Influence of management of resources by principals on quality assurance in public secondary schools in Thika West sub -county
Robert Kimani Mwangi
Thika High School
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1234/ijema.v1iII.26
Abstract
Principals play important roles towards quality assurance in secondary schools. The purpose of this study was analysing the Influence of management of resources by principals on quality assurance in public secondary schools in Thika West sub-county. The study was guided by The Systems Theory. The study applied mixed methods approach, that is, quantitative and qualitative methods and thus applies concurrent triangulation research design. The target population comprises of 50 principals, 93 HoDs and 9 QASOs all totaling to 152 which a sample of 49 respondents were selected using The Central Limit Theorem. Stratified sampling was applied to create five different strata based on the number of zones in Thika West Sub-county. From each stratum, three principals and six teachers were selected using purposive sampling. The researcher then applied simple random sampling to select three QASOs. Questionnaires were used to collect data from principals and HoDs whereas interview schedules were used to collect data from QASOs. Piloting of the instruments was conducted to help establish validity, reliability, credibility and dependability. Reliability was established using test retest method and reliability coefficient, r = 0.65 was obtained using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Formula thus indicating higher internal consistency. Credibility was established through data triangulation by multiple analysts and experts whereas dependability was established through repeated trial. Data analysis began by identifying common themes. Frequency counts of the responses were also taken. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically based on research objectives whereas the quantitative data was analyzed using One-Sample t-Test Analysis in Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 21. The study has established that principals’ management of resources enhance quality assurance in secondary schools. However, in Thika West Sub-county this has not been the case. The study thus recommends that principals should understand that prudent management of resources is critical to the quality assurance in most secondary schools. Thus, the school principals should ensure that resources are properly managed to realize the school’s stated objectives.
