Performance Contracts and Service Delivery: What Is The Level of Preparedness of School Managers in Management of Secondary Schools in Makueni County, Kenya?

The thrust of this study was to determine the level of preparedness of school Board of Management in enforcing compliance to performance contracts in public secondary schools in Makueni County, Kenya. The objectives which guided the study were; knowledge of board members on management issues, how signing performance contract will affect service delivery in public secondary schools and establishing the relationship between performance contracting and management. The study employed the Taylor’s scientific classical management theory which advocates for job specialization and training employees for a single task. A descriptive survey design was adopter. The target population in this study consisted of 250 principals and 3250 BOG members from the 250 Schools in Makueni County. Both purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 36 secondary schools as the sampling units. From each of the sampled schools, on principal and 6 members of BOM were selected to yield a total sample size of 252 comprising 36 principals and 216 BOM members. The instruments used for the study were questionnaire for principals and an interview schedule for members of the BOM. The key findings were that many principals and members of the BOM lacked training in management and that although signing performance contract could improve service delivery, most school managers lacked appropriate skills in enforcing implementation of signing the contracts in public secondary schools in study locale. Many conflicts in public schools were as a result of poor financial management. It is recommended that: more funds to be allocated to train school managers, integrate information technology to financial management, follow ups the recommendations made from inspections reports are implemented and the ministry of education to give limit to the number of years one should lead an institution.[295 words]. Key Words: Performance contracts, school managers, Preparedness, Public secondary schools, Makueni County, Kenya