TECHNICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS INFLUENCING IMPLEMENTATION OF QUALITY ASSURANCE AND STANDARDS POLICY IN KENYAN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KEIYO SUB COUNTY OF ELGEIYO MARAKWET COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

There is growing concern by various stakeholders about the declining student achievement and teacher performance highlighted by strong media publicity and frequently acknowledged in educational analysis in Kenyan schools . This paper examined technical and environmental factors influencing the implementation of Quality Assurance and Standards policy in public secondary schools in Kenya. The study was based on the Effective Schools Theory. This study employed a descriptive research design as it involved gathering data as well as describes events. The study was carried out in Keiyo Sub County, in Elgeiyo Marakwet County. The Keiyo Sub County has 38 public secondary schools. In each of these schools, there are six officers concerned with Quality Assurance and Standards. Thus, in total, there were 38 schools of which five heads of departments and one principal/head teacher was selected to get 228 respondents in charge of quality in the whole Sub-County. Both probability and non-probability sampling designs were employed to determine sample size. Purposive sampling was used to select five heads of departments and one principal/head teacher. Data were collected using closed and open-ended questionnaire. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. The study established that technical factors positively affected the implementation of Quality Assurance and Standards(QAS) policy in public secondary schools were; the level of training, staffing level of the QAS officers, innovativeness of the QAS and means of transport used by the QAS officers. The surroundings of the school, weather conditions and the socio-economic activities of teachers influence the implementation of QAS policy. The location of QAS officers and accessibility of school does not influence the implementation of QAS policy. Article visualizations: