An Assessment of Headteacher promotion criteria and its effect on academic performance in West Pokot County public primary schools, Kenya

Abstract

The importance of education in propelling a country’s development cannot be overstated. The role of the head teachers in the management of schools remains crucial for both the government and the school to achieve their desired goals. The head teachers are therefore required to be central pillars in the leadership of the school management team and this could have a direct influence on the school’s academic performance. The purpose of this study was to assess the promotion criteria of public primary school head teachers and its influence on academic performance in West Pokot County. The objectives of the study were to determine the effects of promotion criteria adopted by primary schools; education qualification, work experience, leadership skills and school sponsors role on academic performance of public primary schools in Pokot Central Sub County. The study utilised Peter Principle theory. This research adopted a descriptive survey design. Convenience and simple random sampling was used to select a sample of 3 teacher advisory council, 39 head teachers, and 205 teachers from 150 public primary schools in the study area. The researcher used interview schedules and questionnaires to collect data. The data collection instruments were tested for validity and reliability. Data collected was analysed using qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative data was analysed using content analysis. Quantitative data was analysed using statistical software (SPSS) version 20.0 descriptive and inferential statistics. Study findings showed that only three promotion criteria had significant positive effect; experience (r=0.252 and p=0.001), leadership traits (r=0.219 and p=0.003) and academic qualifications (r=0.203 and p=0.006) on academic performance of public primary schools. However, the study established that stakeholder involvement had no significant effect (r=0.047 and p=0.527) on academic performance of primary schools. The study concluded that in selected factors studied promoted the selection of head teachers which affected academic performance of public primary schools. The study recommends that teachers should be provided with opportunities for in-service training, head teachers should delegate duties to teachers and head teachers should act as role models.