1. Introduction

Schools are established for the purpose of teaching and learning. It is also more important that the teachers and the learners are properly accommodated to facilitate the teaching and learning process. The curriculum cannot be implemented if the physical facilities required for teaching and learning are not available (Cynthia and Megan, 2008). The term school plant includes the site, the building and the equipment. It includes permanent and semi-permanent structure as well as items such as machines, laboratory equipment the blackboard/chalkboard, and teacher tools. Enaohwo and Eferakeya (1989) defined school plants as the entire physical infrastructural facilities provided in the school for the purpose of educating the child. Ojedele (1998) has a broader view of school plant as including the school site and all the structures that have been put in place to aid effective teaching and learning in the school system. In addition, Yusuf (2008) defined school plant as the space interpretation of the school curriculum. The curriculum cannot be implemented if the physical facilities required for teaching and learning are not available. Without school plant, the school cannot exist to this end, it becomes necessary to ensure that school plant is properly planned and maintained to facilitate the effectiveness of the school system.

In collaboration, Yusuf (2008) maintained that school plants comprise the machinery which in turn includes machines and tools used in the workshop, in addition to duplicating machines. They also pointed out that school site, which is the landscape on which the school’s permanent and non-permanent structures are built, are part of school plant. They also included buildings, equipment, and furniture, vehicles of various types, electrical fittings, books, water supply infrastructure, and accessories like playgrounds, lawns, parks and farm, as part of school plant. The writer is lending an opinion by saying that school plant is all embracing in the fact that it comprises every single item starting from the gate of the school to the walls covering the school compound. This should be drawn into the ears of the school children who did not know that the school ground and everything in it belong to them and they should take good care of them. It becomes necessary to ensure that school plant is properly planned and maintained to facilitate the effectiveness of the school system (Vandiver, 2011). Secondary school Principals are expected to make great contributions towards the school plant under which they are expected to perform a number of activities. Such activities include diligent sighting of the school, maintenance and repair, enhancing cleanliness in classrooms, dormitories, halls, eating areas and enhancing health and safety concerns through appropriate school plant design, maintenance and repair (Okumbe, 2001). Asiabaka (2008) maintained that school facilities management play a pivotal role in the actualization of educational goals and objectives by satisfying the physical and emotional needs of the staff and students.

Since 1963, education accounts for the largest share of government expenditure. According to UNESCO (2010) there is a financial crisis in Kenyan education that depicts the Kenyan education to a situation in which a sizeable and growing percentage of government recurrent expenditure is devoted to education budget yet the situation is not satisfactory. The expansion of education opportunities has been a long standing objective of the government of Kenya since independence in 1963, because education continues to be considered by different stake holders as a basic necessity for progress. The socio-economic and political benefits accruing to education are now well established. The government has consistently invested in education with an objective of promoting human resource development, yet increased politicization of education, lesser and lesser external support among other factors has resulted in increased inefficiency in dealing with education problems and challenges.

This study was guided by Total Quality Management (TQM) Theory. The origins of TQM are subject to debate but most research shows that Walter Shewhart came up with the management ideology in the 1920's. Further advances came from Armand Feigenbaum and the big four: W. Edwards Deming, Joseph Juran, Philip B. Crosby and Kaoru Ishikawa. Deming was a student under the instruction of Walter Shewart. TQM incorporates quality assurance and is regarded as the process of integrating all activities, functions and processes within an organization to achieve continuous improvement and ensure total consumer satisfaction. Since there are several approaches to Total Quality Management (TQM), the present study adopted the Deming’s Approach to TQM. This theory was important to this study because when schools use the concept of TQM theory, the school stakeholders such as students, teachers, support staff and BOM must be consulted to monitor their expectation and satisfaction.

