Influence of stakeholder participation on successul completion of Secondary School projects in Mandera County

Abstract

Education is a basic human right recognized by any government as fundamental for human development both at individual and national level. Despite consistent efforts made by Kenya government to improve the education sector in the country, cases of unsuccessful secondary public schools’ projects in Mandera County have led to episodes of student unrest such as strikes, violent protests and poor performance due to inadequate facilities. Most secondary school projects either stall or do not perform according to plan. There have been cases of wrangles amongst stakeholders involved in the undertaking of such projects. This study sought to investigate the extent of stakeholder participation in the different phases of project life cycle and its influence on successful completion of secondary school projects in the county. Specifically, the study analyzed the influence of stakeholder participation in the initiation, planning, implementation and review phases. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The target population was 1028 stakeholders that included; head teachers, deputy head teachers, teachers, parents, education officers, government officials and board of governors. The study employed stratified random sampling technique to select 206 respondents from the target population. The study made use of primary data that was collected by use of semi structured questionnaires and an interview guide. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Relevant frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and regressed values were then presented in table form. The extent of successful completion of secondary school projects was minimal with 47 percent of the respondents ranking the projects undertaken as only partially meeting the project objectives. Results from the study indicates that 81 percent of the respondents were of the opinion that, to improve success rate of secondary school projects in Mandera County, mechanisms should be put in place to ensure increased stakeholder participation in the different phases of secondary school projects in the County. The mean score of project initiation, implementation, participation, and review phases were 1.94, 1.65, 1.88 and 2.62 out of a maximum of 5 respectively indicating that there was minimal stakeholder participation in secondary school projects. The regression model predicts that stakeholder participation in the project initiation, implementation, participation, and review phases leads to a .582, .574, .569 and .547 increase in projects success respectfully. In conclusion, the researcher found that there was minimal stakeholder participation in the different phases of the project lifecycle that led to the unsuccessful completion of secondary school projects in Mandera. It is therefore recommended that managers of secondary school projects to ensure there is proper strategies and mechanisms in place for the inclusion of stakeholders in the different phases of project life cycle to enhance proper stakeholder participation