An Assessment of Student’s Leadership Skills in Day and Boarding Schools
Background
The Ministry of Education (MOE) in Kenya is undergoing radical changes meant to enable the delivery of services efficiently and effectively, and one of their focus is involving students in management and governance of schools (Republic of Kenya, 2012). For years, studies have been carried out regarding student’s leadership across the world. The idea of giving the students a voice was made prominent in the 1960s, and since then, it has fostered a wide range of students leadership initiatives and skills within schools. According to Kambuga and Omollo, (2017), giving students a voice, skills and opportunity, empowers them to have a great impact on their learning environment and participate in their communities meaningfully. Research has shown that when the educators work with students as opposed to working for them, there is a positive and meaningful impact for all (Muli, 2011).
In Kenya, the students have been granted a forum where they can elect their won leaders from the grassroots to the national level. However, most schools often differ in how their student leaders are elected. Students nonetheless, have the power or are granted little power to elect the student’s they prefer as their leaders, and this leads to acceptance and teamwork with support from the administration. According to ROK (2012), a student’s participation strategy was formed, where some headteachers and some students were trained to form representative student’s council in schools, county and national levels. Over 150 country students’ councils were formed, and the National Student Council of Kenya was formed in 2009. At a conference held at the Bomas of Kenya, Nairobi, KSSHA formally adopted elected student’s council.
To promote discipline and order in schools, an effective and efficient student’s council is needed. When it is achieved, there is a low level of students strikes and high level of great performance according to the study carried out by Kisilu (2013). More research has demonstrated that education quality is dependent on how the schools are managed and available resources. Having a school that is properly equipped, the quality of teaching and learning is improved, and this is specifically influenced by the BOM’s quality of leadership, the principal and student’s council.
In Kitui west, there are two types of schools; day and boarding. Both of them need high engagement and properly defined structures to foster a positive team spirit as well as order. The role of the teachers is often limited to carrying out his/her academic duties and teaching and hence evidence the continued academic performance. However, they cannot be in touch with the students throughout the day and need to work with an able group of student’s leaders. This group will not only improve leadership skills, self-awareness, academic and vocational outcomes, but also to having a school that is well discipline (MOE, 2009).
The student’s leaders, however, need some skills to guide them through their duties and roles. Students will, however, adopt different leadership skills and dynamics that ill direct and indirectly impact the school. The leadership across different schools may also be similar in some ways. Still, the dynamics may be different based on the goal of the school and how the students relate with the administration, their location, the type of school and so forth. The leadership skills that are employed will greatly impact the performance and the level of discipline.
References
Kisilu, G. J. (2013). Students’ unrest and indiscipline in public secondary schools in Machakos County. Journal of Current Issues in Education, 7(2)78-83.
MOE, (2009). Training module for guidance and counselling heads of department in secondary school. Nairobi, Kenya: Author.
Muli, R. M. (2011). The impact of Performance Appraisal on secondary school Teachers Professional Development in Kitui West (Kenya). Unpublished Master of Education project. Kenyatta University.
Republic of Kenya (2012). Ministry of Education task force on the realignment of the education sector towards a globally competitive quality education for sustainable development. Nairobi; Government Printer,