An Investigation of Student Councils Involvement in Decision Making and Its Effect on Students’ Discipline in Nandi North Sub-County

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Student Councils Involvement in Decision Making and Its Effect on Students’ Discipline in Nandi North Sub-County. This study was hinged on the Participative Leadership Theory (Yukl, 1994) which posits that involvement in decision making improves the understanding of the issues in schools. The study adopted mixed research methodology and targeted 43 school principals, 43 deputy principals and 559 student Council leaders. The sample size for students in this study was determined using Krejcie and Morgan formula. The respondents were selected through the use of stratified and simple random sampling techniques. Questionnaires, interviews and document analysis were used for collecting data relevant to this study. Validity was determined through expert opinion while reliability was determined through piloting and use of croncbach alpha. The analysis involved descriptive and inferential statistics namely; Pearson rank correlation. Data was presented in form of tables, figures and charts. Further, most (55.6%) of the student council leaders reported that students in their schools participated in BOM meetings. Similarly, majority of the student council leaders believed that student involvement in decision making through council members have helped solve indiscipline cases in school. The study findings indicated that there is a strong and significant relationship student council involvement in decision making (r = .723) and school discipline in secondary schools in Nandi North Sub-County. This implies that students should be involved in development and implementation of school rules and regulations in order to enhance student discipline. The study will be useful to the Ministry of Education to have information on the operation and effectiveness of students’ councils since it is still a new policy. It also will yield data and information that was useful to policy planners and decision makers to follow up on policy implementation and evaluation on its role in improving the welfare of students. © 2017 Elixir All rights reserved. Elixir Leadership Mgmt. 112 (2017) 48812-48817 Leadership Management Available online at www.elixirpublishers. com (Elixir International Journal) Alice Limo and Emily Jepchirchir / Elixir Leadership Mgmt. 112 (2017) 48812-48817 48813 In South Africa, legislation has made student councils mandatory in all secondary schools. The South African School Authority (SASA) has created a school governance landscape based on participation and partnership between the state, parents, students, school staff and communities; as well as devolution of power. Weber (2002), Sayeed (2002), Spillane et al., (2004) and Lewis and Naidoo (2004) all observe that South Africa has moved further than any other Sub-Saharan African (SSA) country in introducing student governance in its schools on a national level. The student council project is aimed at allowing democratically elected students to form class and school councils that serve as a voice of students, and in many countries it has promoted youth activism, strengthens the youth role in the society and reinvigorated schools across the countries. Commission for European Communities (2008), also reports that student council projects have helped in solving many unrest problems which were scaring. UNICEF in partnership with the government through the Ministry of Education conducted a survey in 2008 to establish the relevance of student participation in school governance. This survey has contributed to establishment of child friendly school (CFS) practices by empowering students to take part in decision making for a more cohesive school community. Student council is no longer a secondary school issue only but it has also been taken up by primary schools. UNICEF’s then chief of education urged primary school heads to work together in establishing a children’s government which has then been in operation. Since the council is elected by the students there are able to work and relate more closely with their peers than the teachers can. As such, the teachers delegate responsibilities to those student leaders who then help to enhance discipline and cooperation among students. It is also encouraged that the management of each school to be responsible in ensuring that a fair and effective code of behavior and discipline that includes rules, ways of encouraging and affirming students’ efforts, rewards, and sanction and implementation procedures be developed and implemented with the participation of staff, students and parents. It is the responsibility of the head of school to create the right climate within which the individuals in the school community can fulfill their responsibilities. The senior management is to ensure a participatory evaluation of the impact of the school code. Students should have the responsibility of applying themselves to a learning application of such life enhancing skills as self-control, conflict management, problem solving, decision making and effective communication. Students are also expected to be actively involved in class meeting, student council and in the development of school codes, as well as to take up leadership through the system of class prefect (Melissa, 2013). A school policy on behavior and discipline should be carefully developed by and agreed upon by all stakeholders including parents. At classroom level, teachers can engage students in participatory process of developing classroom standards which are in conformity with the school rules. In Holy Spring High School, student council officer should have no major discipline referrals and not more than two minor discipline referral throughout the year and should maintain appropriate conduct within the classroom and positive school spirit (Bowen, 2014). Student representation is not only a secondary school issue but also in universities. Governance in higher education institutions, were noted to have been taking student representation and participation so much for granted. According to Advocates for Children on effective discipline in Maryland, building a collaborative team is essential for successful discipline. Discipline reforms should engage as many partners as possible throughout all the stages of the reform process . A great step towards cultivating a safe supportive school environment and reducing problematic behavior is to include as many stakeholders as possible (Advocates for Children, 2013). Though this, many schools neglect the role of students in decision making especially at National level. A clear example is a complained voiced by the Kenya Student Council President, Cliford Kipchumba at a national conference in 2013. They complained of where the committee of experts wanted to change the system of education in Kenya without involving the students. In Kenya, a National Baseline Survey on Child Participation in School Governance was conducted by UNICEF (2009) in response to the spontaneous and widespread unrest in Kenyan secondary schools, especially during the middle of 2008. The findings of the survey showed that there is dire need to involve all stakeholders, and more especially the student, in matters affecting student welfare in schools. The survey proposed that school management should enhance student participation in school governance through representation of students in key decision making panels at both school and national levels. Roles of the students’ council include; Provide a platform for high school students to express the challenges they encounter hence looking at the best ways to curb them, monitor the challenges that students encounter in their schools. They also create forum where students may ask questions or seek clarifications from stakeholders from the Ministry of Education on matters of importance, help students to share ideas, interests and concerns from their colleagues drawn from a wide range hence enhancing unity in diversity. It is also expected to encourage students to share their concerns with their teachers and the school principal (Parker, 2010). According to Barasa (2007) a student council is usually elected by students. Standard of a good student council is that: it should have clearly defined powers and responsibilities as well as practice democratic principles in its operation. Its constitution is carefully and democratically conceived. It should be supported by the head teacher and faculty; it has prestige, serves the school willingly and enlists the suggestions from the student body. Participatory decision making process is recommended because individuals who participate are usually more satisfied with the decision that they have collectively made and they would enthusiastically support it. It also satisfies and motivates key players in the decision making process (Barasa, 2007). Student involvement in decision making is a concept of participatory management which is a tenet of the Human Relation Theory of Management. According to Wanderi (2009), for many years after independence the Ministry of Education took up the responsibility of developing policies but at school level it has been the board of governors which has been in charge of decision making, while the school administration; the manager in this case the school principal designs an administrative and management system which has been mostly hierarchical. School Management and administration for many years has been authoritarian where power was rested on top management. The prefects’ body had a hierarchical structure where authority was greatly abused by both the prefects and the principals. Alice Limo and Emily Jepchirchir / Elixir Leadership Mgmt. 112 (2017) 48812-48817 48814 The principal appointed the head boy/ girl to command the prefect`s body that overview students. The word of the principal and prefects was a good as a law. There was no opportunity for dialogue between the students and authority structure and this contribu