FACTORS INFLUENCING COMPLETION OF DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS: A CASE OF CDF PROJECTS IN IMENTI NORTH SUB COUNTY IN MERU, KENYA
Wakhaya Susan Nakhumicha - Master of Arts Degree in Project Planning and Management, University of Nairobi, Kenya
Prof. David Macharia EBS - College of Education and External Studies, University of Nairobi, Kenya
ABSTRACT
There has been a lot of criticism, from various quarters, on the way the secondary school development projects are managed and implemented. For instance there is lack of transparency in allocation of funds for development projects in secondary schools and it is not clear how decisions are arrived at on what development projects to be implemented and the formation of school project committees that are the center of decision making is characterized by organization politics. Secondary schools are intended to transform the education well-being of the students leading to access of knowledge at lower costs. However, most of the secondary schools development projects have stalled and therefore are not helping the students achieve their objectives. The questions being asked here are: Why is it that the secondary school development projects like buying of school buses, building of modern equipped science laboratories and libraries as well as other developmental projects taking years to be completed? What is the relevancy of these initiated projects in the school to the students if the project will not be completed? The foregoing has resulted in inevitable cost over-runs, time over-run, idling resources, and also inconveniences to the targeted beneficiaries of such projects. Projects which have stalled or are unsuccessfully completed negatively affect students, teachers and the education fraternity at large both at the secondary school concerned and beyond. The purpose of this study was to establish the factors influencing completion of development projects in secondary schools in Imenti North Sub County, Kenya. The specific objectives were to determine the extent to which financial resources influences completion of development projects in secondary schools in Imenti North Sub County, to determine the influence of school leadership on completion of development projects in secondary schools in Imenti North Sub County, to assess the influence of stakeholder support on completion of development projects in secondary schools in Imenti North Sub County and to establish the influence of organization politics on completion of development projects in secondary schools in Imenti North Sub County. The key limitation that was experienced was time availability as the schools chosen for this study were not in close proximity with each other. However, this was overcome by the researcher visiting some of them on different days. This study assumed that all the respondents would be available and would respond honestly to the questionnaire. It also assumed that the respondents offered information that addressed the study objectives. This study adopted a descriptive survey research design which is concerned with describing the characteristics of a particular individual, or groups. In choosing the members who would participate, the researcher focused on the management employees of secondary schools, the board of management members and parent representatives. The study targeted 15 public secondary schools in Imenti North Sub County. The study adopted a census sample design which allowed the use of a sample size of 60 respondents. This is due to the fact that the target population was manageable and the respondents were within school systems which could be accessed easily. Data was collected through questionnaire. Descriptive statistic such as frequencies, percentages, mean, median and mode were used. Quantitative data was represented using tables while qualitative data was presented in narrative form.