ADMINISTRATIVE FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENT LEADERSHIP IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THARAKA SOUTH SUB COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Student leadership in public secondary schools is very important. Student leaders assist the school administration to manage the school by bridging the gap between students and teachers. Effective student leadership is able to address many administrative problems by communicating the students’ needs to the relevant authorities for timely and necessary action. For a school to have effective student leadership, factors affecting these student leaders within the school framework must be addressed. There are several factors that affect students’ leadership in secondary schools. The purpose of the current study was to determine administrative factors affecting students’ leadership in public secondary schools in Tharaka South Sub County. The study employed descriptive survey research design. The target population of the study was 3850 subjects comprising of students, student leaders and deputy principals in the 25 public secondary schools. A sample of 25 deputy principals, 100 student leaders and 225 students participated in the study. A questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. Piloting was conducted prior to data collection in the neighboring Tharaka North Sub County. Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient formula was used to estimate reliability of the instruments and a correlation coefficient of 0.81 was obtained. Validity of the instruments was established through experts’ judgment from the university supervisors. The data collected was analyzed using frequencies, mean and percentages with the help of Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) version 17.0. Study findings established that schools offered minimal training programs for student leaders’ development, and very little motivation programs like tours for the student leaders. Most schools provided physical facilities like offices for student leaders and gave full authority to student leaders to punish wrongdoers. The findings also revealed that most schools did not have student leaders’ election period in their calendar. The study recommended that schools should look for ways of offering training programs to student leaders to better their leadership skills and also initiate motivation programs for student leaders.