Preparedness of secondary school head teachers on maintenance of physical facilities in western region, Kenya

Abstract

Physical facilities are vital in the learning process, a reason why the governments as well as parents invest heavily in them. It is therefore necessary that there is proper maintenance of the same by those who are concerned with management of educational institutions. This study investigated the preparedness of secondary school head teachers on maintenance of physical facilities in Western Region, Kenya. In the study an attempt was made to find out the extent to which secondary school head teachers hire qualified personnel, organize for capacity building of personnel, as well as how they supervise and monitor maintenance of facilities. The study was guided by the Systems Theory proposed by Bertalanaffy (1968) as quoted by Hanson (2004). The study was eclectic utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The research design used was a descriptive survey which covered 92 secondary schools drawn from 8 selected districts of Western Region. Primary data was collected from a sample of 460 respondents, who included 92 head teachers, 92 deputy head teachers, 92 stores clerks, selected through purposive sampling, 92 class teachers and 92 class prefects selected through simple random sampling. Data was collected using questionnaires, interviews, direct field observation and document analysis. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics involving frequencies and percentages and inferential statistics using chi-square tests. The study found out that: secondary school head teachers do not hire qualified personnel nor organize for capacity building of their personnel for maintenance through training workshops, seminars, and expert talks; they do not adequately supervise maintenance activities through planning, formulation of policies on maintenance, allocation of duties on maintenance, motivation of personnel, and provision of adequate materials for maintenance. They do not monitor maintenance of physical facilities through personal inspections, stock taking nor preparation of maintenance records. The study also found that there is a significant relationship between head teachers gender, training and maintenance of physical facilities. The study concluded that secondary school head teachers are not adequately prepared for maintenance of physical facilities. The study recommends that there is need for secondary school head teachers to: hire qualified personnel, arrange for capacity building of personnel on maintenance of facilities, adequately supervise and monitor maintenance activities in schools. This study is significant because it is hoped that the results will be useful in generating knowledge to head teachers on better maintenance practices, thus saving the cost of constructing new buildings and doing major repairs due to poor maintenance. It is also hoped that it will inform the Ministry of Education in coming up with more policies on proper maintenance of physical facilities in educational institutions