Prefects’ preparedness in the performance of duties in public secondary schools: a case of Baringo north sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

Prefectoral system in schools is instituted as a way of involving students in the management of schools with the hope that this would help foster efficiency and orderly operation. The purpose of the study was to investigate the level of preparedness of prefects for the performance of duties in secondary schools in Kenya and Baringo North district in particular. The objectives of the study were: to establish the mode of selection used by various schools to select their prefects, to establish duties given to the prefects by the school administration, to determine the level of preparedness of secondary school prefects to assume the duties given to them by the school administration, to determine the support that prefects receive from the school administration, teachers and students in the performance of their duties and finally to investigate the attitudes of students towards prefects in public secondary schools in Baringo North district. The study was guided by Henry Mintzberg‟s theory on organizational structures and systems. A descriptive survey research that involved the use of questionnaires and interview schedule was adopted to collect data. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics, frequencies and percentages collected from respondents of the study. Stratified random sampling was used to choose 8 schools (50%) of the total schools in the district where 6 were co-educational, 1 female, 1 male and 324 respondents were selected. The findings established that prefects are not adequately prepared though they are expected to act as agents in the management of secondary schools. It therefore provides solutions to the failure of prefects to effectively perform their duties through adequate preparation hence ease management by guess work. It recommended that the prefect system be replaced with a council and the latter be phased out with time in public secondary schools among other recommendations