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Public Schools Vs Private Schools in Kenya

Education industry in Kenya involves public and private education centers (Nishimura, Yamano, 2013). The public education centers operate under the watch of governmental agencies and the employees in these centers are paid by the government. The private education centers operate as businesses under the watch of their sole proprietors as directors (Nishimura, Yamano, 2013). This document seeks to compare and contrast the elements of business of Homa-bay high school, a public secondary school and Elite high school, a private secondary school in Kenya.

To start with, we shall analyze the legal environment of the two organizations. Notably, both organizations operate in similar legal frameworks formulated by the ministry of education and technology of the country (Orodho, Waweru, Ndichu, Nthinguri, 2013). The ministry defines the ethical standards of the teaching profession that must be adhered to by all education centers in the country. Notably, the legal environment around these organizations is augmented by the Basic Education Act number 14 of 2013 in which the cabinet secretary is empowered to regulate the operations of all education institutions. For instance, both organizations adhere to the 8-4-4 system set by the ministry that involve eight years of primary education deemed compulsory for all children, four years of secondary education and another four years of university education. Both the public school and the private school abide by this regulation and policy framework (Orodho, Waweru, Ndichu, Nthinguri, 2013). However, the private schools enjoy autonomy in the running of their institutions i.e. the business elements of private schools are determined by the schools themselves without Government interference. For example, every private school determines the amount of fees to be paid by learners joining the institution contrary to the public schools in which the ministry of education regulates the fees.

The social environment in Homa-bay high school, as with other public schools, is characterized by more vices than the social environment of Elite high school as a private institution (Wanzare, 2012). For instance, the public institution posits an environment characterized by bullying, early pregnancies, drugs, and violence. Notably, bullying is not only an institutional problem but also a worldwide problem that negatively impact on the social environment of a school. Bullying refers to a repeated oppression of individuals by their senior colleague. This problem is rampant in Homa-bay high school and other public schools due to the low teacher support and low-quality pedagogy among the public school teachers who believe that their pay is guaranteed with or without quality performance. It is the same attitude the present Homa-bay school social environment as a fertile ground on which students practice substance use by smocking bhang, taking alcohol and indulging in premarital sex that results in early pregnancies among the learners. The private school- Elite high school- on the other hand, posit a social environment that is conducive to the mental development of a student. The organization strictly follows the learners and is focused on discipline (Sang, Masila, Sang, 2012). This intuition upholds the safety of the learners and does not give room for bullying of any nature. Strict observance of school rule and regulations in Elite high school has tuned the environment towards a drug zone, and the learners have no chance indulge in poor sexual behavior due to stiff penalties these vices would call for (Wanzare, 2012). Elite high school, therefore, presents a better environment for potential parents to enroll their children giving Elite a high competitive advantage over the public school.

The economic environment under which Homa-bay high school operate is characterized by financial constraints since the population served by this organization live below the poverty line and are, therefore, unable to raise school fees to support the proper running of the institution (Sang, Masila, Sang, 2012). The majority of learners in this school are slum dwellers whose parents cannot afford school fees. Although the government is committed to provision of free secondary education, this policy is yet to be implemented leaving the public schools in a tight economic rope that is very constrained. However, Elite High school operates in a good economic environment characterized by good financial returns accruing from high school fees paid by the learners who hail from well-to-do families (Sang, Masila, Sang, 2012). Consequently, the teachers are highly motivated by the good remuneration hence strive to achieve quality performance.

The culture of Homa-bay high school as an organization posit secondary school rituals that include ceremonies, assemblies and board meetings among others (Wanzare, 2012). The students have developed a culture absenteeism and academic anomalies that include exam cheating and lack of seriousness with studies. The teachers, on the other hand, have developed the culture of poor class attendance due to lack of close supervision on their performance. This has translated to poor performance of the organization (Wanzare, 2012). However, the Elite high school, have developed a culture of hard work and performance in which every student and teacher seek perform without supervision. This positive culture has seen quality performance in the private school.

The promotion policies of the public school are on the basis of number of year of service and recommendation by the school principal. This policy is formulated by the ministry of education and implemented by the teachers’ service commission (Duflo, Dupas, Kremer, 2015). However, the private school promotion policy is based on individual’s perceived strengths and values that can promote the wellbeing and performance of the institution in a particular area. Though not frequently done, promotion of employees in Elite high school occurs when one in office vacates the office. Compared to the public school, the promotion policy of the private school has little benefits to the individuals being promoted. The strategic decision-making process in the public institution involves the Board of Governance and the principal of the school as the chairman of the board. Consequently, the Homa-bay high school management is democratic in nature in which everyone has freedom to act out of choice and air their views. The principle formulates the policies and presents it to the board for approval for implementing the same. All stakeholders exercise democracy in the management process. Moreover, the principal of this school uses the democratic leadership style by sharing the decision-making abilities of other teachers hence promoting the interest of the group (Savery, 2015).  The private school, on the other hand, has all decisions made by the director of the school without any requirement of consultation. Consequently, the management style of this private institution is autocratic in nature hence the quality performance. Moreover, the school director employs authoritative leadership skill in which teachers and other stakeholders are expected to take directives and perform under close supervision to ensure quality work. Notably, both institutions perform regular strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis using different SWOT tools. Homa-bay high school evaluates its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats using Web-based SWOT analysis software called Creately as a tool while Elite high school operates on an HTML 5 editor as a tool to perform SWOT analysis.

The two institutions have a similar organizational structure that includes deferent subject departments, the deputy’s office, and the principal’s office. However, the operations strategy framework of the public school is very deferent from that of the private school in that the private school has little processes and procedures in decision making and implementation of their result oriented policies whereas the public school has a chain of procedures and processes to have any decision made and implemented (Jackson, 2011). Notably, the policies of the private school are result oriented, the policies of the public school have less concern with quality performance. Regarding the four functions of management, the private school has better performance than the public school. This is depicted by the good management practices and proper planning strategies adopted by the private school management that are focused on good leadership and quality performance. On the contrary, the management practices posited by the public school lack focused strategic planning and good leadership leading to poor organizational control hence poor performance (Jackson, 2011). The strong points of Homa-bay high school principal, as the school manager, is his ability to use the democratic space and democratic leadership style to win the support of his junior staff members and students thereby curbing rebellion among staff and strike among students. The principal of Elite high school, on the other hand, has his strong points on his ability to enforce discipline among learners and performance accountability among teachers through his authoritative leadership skills. This has ensured quality performance of the school. However, both institutions need to improve in various areas. The private school needs to improve on its democratic space to allow teachers to present their views on matters affecting the learners as this may significantly help the management to improve on the school policies for better performance. The public school, on the other hand, should improve on its policies and get them result oriented to ensure quality performance.