Many scholars, researchers, administrators and educational planners have confirmed that school facilities in Nigeria schools are inadequate and few available ones are being over utilized due to the astronomical increase in school enrolment. Ikoya and Onoyase (2008) reported that only 26 percent of school enrolment across the country has school infrastructures that are adequate in quality and quantity. Asiyai (2012) reported that most of the Nigerian schools are dilapidated due to inadequate funding while most tertiary institutions are living in their past glories. Such institutions hinder effective teaching and learning, making the process rigorous and uninteresting to students and teachers. Owuamanam (2005) noted that the inadequacy of infrastructural facilities and lack of maintenance for available facilities was wanting to an extent that the facilities could not match the student’s population and the available facilities were poorly maintained and managed. This constitute health hazard to students and teachers who use the facilities as was reported by Asiyai (2008) about the killing of students and teachers of a school in Nigeria when the school walls and roofs collapsed. Even large amount of money invested on school facilities is wasted when school buildings and equipment are left to deteriorate without maintenance.

Agoha (2008) study was designed to investigate the administrative strategies for school plant maintenance in Okigwe Education Zone, Nigeria. The study reported challenges on maintenance such as inadequate funds, poor quality of facilities and equipment, lack of qualified maintenance personnel, extreme environmental conditions, lack of knowledge and interest of staff on school plant maintenance and negligence of administrative roles by the principals due to sheer apathy. Alimi, Ehinola and Alabi (2012) opine that in South-West Nigeria secondary schools, instructional space such as classrooms, libraries, technical workshops and laboratories are structurally defective, that is, classrooms are not spacious enough. According to Olaniyan, and Kolawole (2013), the Nigerian education system is grappling with a plethora of problems which seem to defy solution over the years, chief among such problems is gross inadequacy in quality of facilities available to students in Nigerian secondary schools, and the haphazard citing of such schools occasionally in places that are not easily accessible or even places that are susceptible to ambient noise interference. In Kenya, Wamunyu (2010) determine the challenges faced by school heads in managing school projects in Mathira Constituency. The findings were that school heads in public secondary school in Mathira constituency faced major challenges in the management of the school projects. It was also found that although most of the school principals (93.33%) have been trained in project management they still experienced challenges related to project management skills, financial management, management of project constraints, stakeholder involvement and project monitoring and evaluation while managing the school projects. Cheruiyot (2005) argues that some nominated chairpersons do not provide adequate facilities in schools. Their studies focused more on the BOG and the sponsors. This study focused on the role of the principal in the school plant management.

A study by Kosgey, Maiyo and Chepkurui (2006) on income inequality controversies on the development of education in Kenya revealed that the construction and development or expansion of schools have been a big problem or rather challenge to the government, as it requires a lot of funds. Again the disbursement of funds also poses a challenge; remote schools receive the government funds at the end of term instead of beginning of the term. Study by Kosgey, Maiyo and Chepkurui (2006) differs with the current study in that their focus was on income inequality controversies on the development of education in Kenya, while the current study focused on the contributions of the principals towards management of school plant. While Aduda (2001), Oduor and Nyamu (2004) looked at the challenges the principals face in management, this study sought to establish the contributions of the principal in school plant management. For learning to be effective, the school buildings, machinery and equipment, together with the school environment must be in good conditions, well maintained, serviced and repaired. Reports of Quality assurance assessment in Rarieda Sub-County Education Office indicated that most secondary schools have dilapidated buildings, cracked walls, poorly maintained machinery, poorly maintained compounds and fences, classrooms full of potholes on the floors, and lack of ceiling boards (Rarieda Sub-county Directors Office, 2018). It is on this strength that this study therefore investigated the contributions of principals on school plant management in secondary schools in Rarieda Sub County in Kenya.

