Selected factors influencing principals’ management of income generating activities in public secondary schools of Mumias district, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the selected factors influencing principals’ management of income generating activities in public secondary schools of Mumias District. The specific objectives of the study were to find out the types of Income Generating Activities that are being implemented in public secondary schools of Mumias District, to determine the contribution of teachers in the management of income generating activities in public secondary schools of Mumias District, to find out the challenges faced by Principals in managing income generating activities in public secondary schools of Mumias District, to determine the contribution of income generating activities in financing of public secondary schools and lastly to explore possible solutions to the challenges faced by principals in managing income generating activities in public secondary schools. The study was anchored on the Cost Benefit Analysis as the broader theoretical framework to achieve its objectives. It adopted a descriptive survey research design since the results are to be generalized over a large population. The study targeted all the 33 registered public secondary schools in the District. The sample size consisted of 11 secondary schools. Stratified random sampling was used in dividing the schools as per the administrative divisions and later the simple random sampling technique was used in determining the schools to be used in determining the schools to be used in the study. Once the schools had been identified, all the principals in the sampled schools were purposively selected for the study since they are the finance managers of the schools. The simple random sampling technique was used to get 13 teachers from each school that was visited. The study used of questionnaires interviews and document analysis as data collection instruments. Document analysis as a method of data collection was used to verify some of the information given in the questionnaires. Experts from the education department of Moi University were consulted to ascertain the validity of the questionnaires and interview schedule tools. The Pearson Product moment correlation coefficient for reliability of the questionnaires was calculated and found to be 0.7. Basic descriptive statistics such as frequency tables and percentages were used to present the data and findings. The study found out that the major income generating activities that are practiced in the district are crop farming and dairy farming. The key challenges that face principals in the management of income generating activities include land limitation, inadequate capital and maintenance funds, lack of entrepreneurial skills, poor record keeping and principals’ negative attitude. The study has practical implications for teachers, school administrators ,parents and education officials. Auditing of school records should be enhanced .Consequently business and entrepreneurship courses should be integrated in teacher training curriculum. Schools should adopt modern farming methods to enhance productivity. In addition schools should look for innovative ways of reducing operating costs, by for example involving students in agricultural activities .Income generating activities should be included in the schools’ strategic plans and students and teachers who help in the management of the income generating activities should be given some form of motivation so as to increase their output.