Principal’s role in effective time management: key component in enhancing syllabus coverage in the kenyan schools in the 21st century and beyond

Studies have shown that the greatest problem school administrators’ encounter today is “time poverty.” There is public concern on the use of allocated school time in Kenya. Teachers use out of class hours during holidays, weekends, morning and evening preps and physical education lessons to cover the syllabus. The teachers’ argue that the syllabus is overloaded to be covered within the allocated time but the Ministry of Education reiterates that the school time is adequate. Both parties exhibit conflicting intellectual captivity and need decolonization of mind or attitude; to critically examine, deconstruct and update their reasoning, and reconstruct it with appropriate alternatives. It is against this background that a study was conducted to find out the principals’ effectiveness on time management in secondary schools in Nyamira County, Kenya. This study was guided by the following research questions. To what extent do principals perform effectively their roles of time management in schools? What are activities contribute to instructional time wastage in your school? What strategies can be put in place to curb time wasters? Convergent Parallel Mixed Design guided the study. The sample size was 200 teachers and 400 students. Data collection Instruments were questionnaires, Interview guide and Focus Group discussions. The instruments were validated and pilot tested. Key findings showed that most of instructional time was wasted in non academic activities such as annual teachers’ national strike, sending students home for fees, delays in assembly, teacher and student tardiness, procrastination among others. The study concluded that allocated time was adequate but not utilized well. The researcher recommended that principals should organize workshops to equip teachers and students on time management skills.