Okonya Alice Getrude Atieno
Email: aliceokonya@gmail.com
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the status of strategic planning in public secondary schools in Kajiado County. The main objective that guided the study was to analyze the status of strategic planning in public secondary schools in Kajiado County and identify the challenges encountered by education stakeholders during developing and implementing strategic plans. The survey design which was used in this study was descriptive. Kajiado County has 27 public secondary schools which formed the target population. Stratified proportionate, simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used to identify schools, principals, BOM members, students and teachers for the study. The population of 27 public secondary schools in Kajiado County was studied with a total of 90 respondents forming the sample. In order to address the research objective data was collected by use of questionnaires. Three schools were stratified proportionately into sub counties of Kajiado North, Kajiado Central and Kajiado West for pilot study in order to help improve face validity and content validity. To ensure reliability, test re-test reliability was conducted and a correlation coefficient for the two tests calculated. Quantitative data was subjected to descriptive and inferential analysis by the aid of SPSS then presented in tables, graphs and pie charts. From the findings, it was clear that out of ten schools sampled, eight of them developed and were using strategic plans in management of the schools. It was evident from the study that involvement of all stakeholders in strategic planning process was very important for success to be realized. Lack of human and physical resources, leadership commitment, inadequate training and knowledge posed a challenge to formulation and implementation of strategic plans. Another finding also showed that there needed to be adequate training of most stakeholders in education so that there can be a sense of commitment and ownership by all. This would ensure that there is proper management of physical, financial and human resources. The study recommends that enhancing successful implementation of strategic plans requires availing resources, setting and prioritizing targets, leadership commitment, frequent consultations and training of key stakeholders. The findings of the study may be used to inform and formulate policies on the application of strategic planning in improving internal efficiencies of public secondary schools in Kenya.
Keywords: school strategic planning, strategic planning stakeholders, strategic planning leadership, strategic planning objectives, school strategic planning issues
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Suggested Citation
Okonya, G.A.A. (2020). Status of strategic planning in public secondary schools in Kajiado County. African Research Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 7(2), 169-178. Available online at http://arjess.org/education-research/status-of-strategic-planning-in-public-secondary-schools-in-kajiado-county-kenya.pdf
