CONTRIBUTION OF STUDENT COUNCILS’ LEADERSHIP TO ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NAIVASHA SUB-COUNTY, NAKURU COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

This study sought to determine the contribution of student councils' leadership on the academic performance of public secondary schools in Naivasha Sub-County, Nakuru County, Kenya. The following objectives guided the study: to determine the contribution of peer mentorship on academic performance; to examine how students' council leadership promotes discipline on academic performance; to assess the influence of student leaders' communication with the administration on academic performance. The study was guided by system theory and used a convergent parallel mixed methods design. The target population was 39 principals, 2400 students, and 234 teachers across 39 public secondary schools in Naivasha Sub-County. The study used stratified sampling to group schools into female and male; then used simple random sampling to select 2 girls' boarding schools out of 3, 2 boys' boarding schools out of 3, and 2 mixed boarding schools out of 3. The researcher assigned numbers 1 to 3; the odd ones were considered for the study. Seven mixed-day out of 30 schools were sampled using systematic sampling with an interval of 4. Purposive sampling was adopted to select 13 principals out of 39 principals. Simple random sampling was applied to collect data from 240 out of 2400 students, and simple random sampling also selected 40 out of 234 teachers. The study used questionnaires to collect data from teachers and students, and an interview guide for principals. A pilot test was conducted in two public secondary schools in the sub-county. The research instruments were validated by experts with knowledge on instructional leadership from Tangaza University. Reliability was tested using the Cronbach alpha coefficient, with scores of 0.8. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS version 25, presented in tables, graphs, and charts. The qualitative data was analyzed thematically and reported through narratives and direct quotations. Findings revealed that involvement of student council leadership, peer mentorship, and leader’s communication in the school activities had a moderately significant impact on students’ discipline and academic performance in public secondary schools in Naivasha Sub-County. The study concluded that student councils’ leadership needs improvement to enhance positive student discipline and academic performance. It recommends that the government should establish implementation mandating principals to consistently involve student councils’ leadership in school activities and daily operations. Additionally, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) should organize regular workshops and training sessions for teachers and principals to enhance student councils’ leadership and hence contribute to higher academic performance.