Management preparedness of principals of public Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions in Kenya

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the rapid expansion of the TVET sector and the importance of this sector in the economic growth of developing countries, the management preparedness of principals of public Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions in Kenya is an important issue. The purpose of the study was to establish the level to which the principal of a TVET institution is prepared to become a TVET institution manager and to establish the contribution and effectiveness of the understudy training in preparing principals for appointment. A quantitative cross-sectional survey approach was used and an abductive research approach followed that requires information to be collected to identify measurable concepts of preparedness of Kenyan TVET principals (collected data via a literature study) and thereafter design and apply a measuring instrument to evaluate these identified measurable concepts of preparedness (collection of data via a questionnaire). The researcher collected primary data by means of a survey questionnaire from a sample of the population consisting of 38 principals and 29 deputy principals of TVET institutions in Kenya. The findings indicate that respondents had a positive perception regarding the preparedness of the principals of TVET institutions for managing the TVET institutions in Kenya and the contribution and effectiveness of the understudy training in preparing principals for appointments to public TVET institutions in Kenya. There is thus a good foundation on which further improvements can be made. Some meaningful recommendations for improving the preparedness of principals even further were therefore made on the basis of the findings of the study. These are mainly related to the aspect of training to further improve the preparedness of principals.