2. Research Methodology

The study used concurrent triangulation research design within the mixed methods approach. In this design the investigator collected both quantitative and qualitative data at the same time during the study and then integrated the information in the interpretation of results (Creswell, 2013). Concurrent triangulation as observed by (Creswell, 2014) enabled the researcher to collect both qualitative and quantitative data at the same time and then compared the two databases to determine if there was convergence, differences or some combination. This model enabled the researcher to offset the weaknesses inherent within one method with the strength of the other. The study was carried out in all the 35 public secondary schools in Rarieda sub- County. The target population consisted of 176 respondents from schools in Rarieda Sub-County. Of these respondents were 35 principals, 35 deputy principals, 35 senior masters who were directly in charge of managing school plant and are easily found in schools, and 35 PA Chairpersons and 35 BOM chairpersons who were also charged with the management of school plant, plus 1 Sub-County Quality Assurance Officer.

The study therefore used saturated sampling technique to sample a total of 31 principals, 31 deputy principals, 31 senior masters 31 BOM chairpersons, 31 PA chairpersons, plus one Quality Assurance and Standards Officer who participated in the study as informants. The total number of the sample population was 156. The choice of the respondents was made on the fact that the selected categories were responsible for maintenance of the school infrastructure under the guidance of the principals. The main instruments of data collection for this study were questionnaires, interview schedules and document analysis. In this study, content validity will be achieved by the help of the allocated supervisors from Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology who went through the items to ascertain their adequacy. In addition, comments from the faculty members of the school of education during defenses were also taken into consideration. The reliability of the current study was therefore tested using Cronbach Reliability test with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 22, which obtained a reliability coefficient of 0.87913. Quantitative data from closed-ended sections of questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages and means. Qualitative data from interviews and open ended questions from the senior teachers, deputy principals, principals, BOM chairmen and Sub-County QASO were transcribed, coded and analyzed using thematic Analysis.

3. Findings & Discussions

The study sought to investigate the challenges faced by the school principals in School Plant Management. Respondents (boarding masters, Deputy School Principals and Board of Management (BOM)) members were asked to indicate their level of agreement with the following statements related to Challenges faced by the school principals in School Plant Management. Their respondents were based on a five point Likert scale and the results were tabulated in Table 1, and Table 2 respectively.

The findings presented in Table 1 shows that three quarters of the respondents at 75.0% strongly agreed with the statement that as part of challenges facing the school principals, there were frequent breakdown of the class floors and walls due to congestion of students, leading to regular repair of these facilities. Only 3.1% disputed the statement, while 6.3% remained neutral. Overwhelmingly, (90.6%; Mean=4.6) supported the statement that owing to congestion of some classrooms, there were frequent breakdowns of the class floors and walls leading to regular repair of these facilities. Another 84.4% of the respondents strongly agreed that some students were careless and destructive, thus destroying the school buildings and equipment and this was a challenge to effective school plant management. This finding concurs with Asiyai (2012) who reported that in Nigeria, schools have dilapidated buildings.

Table 1. School Boarding Masters' views on the challenges faced by principals in school plant management (n=31)

During interviews with SCQASO and a BOM Chair, the study established that over enrolment in schools coupled with inadequate funding for infrastructure has led to dilapidation of buildings as he maintained;

Schools do experience over enrolment of students due to the government policy of free day secondary education. This has made the buildings to accommodate larger number of students above their initial intended capacity. The result of this is dilapidation of floors and walls. Inadequate funds for maintenance and repairs have also contributed to poor maintenance hence dilapidated buildings (SCQASO)

The government always delays with sending the funds meant for schools and this affects our capacities of management of school buildings. We prioritize on other things and ignore school buildings (BOM Chair, 13)

From the interview findings, it can be concluded that secondary schools are over enrolled and this puts pressure on school plant. This finding agrees with Yusuf (2001) who examined school plant planning in relation to administrative effectiveness of secondary schools in Oyo state of Nigeria. The study found that schools that planned and maintained their facilities had higher students’ retention and were more effective than others. Yusuf, Adeoye & Adigun, Tayo (2012), also agreed that many of the primary school buildings are dilapidated, displaying no window panes or Shutters, no ceilings, plaster peel offs, broken floors and leaking roofs. Poor as these structures are, they are not even adequate and thus two or more streams have to use the same dilapidated class in many cases.

