the QASOs. The study established that free secondary education is a major emerging issue in school inspection, followed by ICT, poverty, ethnicity, refresher courses and HIV /AIDS respectively. The study found out that making inspection regular was a major way of dealing with the emerging issues. On the basis of the findings, it was recommended that QASOs should be encouraged to carry out frequent visits on inspections, head teachers should inspect students work weekly and QASOs should be encouraged to involve teachers during inspection