THE PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES OF DECENTRALIZED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT IN GOVERNMENT SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF DAMOT WOIDE WOREDA IN WOLAITA ZONE

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the practices and challenges of decentralized school management in government secondary schools of DamotWoideWoreda in Wolaita Zone. To conduct the study, descriptive survey method and a mixed approach researchdesign with multistage sampling technique was employed. The sample size was 95 teachers, 45 school leaders, 2 cluster supervisors, 16 Parent Teacher Student Association and3 Woreda education office experts with the total of 163participants out of 272 study populations. The data gathering tools employed wasquestionnaire, interview, focus group discussionsand document analysis. The quantitative data was analyzed usingpercentage, standard deviation, mean score and independent samples T-test and the qualitativedata was analyzed by narration. The findings indicated that the implementation of decentralized school management was insufficientlyimplemented. Furthermore, the community participation on the implementation of decentralized school management on the areas like providing material and financial resources, appraising the teaching and learning, assessing students’ academic performance wasinadequately implemented. The implementation of decentralized school management was affected byinadequacy of man power, shortage of material and financial resources, lack of awareness among the school communities, lack of skilled accountants andlack of transparency on budget expenditure Based onthis, it is recommended to give relevant in-service trainings for leaders, the community and Parent Teacher Student Association on the implementation of decentralized school management and Woreda education officeand zonal education department with other stake holders to fulfill necessary educationalfacilities and budget for the effectiveness of decentralized school management implementation