Challenges Encountered by Secondary School Principals and Their Impact on Teacher Job Performance in Kieni West Sub-County Nyeri, Kenya

Abstract

High school principals face numerous challenges in their endeavors to enhance teacher performance. These challenges range from supervision to organizational issues. The purpose of this study was to assess the challenges encountered by secondary school principals and their impact on teacher job performance in Kieni West Sub-County Nyeri, Kenya. Specifically, the study aimed to: examine the supervision challenges; determine the managerial challenges, and determine the probable solutions to mitigate the challenges. The research was directed by Path Goal theory in 1971. The target population was 262 schools with 262 principals. Simple random sampling was employed using 30% of the target population to get a sample of 79 principals. A structured questionnaire was utilized to collect data which was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed that 56% of principals faced supervision challenges which were mainly; teachers’ laxity in the supervision of students’ academic work at 72% followed by teachers’ slackness in controlling students’ discipline at 63.3%. The managerial challenges included financial constraints at 78% followed by uncooperative parents at 48%. The study concluded that the above-identified challenges may have an impact on leadership outcomes by school heads and eventually teacher performance. The study recommended close monitoring of teachers and the use of collaborative leadership to improve teachers’ performance and cooperation. Consequently, this may lead to improvement in students’ performance.