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AN ASSESSMENT OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HEAD TEACHERS’ LEADERSHIP STYLES AND PUPILS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN MALINDI SUB-COUNTY, KENYA
(2016-11) FREDER MWALUNGO KATUNDA
This study aimed at investigating the relationship between head teachers’ leadership styles on
pupils’ academic performance in public primary schools in Malindi Sub County, Kenya. More
often than not, head teachers find themselves on the receiving end of poor performance in
public primary schools. Most parents tend to attribute poor performance of their children to
head teacher’s leadership styles. The objectives of the study were to: find out the relationship
between democratic leadership style and pupils’ academic performance; determine
relationship between the autocratic leadership style and pupils’ academic performance; find
out the relationship between the transformative leadership styles and pupils’ academic
performance; and determine the leadership the relationship between the transactional
leadership styles and pupils’ academic performance. This study was based on Fiedler’s
contingency theory and rationale theory of performance. quantitative methods were used in
this study. The study adopted the correlational research design that sought to measure the
relationship between the variables. The study targeted a population of 750 teachers and head
teachers from 30 public primary schools in Malindi Sub County. The sample was 200
participants consisting of 192 teachers and 8 head teachers. The sample was obtained through
stratified sampling to establish the number of head teachers and teachers to include in the study
sample. Simple random sampling was used to select 8 head teachers from 30 schools and 192
teachers from 720 teachers. Questionnaires were used; one for teachers and another for head
teachers to collect data. Pilot study was carried out in two neighbouring schools which were
not included in the study. The validity of the instruments was ascertained by the supervisor
and two other lecturers who gave verdict on their appropriateness. The reliability was verified
by using the test retest method whereby Pearson Product Moment correlation was 0.75. To
cover ethical issues, clearance was done with Mount Kenya University and a permit was
obtained from NACOSTI and official letters from the County Director of Education and the
District Education Officer. The participants signed informed consent forms and were assured
of their privacy and confidentiality. The data was analyzed quantitatively using both
descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings established that independent variables had
positive and significant relationship with pupils’ academic performance since the estimated
Pearson Linear correlation coefficient statistic was significant at the 99% level for all the
variables (Sig.<.01, r>.9). All the null hypotheses filed to be accepted. The study concludes
that from the three tests on a hypothesis that is correlation, regression and coefficient, all
indicates rejection of the null hypothesis paving a way for alternative hypothesis. The study
recommends that head teachers ought to be given refresher courses on appropriate leadership
styles to be applied in their institutions. The ministry of education should allow teachers to
teach in one school for at most 10 years so as to gain experience before transferring to another
school. Quality assurance officers needed to be visiting schools regularly to establish level of
performance and offer necessary intervention where things are not in order. The study findings
are expected to provide useful information to head teachers in helping them to re-examine and
appraise their own leadership styles and hence make adjustment where necessary.
EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL TOOL ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN KENYA COMMERCIAL BANK, NAIROBI COUNTY
(2017-06) LEAH NJERI NYAMU
Performance appraisals improve the work performance of employees by helping them
realize their full potentials in carrying out their firm's mission and also, to provide
information to employees and managers for use in making work-related decisions. They
provide feedback to employees; determine training and development needs, numbers to
be promoted as well as the levels of motivation. Performance appraisals, however, are
beset with difficulties as a result of their complex nature. The general objective of the
study therefore, was to evaluate the performance appraisal tool on employees‟
performance in Kenya Commercial Bank. The research design used in the study was
descriptive research design because it was appropriate for the achievement of the
research objectives. The population for the study was 355 and a sample size of 107 was
selected using cluster sampling method to group the target population according job
titles. The study applied purposive sampling to select Nairobi County because of easy of
accessibility. Questionnaires were used as instruments for the study and 107
questionnaires were distributed to the members of staff and subordinate as the
respondents. The data was analyzed using descriptive analysis. Organized data was
interpreted on account of concurrence and standard deviation to objectives using a
computer package SPSS version 21. The researcher in addition used correlation analysis
and a multiple regression analysis to determine the relationship between dependent and
independent variables and their level of significance. The research was based on
Attribution Theory, Implicit Theory, Equity Theory and Expectancy Theory. The
information obtained from this study provided commercial bank Human Resource
Managers and decision makers with better insights into employee performance appraisal
programs that could be used to improve employee performance.
