THESIS TITTLE: Students’ Council Practices and Students’ Discipline Management in         Secondary Schools in Tongaren Sub County, Kenya.

STUDENT’S NAME: Wanyonyi Protus Nyongesa

SUPERVISORS 

1. Dr Wanjala Demitilla
2. Dr Juma Injendi

 ABSTRACT

There has been an increase of indiscipline cases in secondary schools country wide. In some instances, students’ unrest and strikes have been witnessed. This has been happening despite the enactment of Students’ Council in 2009 as a way of managing students’ discipline. In light of this problem, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of students’ council practices in managing Students’ Discipline in Secondary Schools in Tongaren Sub County, Kenya. The study objectives were; to assess the influence of Students’ Council involvement in decision making on students’ discipline, to establish the influence of motivational programs for the Students’ Council on students’ discipline, to determine the influence of the Students’ Council effectiveness in enforcing school rules on students’ discipline and to establish the effect of capacity building programs for Students’ Council on students’ discipline. The study was founded on the Social Systems Theory and Path Goal Theory of Leadership. The study employed descriptive survey research design targeting a population of 11891 students, 720 members of the student councils, 24 deputy principals in 24 secondary schools and 1 SCDE. Stratified random sampling was adopted to select 12 schools in which 276 students, 84 members of the student council were sampled using simple random method while purposive sampling was used to select 12 Deputy Principals and 1 SCDE. Questionnaires, interview schedules and document analysis were used to collect data from respondents. To ensure validity and reliability of instruments, a pilot study was conducted in two schools within the area of study. Data was coded and captured using SPSS version 20. Data analysis involved both descriptive statistics such as frequencies. Weighted means and standard deviation while hypotheses were verified using the inferential statistical technique of independent samples t-test. The finding of this study were that schools in which student councils are effective, motivated and involved in decision making, there are significantly higher levels of students’ discipline. The study recommends that the student councils be given regular capacity building to enhance their effectiveness and motivate them as well as involve them in administrative decisions relating to students’ welfare and discipline as a more effective means of tackling student indiscipline in secondary schools.