Transfer of secondary schools principals and its influence on administrative performance; a case of West Pokot Sub County, Kenya

Abstract

Ideally, transfer of secondary school principals is a common practice in many educational systems, with the aim of improving the overall performance of schools. However, the influence of these transfers on the administrative performance of schools is not fully understood. The transfer of principals may result in changes in leadership, management styles, and organizational cultures, which may either positively or negatively impact administrative performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of Transfer of Secondary Schools Principals on Administrative Performance. The study was conducted in West Pokot Sub County. The objectives of the study were; to determine the influence of overstay transfer on Principals administrative performance, to establish the influence of promotional transfer on Principals‘ administrative performance, to establish the effect of requested transfer on administrative performance of Principals and to examine the influence of stakeholder involvement in transfer of principals on administrative performance of Principals. The study was based on Human capital theory by Becker and Rosen. This study employed a descriptive survey design using concurrent triangulation of both quantitative and qualitative approaches to data collection. The study adopted pragmatism paradigm. The study targeted 31 principals and 31 deputy principals of public secondary schools in West Pokot Sub County. The study employed census sampling approach through the use of simple census sampling to obtain a sample size of 31 principals and their deputies making a total of 62 respondents. Purposive sampling was employed to select the Sub County Director. Quantitative Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics that was used in interpreting the data. Qualitative data was analyzed under themes, sub-themes and categories. The findings from this study revealed that requested transfer had a positive impact on principals on principal‘s administrative performance(r =.627; p = .000). However, overstay transfer showed a negative influence on principal‘s administrative performance(r =.-681; p = .000). The study further revealed that promotional transfer had a positive influence on principal‘s administrative performance and that stakeholder participation had positive influence on principal‘s administrative performance(r =.572; p = .000). Similarly, majority (76.2%) of the respondents believed that Stakeholders participate in disciplinary actions in the school. The study concluded that promotional transfer, requested transfer and promotional transfer leads to improved administrative performance of principals while overstay transfer has a negative influence on principal‘s administrative performance. Based on these findings, the study recommended that stakeholders should be involved in the decision of mass transfer of principals and that the managements of the schools in the area should also commit to making adequate arrangements for the head teachers and during induction in their new places of work. Further, the schools should provide social amenities for the teaching staff and that there is need for more information sharing among the stakeholders on the developments in teacher retention and transfer requests by schools so that the suitable replacements can be made in good time.