This finding concurs with Asiyai (2012) who reported that most of the Nigerian schools are dilapidated due to inadequate funding while most tertiary institutions are living in their past glories. Such institutions hinder effective teaching and learning, making the process rigorous and uninteresting to students and teachers. Babatope, (2010) also agrees that the financial support to the institutions was not adequate, the universities were not provided with adequate facilities while students and staff maintenance culture contributed to high destruction of the available facilities.

Table 1 also reveals that some students are careless and destructive, thus destroying the school buildings and equipment as reported by 93.8% at a mean rate of 4.7 of the respondents who agreed and only 6.2 disagreed. This finding was further confirmed during interviews with SCQASO that school buildings are being destroyed by some students who are exhibiting irresponsible behavior in the schools. The SCQASO further puts it that;

Some students are always destructive and they do jump in classrooms, and throw chairs and tables as they show their might to their peers. Some students also do hit floor and walls with sharp objects as practice mischief while inside classrooms. With such tendencies the floors and walls of classrooms do not last for long and are often dilapidated. (SCQASO)

From the interview findings, schools have dilapidated buildings due to students carelessness. This finding agrees with Alimi et al (2012) who reported that students lack necessary learning facilities due to inadequate facilities in schools.

Concerning insufficient funds for expansion and repair of school buildings and equipment, 96.9% of the respondents agreed at a mean rate of 4.9% agreed, while only 3.1% disagreed. This finding reveals that most school buildings are not well maintained due insufficient funds as well as over congestion due inadequate funds for construction of more buildings. During interviews, the SCQASO and one BOM Chair blamed the parents for misunderstanding the government policy of free day secondary education for the poor state of the school buildings as he noted thus;

Most parents do not understand the government policy and have stopped playing their role of building classrooms and other infrastructural development in the school. The fact that the government is taking care of tuition does not mean that parents should not play their role in building classrooms and other facilities. Most schools are therefore not well maintained with very few new buildings being erected (SCQASO)

The parents that we have are very difficult as you might be aware. They misinterpret the policies about policies that are released by the Ministry of Education and they don’t want to take responsibility (BOM Chair, 12)

Table 1 further reveals that some community members are non-cooperative, they intrude and destroy the school properties as reported by 68.8% at a mean rate of 3.9, while some 18.8% were neutral and only 6.3% disagreed. This finding reveals indifferent attitude of the community towards the school properties and facilities. Further interviews with SCQASO and BOM Chair established that some community members were having negative attitude towards school properties as he maintain thus;

Community members are always expected to be the custodian of the school properties, however in some cases the community members do vandalized the properties after being given opportunity to utilize them. Some who come to use halls for weddings or funeral functions do break doors, hit walls and floors, some do destroy chairs and tables. Such damages are leading to expensive cost of maintenance and repairs of buildings which schools are not able to afford (SCQASO)

There are negative attitudes that arise from the community members that surround this school. The parents are not willing to pay more funds for building new structures in the school (BOM Chair, 6)

From the findings, the study established that community members were not keen in helping schools to maintain properties, instead they were making the schools to incur expenses in maintenance and repairs. Such attitude of the community was worrying given that they are supposed to be the custodian of the public property. This finding agreed with Ogbuanya (2017) who reported that principals do not seek the opinion of experts on school facilities maintenance.

Deputy School Principals were also asked to indicate their level of agreement with the following statement related to challenges facing school principals for effective school plant management. Table 4.9 shows the response.

