Articles

Influence of Principal-initiated Motivational Speakers Strategy on Academic Achievement of Students in Kenya: A Study across Public Secondary Schools in Mbita Sub County

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The use of motivational speakers strategy in enhancing students’ academic achievement in schools in Kenya was adopted by many school administrators in the late 1980s after the introduction of private / holiday tuition in the late 1970s. By 2010, many charismatic professional motivational speakers were commonplace in schools on invitation. Currently many schools are utilising services of motivational speakers. This is based on the premise that worldover research has shown that motivation of the students enhance their academic achievement. There was therefore need to conduct a rigorous study to establish the actual position of this strategy in the 21st Century. Mbita Sub County was selected as the site for the study. This is because  despite the existence of principal-initiated motivational strategy put in place by principals, the Sub-County still performs least with results showing that between 2018 and 2020, the Sub-County was ranked last in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations compared to the five other neighbouring sub- counties in Homa Bay County. Mbita Sub-County was ranked position five with an average mean score of 4.886 compared to Rangwe which was position one with a mean score of 5.354, Rachuonyo South was second with a mean score of 5.022, Rachuonyo East was third with a mean score of 4.988 while Homa Bay town was fourth with a mean score of 4.958. The objective of the study was to establish the influence of Principal-initiated motivational speakers strategy on students’ academic achievement in public secondary schools in Mbita Sub-County, Kenya. The study established that Principal-initiated motivational speakers strategy significantly influenced students’ academic achievement in public secondary schools by enhancing frequent consultation with teachers. The study recommends that Principals should advise motivational speakers on the specific aspects to address as they talk to students targeting the aspect of optimum use of study time, discipline, examination answering skills, change of attitude about difficult subjects and other aspects that lead to students’ academic achievement. The findings are beneficial to policy makers and education administrators in improving students’ achievement.

Influence of Principal-initiated Goal Setting Strategies on Students’ Academic Achievement in Public Secondary Schools in Kenya: A Study across Secondary Schools, Mbita Sub County

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Goal setting is one of the most important principal initiated strategies that facilitate students’ academic achievement in schools. This is because it energizes the students’ participation in academic programs and as a result enhances their academic achievement. World over, research has shown that motivation of the students enhance their academic achievement. In Mbita Sub-County, despite the existence of motivation strategies put in place by principals, the Sub-County was still performing poorly as was revealed by the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination results of 2018, 2019 and 2020. The Sub-County was ranked last in KCSE Examinations compared to the five other neighbouring sub- counties in Homa Bay County. Mbita Sub-County was ranked position five with an average mean score of 4.886 compared to Rangwe which was position one with a mean score of 5.354, Rachuonyo South was second with a mean score of 5.022, Rachuonyo East was third with a mean score of 4.988 while Homa Bay town was fourth with a mean score of 4.958. The objective of this study was to establish the influence of Principal-initiated Goal Setting on students’ academic achievement in public secondary schools. The study established that Principal-initiated goal setting strategy significantly influenced students’ academic achievement in public secondary schools by promoting independent learning among students. The findings are beneficial to policy makers and education administrators in formulating policies that can be used to improve students’ achievement in KCSE as well as improve practices in the initiation of motivational strategies in schools.