ASSESSMENT OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY IN KENYA TO FORECAST LOCAL PRODUCTION SUFFICIENCY
(2017-10) SARAH KADESA VUGIGI
The World Health Organization’s global strategy on public health aims to support
Member States to improve access to essential medicines. The desire of Kenya
Government to implement this is expressed by formulation of Kenya National
Pharmaceutical Policy (2010) which encourages local production of essential
medicines for self-sufficiency. The pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in Kenya
is engaged in production of various types of dosage forms but its capacity and
capability to produce essential medicines for Kenyans have not been determined. The
aim of this study was to assess the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in Kenya
to forecast local production sufficiency. This was attained by evaluating the
manufacturing capability, production capacities and compliance with international
marketing authorization standard of the Kenyan pharmaceutical industry. The 24
licensed manufacturers of medicines for human use were assessed. Data was
collected on the current drug situation in Kenya by scanning Pharmacy and Poisons
Board database to determine range of products that are registered in Kenya. Local
pharmaceutical manufacturer’s product lists, Kenya Essential Medicines list and
pharmaceutical tender lists of three major procurers in Kenya (Kenya Medical
Supplies Authority, Kenyatta National Hospital and Mission for Essential Drugs and
Supplies) were examined to establish the proportion of products which was
manufactured locally. Prices competitiveness and market share of local products
were evaluated and subsequently, pharmaceutical equivalents of 150 locally
manufactured essential medicines were determined. Data on production capacity for
5 years (2010-2014) and compliance of facilities with good manufacturing practices
standard and other prerequisites of marketing authorization was obtained using a
structured questionnaire. Results showed that solid dosage forms were majority (54.9
%) of local products and sterile preparations were minority (2.7 %). Locally
manufactured products accounted for 14.5 % of registered and 21.5 % of retained
products. Local firms manufactured 38.4 % of products listed as essential medicines
and 55.6 %, 24.5 % and 21.8 %, respectively, of pharmaceutical products procured
by Kenya Medical Supplies Authority, Kenyatta National Hospital and Mission for
Essential Drugs and Supplies. The overall percentage of local pharmaceutical
equivalents was 32.5 % for registered products. There was no variation between
mean prices of local and imported pharmaceutical equivalents. Scatter diagrams
demonstrated that imported pharmaceutical products comprised both low and highly
priced brands. The overall utilized production capacity (two shifts) was 21.5 %;
tablets (24.1 %), capsules (12.8 %), liquids (25.3 %), dry syrups (21.8 %), external
preparations (21.3 %) and oral rehydration salts (23.6 %). This study projected the
year for self-sufficiency in non-sterile medicines produced in the local industry as
2043. Good manufacturing practices standard was satisfactory at 11 facilities while
the rest were striving to achieve compliance. Research and development of new
products was limited in most facilities with 1 % of the workforce deployed in this
department. It is concluded from this study that Kenya depends heavily on imported
drugs for her essential medicines needs. Majority of local products were less
competitive than imported products and production capacity was underutilized.
Majority of manufacturers adhered to current good manufacturing practice standards
but were inadequate in research. This study recommends augmentation of research
and development by the local pharmaceutical industry to generate new products. In
addition, substantial government support is required to propel the industry to
improve product range, product competitiveness and production capacity utilization.
EFFECTIVENESS OF DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION IN ENHANCING STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS, SELF-CONCEPT OF ABILITY AND MOTIVATION TOWARDS LEARNING OF CHEMISTRY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MAARA SUB-COUNTY, KENYA
(2016-11) ROSE GATUNE MUGWIRIA
Students perform poorly in Kenya Certificates of Secondary Education Chemistry
examinations in Kenya. Chemistry is important for understanding composition,
properties and behavior changes of matter that form the environment. The teaching of
Chemistry aims at developing scientific attitudes, concept, principles and skills in
learners. Differentiating instruction means tailoring instruction to meet individual
needs of learners. Differentiating instruction consists of efforts of teachers to respond
to the variance among learners in the classroom. This study investigated the
effectiveness of differentiated instruction in enhancing students‟ academic
achievements, self-concept of ability and motivation towards learning of chemistry.
