Influence of Student Council’s Demographic Characteristics on the Management of Secondary School Students’ Discipline in Kenyenya Sub-County, Kisii County, Kenya

Abstract

Student indiscipline has always been an issue facing schools the world over. Although student councils are known to be vital in assisting school administration in the management of student discipline, their presence in leadership has not fully controlled cases of student indiscipline. This study employed a descriptive survey design. The study utilised an interview guide designed for SCDE to collect primary data. There were questionnaires for principals, deputy principals, teachers and student council leaders (SCL) to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. The study targeted a population of 422 respondents consisting of one (1) Sub-County Director of Education (SCDE), forty-five (45) Principals, 45 Deputy Principals, two hundred and eighty-six (286) teachers and forty-five (45) Student Council Leaders in secondary schools in Kenyenya Sub-County. A sample size of one hundred and twenty-six (126) respondents corresponding to thirty per cent (30%) of the target population (422) was used to select 13 principals, 13 deputy principals, 86 teachers and 13 student council leaders. Before the actual administration of the research instruments, a pre-test of the instruments was conducted in two secondary schools within Kenyenya Sub-County using 13 respondents, constituting 10% of the study sample. The schools and respondents that were used in the pilot study were not included in the final survey. This study adopted a multi-stage sampling approach where stratified sampling was used to select schools while simple and purposive sampling was used to select respondents. The data was analysed based on the study objectives. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse quantitative data, and the results were presented in the form of frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations using tables, graphs, and charts. Qualitative data were analysed thematically based on the research objectives. The findings of this study indicate that student council dynamics such as leadership attitude, leadership training and personality greatly influenced the management of student discipline