The Critical Role of ‘Nonacademic Stakeholders’ in Fostering Overall Student Performance in Curricular and Extracurricular Assessments in Primary and Secondary Educational Institutions in Kenya

Abstract

This work examined the integral role of ‘nonacademic stakeholders’ in fostering the overall performance of students in primary and secondary schools in Kenya. School teachers are generally regarded by the Kenyan public as the ‘sole custodians’ of student performance in all assignments both curricular and extracurricular. On the contrary the progressive education of a learner from nursery to secondary school is evidently a ‘wholesome’ and ‘holistic ’contribution from various stakeholders that comprises majorly; teachers, parents, and guardians. However nonacademic stakeholders that include subordinate staff, religious sponsors, old boy/girl alumni associations, health providers, Boards of Management (BOMs), Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and safety and security providers make equal significant contribution towards the eventual success of their students. In order to determine the extent of the role performed by nonacademic stakeholders 206 student respondents from a tertiary institution in Kenya were identified through a stratified random sampling technique and interviewed. The results obtained were presented using frequencies, graphs and pie-charts. The respondents reported the significant role of the nonacademic stakeholders as follows :-[( 86%, 178 students - important; 11%, 22 students - less important; 3%,6 students - not sure)].Individually the respondents ranked the following nonacademic stakeholders in order of significance; [( 14%, religious school sponsors; 8%, subordinate staff; 36%, parents; 6%, safety and security providers; 8%, old boy/girl alumni associations; 9%, Boards of Management (BOM); 6%, health providers; 13% Teachers Service Commission (TSC))].The present study concluded that overall performance in curricular and extracurricular assignments among students in Kenyan primary and secondary schools is influenced by multiple stakeholders in the education sector i.e. academic and nonacademic. The results show that 97% of all respondents viewed positively the role played by nonacademic stakeholders in promoting the overall performance of students in curricular and extracurricular assignments in primary and secondary schools in Kenya.