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

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-71
Author(s):  
D K Kombo ◽  
J M Kalai ◽  
A K Sang
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Secondary School Principals ◽  
Management Training ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Leadership Competence ◽  
Administrative Task ◽  
Training Programmes

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.

Leading with humour and its effect on resilience in the workplace: The perspectives of principals in Kuwaiti secondary schools

2022 ◽  
pp. 089202062110722
Author(s):  
Meznah Saad Alazmi ◽  
Salem Saad Alhajeri
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Leadership Training ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Secondary School Principals ◽  
School Principal ◽  
It Impacts ◽  
The State Of Kuwait ◽  
Training Programmes ◽  
Perceptions Of School

This study aimed to explore the extent to which the principals of secondary schools in the State of Kuwait said they practiced leadership with humour and if it impacts on their level of resilience in the workplace. The study sample consisted of 121 male and female secondary school principals from six educational districts in Kuwait who were selected using the random stratified method. The study findings showed that the perceptions of school principals regarding the extent to which they practice leadership with a sense of humour were moderate in all fields. The study also found that school principals enjoy high resilience in their workplace, especially when solving a problem. Finally, the results showed that the more a school principal used humour the more resilient he/she would be in the workplace. The study concluded that humour should be considered as one factor in effective leadership and that leadership training programmes should include this dimension. The level of resilience can be clearly predicted by identifying the extent to which school principals claim to practice leading with humour.

scholarly journals Factors Affecting Secondary School Principals’ Time Management Practices in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iqbal Amin Khan ◽  
Umar Ali Khan ◽  
Abdul Rashid
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Secondary School Principals ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ◽  
Management Area ◽  
Administrative Experience

This study sought to investigate whether principal’s age, gender, administrative experience, training in time management area, school’s nature, level, location and complexity has any effect on the time management practices. Six time management practices used by secondary school principals i.e. scheduling contacts, managing meetings, delegating tasks, setting priorities, managing paperwork, handling interruptions were incorporated in a questionnaire. A questionnaire was designed, validated and administered to respondents for collecting data having Cronbach Alpha value of 0.864. Data were collected from 344 secondary school principals selected through stratified random sample from seven divisional headquarter districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Results show that principal’s administrative experience and school’s level have significant effect on principals’ time management practices. Whereas principal’s age, gender, training in time management area, school’s nature, location and complexity have no significant effect on principals’ time management practices. It was recommended that introductory courses, refresher courses, workshops, and seminars on time management practices should be included in in-service training program for principals to equip them with skills, knowledge and attitude on adequate time management practices regardless of their personal characteristics and school’s level, location, nature and complexity.

Accountability in the financial management practices of school principals

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Agrippa Madoda Dwangu ◽  
Vimbi Petrus Mahlangu
Keyword(s):  
Financial Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
School Principals ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Status

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to investigate the effectiveness of accountability mechanisms employed in financial management practices of school principals in the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Education. The strengths and weaknesses of the systems and mechanisms of the processes to hold school principals accountable are explored in detail in this study. The argument that this article seeks to advance is that accountability of the school principal to the school governing body (SGB) does not yield the best results in terms of efficiency. It creates a loose arrangement in terms of which the school principal takes part in financial mismanagement in schools.Design/methodology/approachData collection was made through semi-structured interviews whose purpose was to draw experiences from SGBs, particularly the finance committees who are in fact the sub-committees of the SGBs; as well as literature review. The finance committee is made up of the chairperson of the SGB, the secretary of the SGB, the treasurer of the SGB, and the financial officer who is a clerk responsible for the keeping and the management of financial records of the school. The process started with semi-structured interviews, then transcribing, coding, developing themes, making meaning of the themes and subsequently developing a principle.FindingsMechanisms employed by schools and the Department of Education to hold principals accountable for their financial management practices fail to make them fully accountable and effectively face the consequences of acts on their part that are illegal and unlawful. The mechanisms need a great deal of overhauling. The argument that this article seeks to advance is that this account of the school principal to the SGB does not yield the best results in terms of efficiency. It creates a loose arrangement in terms of which the school principal easily gets away with a crime when financial mismanagement occurs in the school.Research limitations/implicationsParticipants could possibly not be comfortable and willing, to tell the truth as it is. Participants might have the fear that telling the truth could land them in trouble with the law. Whilst participants were assured by the researchers of their anonymity and the confidentiality of the information given by them, there was no guarantee that the fear of being exposed would subdue completely. There was also a possibility that some participants would not be willing to say the truth as it is for fear of being victimised by other participants for exposing the status quo in their schools.Practical implicationsThe findings and recommendations from this study may be used by the Department of Basic Education as a source of information for policymakers and stakeholders to understand the effectiveness of their mechanisms to ensure the accountability of school principals on issues of financial management. On the basis of this study, policymakers will then be able to revisit their policies for the purpose of strengthening them. The principal is therefore responsible for the day-to-day administration and management of school funds because of this mandatory delegation. However, when things go wrong, it is the SGB that is held liable.Social implicationsSchool principals hold dual accountability in terms of which they are accountable to the employer only in so far as their professional responsibilities are concerned on financial management in the first instance. They are by no means accounting officers in schools. In the second instance, they are fully accountable to the SGB for issues relating to financial management. Section 16A of SASA lists the functions and responsibilities for which the principal as an employee of the Department of Basic Education, and in his official capacity as contemplated in Sections 23(1) and 24(1) (j) of the same Act, is accountable to the head of department (HOD).Originality/valueThe study provides a theoretical and empirical contribution to the existing literature on the effectiveness of the mechanisms employed to ensure the accountability of school principals in their financial management practices in schools. It offers practical recommendations putting in place mechanisms that effectively hold school principals wholly accountable for their financial management practices in schools. Most of the time, it is easy for the principal to get away with a crime even in instances where he or she is called upon to account for alleged financial mismanagement.

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