DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2018.v06i01.011

Pages: 56-60

Proponents of student participation in decision-making have justified their support for establishment of student councils on premise that decisions in a school affect the student in latent and manifest ways. Largely, they are recipients of final decisions hence the recommendations made by students may be very constructive and if approached in the right manner would work positively. The purpose of this study was to investigate coping mechanisms for the challenges encountered in the involvement of students’ council in the running of public secondary schools in Narok County in Kenya. Descriptive research survey design was used to inform the study, which targetted students, teachers and head teachers of the secondary schools in the county. Structured and unstructured questionnaires were used to collect primary data. The collected data was coded with regard to the type and source then analyzed and interpreted quantitatively and qualitatively as per the objectives. The obtained data was interpreted, analysed and presented. The findings show that the identified challenges fall under three categories namely: School Culture, Teachers perception and Students perception. Solutions suggested to address these challenges include engaging the students’ representatives in the making of rules, conduction of transparent elections for prefects where the votes are counted in the presence of the students and the leader elect announced among others. The researcher therefore recommends that teachers should learn the role of meaningful student council involvement. This calls for training in Student/teachers Partnerships amongst the school heads.