The impact of leadership induction programmes on performance of newly appointed heads of public secondary schools in Meru District

Abstract

The statistics show that in 2019 public secondary schools in Meru District were below the national average (54.4%). This poor performance of public secondary schools in the district ascertain the curiosity on its cause. Performance of newly appointed heads of public secondary schools not only in Meru District but also in every part of the country can be improved through various strategies. This study assessed the impact of leadership induction programmes on performance of newly appointed heads of public secondary schools in Meru District by identifying leadership challenges faced by newly appointed heads of public secondary schools, identifying leadership induction programmes offered to newly appointed heads of public secondary schools, assessing the impact of leadership induction programmes on performance of newly appointed heads of public secondary schools and establishing the form of induction that is deemed relevant for newly appointed heads of public secondary schools prior to taking up the post. The study was guided by critical pedagogy theory initiated by Paulo Freire (1970s) which uses critique and present its impacts on the effectiveness of training programmes on performance through its principles. The study used mixed approach and adopted parallel convergent design. Validated instruments such as interview guide and questionnaires were used to collect data from respondents who consisted of 27 heads of government secondary schools and one district secondary education officer who were both purposively selected. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS (V. 20.0) and results were presented in tables. Qualitative data were thematically analysed and presented in form of tables and paraphrasing. Findings revealed that leadership challenges faced by newly appointed heads of public secondary schools were; lack of teaching and learning resources, inadequate number of teachers, challenges for the fee free education policy, Inadequate infrastructures, large class size, lack of induction, poor discipline among students and political interference. Moreover, findings on induction programmes offered to newly appointed heads of public secondary schools show that although heads of schools have attended leadership courses during their college/university studies, but the lack of a leadership training or induction course before given the headship post affect their performance mainly in few beginning years, newly appointed heads were not assigned to an experienced head of school to share experience before assuming the office and district have no mechanism to groom newly pointed heads before appointing them. Regarding the impact of leadership induction programmes on performance of newly appointed heads of public secondary schools findings show that it help new head teachers get familiar on how to handle student discipline, improves leadership capacity and supervision skills, monitor teachers discipline and improves Instructional leadership and to effectively handle financial activities in their work station. The study recommends the government should prepare the blueprint to guide the practice of induction programmes for newly appointed heads of public secondary schools and newly appointed heads of public secondary schools should positively interact with their mentors such as experienced heads of schools so that they could gain more skills and knowledge where they lack.