Effect of leadership roles on academic performance: A reflection on student council officials in public secondary schools in Kenya

Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the effect of leadership roles on the academic performance of student council officials in public secondary schools in Kajiado North Sub-county in Kenya. The study was descriptive in nature, adopting a descriptive survey design with a quantitative approach. Kajiado North Sub-County was purposefully selected for the study. Ten public secondary schools were, however, considered for the study in Kajiado North sub-County. A random selection of three (3) boys boarding schools, three (3) girls boarding, two (2) mixed day and boarding as well as two (2) mixed days were done. This study targeted the student council officials (prefects) in positions of leadership. Based on the twenty-nine public schools consisting of twelve (12) boarding schools and seventeen (17) day schools Principals and deputy principals were purposefully selected. The study used questionnaires with both open-ended questions and closed-ended questions ranked on a Likert scale. Data analysis was done using the SPSS program, applying both descriptive and inferential statistics. The authors found out that the roles student council officials play in school affect their character, which significantly raises their academic performance as depicted by (r=.023; p<.05). The study concluded that a significant relationship between the roles student council officials play and academic performance was statistical.  In addition, roles played by student council officials enhance their commitment to academic performance (r=.014; p<.05).