Effects of total quality management practices on performance of public secondary schools in Makueni County

Abstract

The concept of total quality management provides guiding principles and practices to improve the education quality. This study intended to investigate the effects of total quality management (TQM) practices on performance of public secondary schools in Makueni County. The research was conducted in public secondary schools in Makueni County. Fifty two (52) schools out of the three hundred and forty nine (349) public secondary schools in the county were randomly selected for the study. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire administered through drop and pick later method and analyzed quantitatively using descriptive and inferential statistics and presented by use of frequency tables, means and percentages. The study revealed in terms of communication that; Communication has been an important means of realizing quality goals of the school, Communication between all levels in the organization is vital, Total quality management has depended on communication that flows in all directions up, down and laterally and Communication is the centre of success in your school. Top management commitment indicated that; The school embraces top management commitment as a total quality management practice in the school, The schools leadership develops a mission statement and strategies that are translated into action plans within the institution, TQM initiatives in the school start at the top with the senior managers of the school and all senior managers demonstrating their seriousness and commitment to quality implementation in the school. In terms of employee empowerment and involvement the study found out that; the school leadership give more discretion and autonomy to employees, there exists employees involvement that allows the school to benefit from knowledge and skills individuals bring to the workplace, Employees at all levels are charged to review and change their work processes in an effort to improve the overall quality of service and Critical empowerment programs are designed to enable those with little or no power to overcome whatever form of challenge that comes on their way. It was noted that; Training and development has been absolutely vital to the success of total quality management in schools, Training has provided an opportunity to empower and motivate employees in the school and training and development has provided an opportunity to inform employees about the schools goals of total quality management. The study also found out that communication, employee empowerment and involvement, top management commitment and training and development influenced performance of public schools in Makueni county (r2= 75.9%). In conclusion, the study concludes that performance of public secondary schools in Makueni County depend on TQM practices. There should be systems for recognition and appreciation of quality efforts in order to motivate the staff to work effectively. There is the need to employ quality functional deployment. This will enable quality systems to be built on customer needs and wants and also exceed customer expectations. It is recommended that the schools subscribe to a quality award system (ISO 2009) certification which can help them to put in place all the measures as well as practice TQM to the highest level. This will go a long way to boost customer confidence all over the world in the services of the schools.