The role of Headteachers in ensuring Quality and Standards in Secondary schools in Eldoret West district Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the role of headteacher' s in enforcing quality assurance and standards in secondary schools in Eldoret West Distrct. The study specifically sought to: determine the role of instructional supervision within the school environment, investigate the role of the headteachers in ensuring quality and standards in secondary schools, determine the teacher's perception of the role of supervision in secondary Schools as conducted by headteachers, establish the challenges faced by the headteachers during supervision and finally determine the process of ensuring quality and standards as conducted by the headteachers in secondary schools. This study utilized the descriptive research design and was guided by the theoretical framework based on. Kolb's experiential learning cycle as developed by Kolb, Rubin and Me Intyre (1974). The study targeted headteachers and teachers in both public and private secondary schools in Eldoret West district. To obtain a study sample, the target population was stratified into two categories i.e private and public schools. From each stratum, 30 percent of the total numbers of schools were selected for inclusion in this study. All the headteachers from the selected schools automatically qualified for participation while the teachers were selected through simple random sampling. Data was collected using a questionnaire and an interview schedule. The collected data was analyzed descriptively using means and percentages. This is because the mean is considered as the most efficient measure of central tendency. The data analysis was done with the aid of Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) software which makes it easy to compare variables whose relationships are being studied. The study findings revealed that the procedure of supervision involved the headteacher calling a meeting to discuss the purpose of supervision, the objectives of supervision, both parties agreeing on the objectives and as well as determining the criteria of supervision. The role of the headteacher in supervision include: enforcing teacher compliance with quality and standards in teaching, providing leadership towards enforcing quality and standards, providing moral and material support and motivating the teachers during the process of supervision. The challenges faced by the headteacher in secondary schools are: the supervision process not properly followed and the supervision process used to settle scores between the headteacher and the teachers. This study recommends that there is need to incorporate the elements of quality and standards in the supervision criteria and purpose. The headteacher and the teachers should thus discuss on how well these elements of quality and standards can be incorporated in supervision process if supervision is to be successful as a method of ensuring quality and standards in teaching