Table 2. Deputy Principals' views on the challenges faced by principals in school plant management (n=31)

According to the study findings in Table 2, 71.0% of the deputy school principals strongly agreed that there was frequent breakdown of the class floors and walls due to congestion of students, leading to regular repair of these facilities. Only 3.2% were negative about this statement as 6.5% remained neutral. Generally, (90.4%; Mean=4.6) agreed with the statement, 3.2% while 6.5 neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement. Most of the deputy school principals (90.3%; Mean=4.5) also confirmed that some students were careless and destructive, thus were destroying the school buildings and equipment and this could as well jeopardise effective school plant management among the principals. This finding agrees with Yusuf et al (2012) who reported that the situation of dilapidated buildings in schools has not changed for long time.

During interviews with the principals, the study established that most students were destructive and were constantly damaging school properties, one principal maintain thus;

Students at this stage of adolescent are very energetic and do try always to prove their might. At times you can find them sitting on lockers while some do throw chairs carelessly. On the other hand some students do sit on three joined chairs while some do jump from one table to another. It is actually very hard to control students and given the fact that the government has withdrawn punitive punishments (P3)

Further interviews with SCQASO reveal that students were irresponsible when it comes to school property management as he maintain thus;

Students do destroy most school properties as they directly utilize these properties on the daily basis. We have received several complaints from the principals of various schools that most students were irresponsible and were making schools to incur high maintenance costs. Principals actually do blame the government policy on discipline maintenance which makes learners to be unruly (SCQASO)

From the interview findings, it can be concluded that students destroy facilities and this reduces the number of usable facilities in school. This finding agrees with Owuamanam (2005) who noted that the inadequacy of infrastructural facilities and lack of maintenance for available facilities was wanting to an extent that the facilities could not match the student’s population and the available facilities were poorly maintained and managed.

It was also found that 93.6% of the respondents confirmed that their schools had insufficient funds for expansion and repair of school buildings and equipment and this was a challenge to school principals in offering effective school plant management. Only 6.5% neither disagreed nor agreed with the statement as none disputed the statement. During interviews with the principals and senior teachers, the study established that free day secondary education funds were not adequate in helping to maintain and repair school plant. As one principal and senior teacher puts it thus;

Schools are not able to adequately maintain and repair school plants because of inadequacy of government funds. These funds are less and are never remitted on time yet the government does not want schools to charge development funds. We are not even allowed to charge extra levies which could enable us to repair and maintain school plant (P7)

The parents are not keen on paying any extra levies for building the school. We only rely on the basic fees to survive and this is not enough. We are really struggling to do development in the school (Senior teacher, 7)

Further findings with the SCQASO also revealed that government policy on fee payment and levies do leads to insufficient funds for maintenance and repair of school plant as he puts thus;

Schools are not stable financially as they used to be before the introduction of free day secondary. It is also true that with the withdrawal of development funds in schools and restriction on fund raisings, schools are not having adequate funds towards repair and maintenance of school plant hence serious challenge to the principals (SCQASO)

From the interview findings, it can be concluded that schools face financial challenges and thus not able to maintain school buildings well. These findings concurs with that of Asiyai (2012) who reported that most of the Nigerian schools are dilapidated due to inadequate funding while most tertiary institutions are living in their past glories.

Slightly over two thirds of the respondents at 74.2% strongly agreed and it was only 19.4% who disagreed that their schools were subjected to non-cooperative some community members who could intrude and destroy the school properties hence posing a challenge to the school principals for effective school plant management. During interviews, the principals also added that vandalism from the community was on the increase especially when principals are not in good books with the community, one principal added that;

Most villagers are causing a lot of damage to school properties, in fact most fire tragedies in schools are orchestrated by the community members who do not want the school principals. Some do sneak into the school compound at night to cause destruction in schools while others do destroy the properties whenever they use them for higher (P13)

Inadequate space for school expansion hence leading to inadequate school building and equipments was also cited by majority of the respondents at 78.7% cumulatively as a challenge facing school principals for effective school plant management. Only 15.2% refuted the statement, while 3.2% remained neutral. This finding concurs with Nwankwo (2007) who reported that most school buildings are in poor condition due to lack of adequate maintenance.

