Influence of Use of Education Management Information System (Emis) on Management of Secondary Schools in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Abstract

The study aimed at investigating the influence of the use of Education Management Information System (EMIS) on the management of secondary schools in Nairobi City County. The objectives of the study were: to establish the extent to which ICT facilities are accessible to managers of secondary schools; find out the influence of the use of EMIS module for curriculum and instruction on the management on secondary schools; establish how the use of EMIS module for human resource influences the management of secondary schools; find out how the use of EMIS module for school-community relations influences the management of secondary schools and establish how the use of EMIS module for finance influences the managent of secondary schools in Nairobi City County. The study was guided by the Technology Acceptance Model, ICT impact assessment model and Fayol’s theory of management. The study employed the descriptive research design. The target population was 1980 which comprised of 220 principals, 220 deputy principals and 1540 heads of department. These were drawn from 24 public secondary schools and 140 private secondary schools in Nairobi City County. The sample size was 259 and it was selected through simple random sampling, stratified sampling, census and purposive sampling techniques. The data was collected using self-administered questionnaires for principals, deputy principals and heads of department, an interview guide for selected principals and an observation schedule. The reliability of the instruments was 0.75 for principals’ questionnaires, 0.71 and 0.73 for deputy principals and HoDs respectively. The data was analyzed by use of descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (t-test, chi-square test and Cramer’s V). A Chi-square test and Cramer’s V was done to determine the significance of association between the use of EMIS by the managers in curriculum and instruction; human resource; school-community relations and finance and the management of schools. An independent t-test was performed to test whether the mean frequency of use of EMIS in tasks by principals differed to that of deputy principals. The significant level was set at alpha =0.05. The study findings were that ICT facilities especially computers were fairly accessible to principals and their deputies but were not adequate for HoDs in most schools to enable frequent use. The findings further showed that the use of EMIS module for curriculum and instruction, human resource, school-community relations and finance influenced positively the management of secondary schools as it reduced the time to do routine tasks thus freeing up time for other school engagements by management. With respect to significance of association between the use of EMIS in the four task areas and the influence on school management, curriculum and instruction had preparation of school timetable (Cramer’s V of .361); human resource had reporting (Cramer’s V of .179); school-community relations had communication of dates (Cramer’s V of .219) while finance had preparation of budget (Cramer’s V of .258). The study recommends that the Ministry of Education to increase funding to schools to enable them buy equipment and get technical help. The training of managers should be through short targeted workshops beyond computer literacy. The study suggests that further studies be done that looks at the relationship between the leadership styles of principals and the implementation of EMIS in management.