Role of School Administrators in the Implementation of Early Years Education Program in Khwisero Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

With the promulgation of the Kenya Constitution in 2010, the responsibility of Early Year’s Education (EYE) was delegated to county governments. This study, therefore, sought to find out the role of school administrators in the implementation of early childhood education programs in Khwisero sub-county, Kenya. The study used contextual interaction and supervision theories. The study employed a cross-sectional survey research design. The population of this study consisted of 61 schools from the sub-county, 61 EYE teachers in charge, 61 head teachers, 67 assistant teachers, 61 parent representatives, 1 program officer, and 4 ward representatives from Khwisero Sub-County. From the results of the piloting, Cronbach reliability revealed that all constructs had a coefficient above 0.7, indicating that the instrument was reliable. Stratified random sampling was used in the selection of 10 schools, from which purposive sampling was used to select 10 head teachers, 10 teachers in charge, 1 program officer, and 4 ward representatives, while random sampling was used to select 50 assistant teachers. Instruments that were used to collect data were questionnaires and interview guides. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20, and the findings were presented in the form of frequency tables, bar graphs, and pie charts. From the findings, there was a moderately positive and significant correlation between the role of administrators in teacher supervision and program implementation (r =0.542, p<.05). This implies that the role of administrators enhanced program implementation among ECDE schools in schools in Khwisero Sub County in Kakamega. Therefore, it can be concluded that school administrators' role has a positive effect on the implementation of programs in these schools. Under program and instruction, the respondents noted that they concentrated on ensuring that teachers were following the laid-out program. Under schemes of work, the respondents noted that they observed the time the schemes were prepared. On the issue of records of work covered, the respondents noted that they look at how teachers keep and update their records. On teaching and learning facilities, the respondents noted that they check how teachers handle teaching aids. Teacher supervision practices were effective. In addition, school administrators had many roles in teacher supervision. The study concluded that school administrators have a big role to play in schools and therefore recommended that they should be supported to accomplish their role. Future research is to be done in other sub-counties to compare the findings.