Secondary School Principals’ Perceptions of the Influence of KEMI Programmes on Leadership Competence Levels in Two Counties in Kenya

Abstract

Adequate preparation and professional development is imperative for institutional leaders and managers particularly those in the education sector with a view to equipping professionals with requisite knowledge, skills and attitudes to function to the required competency levels. The Ministry of Education (Kenya) has been spending large amounts of money on development of educational managers,through its management training agency Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI). For instance, in 2006 the annual management training budget was KShs. 250million (Kenya Education Staff Institute, 2006). The budget is likely to have gone up owing to inflation rates and escalating living standards. This study sought to analyse the influence of KEMI management training on secondary school principals‟ management practices in their administrative task areas in Kenya. The study also sought to determine whether significant differences existed in principals‘ management practices scores between principals exposed to management training and those who had not been exposed to KEMI management training. The study also sought to determine whether principals‘ management practices scores differed significantly based on school categories (provincial and district schools). The findings indicated significant differences in principals‘ management practices based on exposure to management training by KEMI, and those not exposed to such training programmes. In particular, principals exposed to KEMI management training exhibited higher scores in all administrative tasks while all principals cited challenges in financial management, legal aspects in education and resource management. Principals in provincial schools indicated having more of the best practices in management than their counterparts in district and private schools.