Further interviews with principals equally revealed that most of the upcoming schools were not having adequate space for expansion as on principal explained;

Most of the recently established secondary schools are based on clan factors and are established on small parcels of land that does not give room for expansion. Some schools are established in the church compounds while others established on small parcel of land curved out of primary school compounds hence does not have room for expansion (P11)

Another theme which emerged from qualitative data was High cost of maintenance of the school plant. This means schools spend so much money in the regular maintenance of the school machinery, equipment and buildings. The school plant is carelessly used at times and this creates need for use of lots of funds in the maintenance of the buildings. Two respondents reported that:

There is high cost of maintenance due to use of low quality materials or poor machinery bought before by earlier principals (SCQASO)

it’s very costly to run maintain the school plant because so much is wasted by the students in the school. Some destroy window panes and this is very challenging to us as a school (BOM Chair, 15)

It means that the schools spend lots of funds in repairs and maintenance of school plant. This finding agrees with Ebenezer (2004) in Ghana who reported that with taxes increasingly available and otherwise difficult to collect and with competing public needs, basic education, and public school infrastructure is so compelling in all countries and it requires the principals to make greater contributions during decision making at the point of managing school plant.

Another theme which emerged from the qualitative data was poorly trained personnel to manage school plant. There are several cases of schools which don’t have trained personnel to manage the school resources. This is because some schools only employ staff that is not trained in their areas of duty which brings problems of incompetence in their performance of work. One respondent reported that:

Some schools have untrained staff with no knowledge in the school machinery management. Some lab assistants don’t have any knowledge on how to do their work in school. This affects the management of school plant (SCQASO)

There are cases where the school non teaching staff that are employed are not aware of how to manage the school physical facilities. This a major problem to our school because it leads to lots of wastage (senior teacher, 4)

It can be concluded that principals in some schools face challenges of having poorly trained staff and this affects the management of school plant. This finding agrees with Owuamanam (2005) noted that the inadequacy of infrastructural facilities and lack of maintenance for available facilities was wanting to an extent that the facilities could not match the student’s population and the available facilities were poorly maintained and managed.

Another qualitative finding was that there was Poor maintenance of school facilities by school principals. This leads to breakages and constant need for repairs. At times, repairs are not regularly done, leading to wastage of school resources and wearing out of school plant. It can make the school to utilize vote heads that are meant for other things in school. One respondent reported that:

There is poor maintenance of school facilities which often lead to breakages and thus constant need for repair of new ones (SCQASO)

It means that at times, school principals have to spend more money in ensuring maintenance of the school plant. This finding agrees with Ikoya and Onoyase (2008) who reported that only 26 percent of school enrolment across the country has school infrastructures that are adequate in quality and quantity. Asiyai (2012) reported that most of the Nigerian schools are dilapidated due to inadequate funding while most tertiary institutions are living in their past g.

4. Conclusions & Recommendations

It can be concluded that there were frequent breakdown of the class floors and walls due to congestion of students, leading to regular repair of these facilities. The study also found that insufficient funds for expansion and repair of school buildings and equipment was a challenge to school principals for offering effective school plant management. It was also found that as part of challenges facing school principals; some community members were non-cooperative and could intrude and destroy the school properties as confirmed by majority of the respondents cumulatively. There was Poor Planning by some Principals, Principals’ Lack of technical skills in the school plant management, inadequate time for supervision by school principals, poorly trained personnel to manage school plant, Poor maintenance of school facilities by school principals, High cost of maintenance of the school plant, Careless and Destructive Students in schools and Insufficient Funds in schools. Its recommended that the Teachers Service Commission should make provision for regular in-service training for principals in school building management. This would make the principals to be well equipped with relevant skills to ensure best management of School plant. This is because the study reported observed that lack of technical skill in some principals was an impediment in school plant management.