THE MODERATING EFFECT OF SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MACHAKOS COUNTY, KENYA
THE MODERATING EFFECT OF SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MACHAKOS COUNTY, KENYA
Agnes Wanza Mutuku - School of Business and Economics, Machakos University, Kenya
Prof. Robert Arasa - School of Business and Economics, Machakos University, Kenya
Dr. Jacinta Kinyili - School of Business and Economics, Machakos University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Organizations worldwide primarily exist to achieve specific goals. Academic performance trend in secondary schools in Machakos County has been declining in the recent past (2013-2019) hence the need for the study. The aim of the study was to establish whether school infrastructure moderated the relationship between human resource management practices and academic performance of these schools. The resource based theory informed this study. The study employed mixed methods research design. The target population was the 413 secondary schools in Machakos County. The school principals were selected as units of observation. Purposive sampling was used to select six secondary schools from where the key informants in this study were drawn. This consisted of the two national, top two performing and bottom two non performing secondary schools in Machakos County. The rest of the schools were selected using stratified sampling based on the category of school where a sample size of 201 was yielded. The study used primary data that was collected using self-administered semi-structured questionnaires and interview schedules. Qualitative data collected was analysed using content analysis while for the quantitative data, descriptive analysis and inferential analysis were carried out. The study found that school infrastructure significantly moderated the relationship between human resource management practices and the academic performance of these schools where it strengthened the influence that these practices had on the academic performance of the schools. Thus, the study concluded that when the different infrastructural priority areas for the schools were addressed, it was likely that the effectiveness of different human resource management practices in yielding better academic performance in these schools would be enhanced. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education should design frameworks and offer in kind assistance required by secondary schools to set up efficient safety and security systems in schools and also champion for more budgetary allocations from the government in order to increase funding required for infrastructural development in public schools. For private schools, the study recommends that the government should enforce policies that compel these schools to have the requisite basic school infrastructure required by students to adequately prepare for their examinations.