The study was guided by Howard Gadner Theory of multiple Intelligence. Quasi
experimental research design was employed and in particular Solomon‟s four group
design was used. The research was carried out in Four Day co-educational secondary
schools in Maara sub-county, Kenya. The target population was 12,187 chemistry
students. The accessible population was 1,242 form two chemistry students in Day co
educational secondary schools. A purposive sampling technique was used to draw the
participating schools. Simple random sampling was used to select and to assign
participating schools in Experimental and Control groups. The sample size was 165
form two chemistry students. The research instruments used were Chemistry
Achievement Test, Students‟ Self Concept of Ability Questionnaire and Students‟
Motivation Questionnaire. The instruments were piloted to determine their reliability,
while validity of the instrument was ascertained by experts‟ opinions from
Department of Education and Resource Development of Chuka University. Reliability
coefficient for CAT, SSCAQ and SMQ was 0.74, 0.80 and 0.77 respectively. The
experimental groups (E1 and E2) were taught using differentiated instruction teaching
approach while the control groups (C1 and C2) were taught through conventional
teaching approach. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 was
used for data analysis. The raw data obtained was analyzed using descriptive
statistics (Mean, Standard deviation, percentages) and inferential statistics (One-way
ANOVA, ANCOVA and t-test). The level of significance for acceptance or rejection
of null hypotheses was at α = 0.05. The findings of the study indicated that
differentiated instruction significantly improved the students‟ achievement, self
concept of ability and motivation towards learning chemistry. It was also found out
that when students were taught using differentiated instruction, gender did not affect
their achievement in chemistry. The findings are expected to form a frame of
reference for further research on innovative teaching strategies in chemistry education
as well as in science education in general.
FUNCTIONALIZED GEOPOLYMERS DERIVED FROM CLAY AND RICE HUSK FOR REMOVAL OF SELECTED HEAVY METALS AND METHYLENE BLUE FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTION
(2018-10) MAINGI MUKORA FRANCIS
With the onset of industrialization, humanity has witnessed various ecological issues in
the society and disturbance of ecosystem. Heavy metals and methylene blue are very
toxic substances known to cause detrimental effects to human health when ingested
even at low concentrations. Several techniques are available for removal of heavy
metals, and dyes from the wastewater such as chemical precipitation, ion exchange,
adsorption, membrane among others. Among these technologies adsorption is
preferable for wastewater treatment due to its simplicity in design, high efficiency and
availability of materials involved. Geopolymers are inorganic polymers and have been
in use in construction industries as alternatives to ordinary portland cement but very
little information is available on their use in environmental pollution management. This
study aimed at synthesizing and functionalizing amorphous geopolymers from common
clay and rice husk ash for use as adsorbents in removal of heavy metal ions and
methylene blue from contaminated water. There is adequate literature indicating that
clay minerals contain both silicates and alumina while rice husk ash contains
substantial amounts of silica. This work therefore reports synthesis of geopolymers GP
1, GP-2 and GP-3 using clays and rice husk ash that were functionalized using citric
acid and EDTA for use in adsorption of heavy metals and colour. Characterization of
the geopolymers was done using FT-IR, EDS, XRD and SEM. Batch experiments using
Pb (II), Cd (II), Zn (II) ions and methylene blue (MB) were done. FT-IR indicated
presence of Al-O and Si-O bonds which are the finger prints of geopolymers. XRD
analysis showed presence of amorphous phase between 18-36° (2θ) an indication that
geopolymerization occurred. SEM analysis revealed the formation of a heterogeneous
matrix which consists of a dense continuous gel with microcracks and voids on
geopolymer adsorbents. The mean percentage uptakes of 99.32 ± 0.04, 99.74 ± 0.01,
91.33 ± 0.06 and 91.99 ± 0.57 of Pb (II), Cd (II), Zn (II) and MB were achieved
respectively. Various equilibrium models were employed and from the correlation
coefficients (R2 > 0.94), the data was found to fit best in Langmuir Freundlich model
(Sips). The highest adsorption capacities of Pb (II), Cd (II), Zn (II) and MB were 326.5,
175.5, 169.9 and 20.74 mg/g respectively, attained using GP-3E. Increased adsorption
of Pb (II), Cd (II), Zn (II) ions and MB was observed upon functionalization as well as
when Si/Al ratio increased. Kinetic studies showed that a pseudo- second order model
was more suitable than the first order in explaining the adsorption mechanism. This
indicated that the adsorption transient behaviour used valence forces or exchangeable
electrons and that chemisorption was more pronounced in the rate determining step.
Thermodynamic studies revealed that the adsorption process was endothermic and
physisorption since values of ∆H° obtained were < 40 kJ/mol. From the adsorption data,
it‟s evident that synthesized geopolymers are potential adsorbents for removal of heavy
metals and MB and may be employed in wastewater management.
