Pervasiveness of data driven decision making in Kenyan Public Secondary schools: Case of Nairobi County
Dr. Peter Waweru
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1234/ijema.v1i1.27
Keywords: school management, data-driven decision making, ICT, data mining, data analytics
Abstract
The major goal of every learning institution is deliver good quality education to its students just like every other organization aims to offer better quality products to it’s customers to gain a competitive advantage. Secondary schools are critical to ensuring quality education in every economy as they interact with students in their early stages of education; giving them a critical say in molding future career choices of these students. The rise in the use of ICTs and in particular areas of data gathering and analysis has presented a unique opportunity for schools to analyze this data about their students, school environment and class interaction with the aim of molding students and equipping them with skills in relation to their strengths; understanding the weaknesses of the students and responding appropriately through informed decisions. While this trend of data driven decision making has gained momentum in developed countries, Africa and other developing countries, unless in the case of selected private schools, seem not to have seen the need to transition to data driven decision making in enhancing their quality of education. This paper considers the views and perceptions of data driven decision making in secondary schools in Kenya. The research was conducted using a structured questionnaire amongst senior management of public secondary schools in Nairobi County. Data analysis was done using SPSS 17.1. Descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyze the data and to draw conclusions. The results show that few public secondary schools have transitioned to computer data driven decision making in Kenya.
