Factors Affecting Utilization Of Ict In Administration Of Public Secondary Schools In Kiambu Sub-County, Kiambu County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

There is increasing interest, attention and investment being put into the use of ICT in education all over the world. The Ministry of Education Science and Technology in Kenya has developed an Information Communication Technology (ICT) strategy which outlines how ICT will be adopted and utilized to improve access, quality and equity in the delivery of education services in Kenya. With the introduction of computer-based technology in schools, major changes should be observed in the way education is managed, but the changes are so small (Carnoy, 2004). The potential of ICT in administration of secondary schools in Kenya is not fully exploited (Kavagi, 2010). The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate factors hindering the utilization of ICT in the administration of public secondary schools in Kiambu Sub-County, Kiambu County. The study highlighted the availability of ICT infrastructure, the attitude of secondary school administrators towards ICT and their level of ICT skills. It also established the level of utilization of ICT in the administration of secondary schools. The findings of the study were intended to provide data on the state of ICT in secondary schools for effective administration. The researcher adopted descriptive survey design. The population for the study were 22 public secondary schools in Kiambu Sub-County. Stratified random sampling was used to select 12 out of the 22 public secondary schools according to the following strata: 3 County schools and 9 District schools proportionally. In each of the selected schools the Principal, deputy principal and five heads of academic department were purposively selected giving a sample size of 84 respondents. The researcher used interview schedule to collect data from the principals and questionnaires for deputy principals and heads of departments. The questionnaires were piloted in three schools. The questionnaires were dropped and collected on a later date as agreed with the respondents. Data collected was qualitative and quantitative. It was coded thematically and organized using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) to come up with percentages, charts, frequency distribution tables and means. The study revealed that ICT as an administrative tool in secondary schools was not fully utilized. Computers were mainly used for clerical activities and to some extent processing examinations and making timetable. Factors that affected the utilization of ICT in school administration included lack of adequate training in ICT for administrators, inadequate finances to purchase computer hardware and software, insecurity and lack of ICT policy at the school level. The study findings suggests that, for successful utilization of ICT in support of secondary school administration, innovative strategies that include ICT training of administrators, formulation of a school ICT policy, the government providing finances to support the purchase of ICT infrastructure and taking insurance cover for the ICT facilities were necessary.