An Investigation Into The Extent Of The Use Of Ict In Education Management In Public Secondary Schools In Naivasha District, Kenya

ABSTRACT 

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of the use of ICT in education management in public secondary schools in Naivasha District. The study was guided by the following specific objectives: to establish the status of the use of ICT in the management of public secondary schools in Naivasha District, to assess head teachers‟ preparedness for the use of ICT in the management of public secondary schools in Naivasha District, to establish the use ICT in the management of different task areas in public secondary schools in Naivasha District and to make recommendations on the ways of improving the management of public secondary schools by using ICT. The population for the study were public secondary schools in Naivasha district. The district had a total of 37 schools out of which 20 were sampled for the study. The study targeted the principals, secretaries and the school Bursars. A total of 60 respondents were sampled for the study (this constituted 20 principals, 20 secretaries and 20 bursars). Descriptive survey design was used for the study. Stratified sampling method was used to categorize the schools into National, Provincial and District schools from which the study samples were drawn from each category. Purposive sampling was used to sample the respondents for the study. The study used questionnaires and interview schedules as instruments for the study. Questionnaires were used to collect the data from the sampled principals while interview schedules were used to collect the data from the secretaries and the school Bursars. The instruments were piloted in two schools which were not included in the actual study to test their reliability and validity. Data was analyzed by the use of SPSS. Descriptive statistics such as, frequencies and percentages were used to describe the data. The analyzed data were presented in form of tables, pie-charts and bar-graphs where applicable. The study found that 72% of the respondents indicated that they used computers to carry out administrative duties. The computers were used in the following ways: management of students‟ records, typing letters, memos and examinations, analysis and preparation of data and for communication. Regarding the computer literacy of the principals, the study found that 61% of the respondents were computer literate and that they invested in ICT resources as indicated by 8% of the respondents. The study finally found that ICT was used in different areas of management in schools such as curriculum instructional management as indicated by 67% of the respondents, student management xii 67%, financial management 61%, personnel management 50% and material resources management as indicated by 44%. The study concluded that even though some of the secondary schools in Naivasha district were prepared, others were not prepared as they did not have ICT resources required for the management of the schools. The study recommended that the government through the ministry of education should layout ICT infrastructure in schools to facilitate the use of ICT in the managements of schools and that head teachers should be trained on the use of ICT in the management of schools. The study recommended that another study be done on the challenges facing the use of ICT in teaching and learning in secondary schools in other districts.