Principals’ Management of Co-curricular Activities as Determinant of Students’ Completion Rates in Public Technical Training Institutions in Kiambu County,

Purpose: Principals play an important role in the management of co-curricular activities such as planning. However, in Kiambu County, students’ completion rates in technical training institutions are low. This study intended to assess principals’ management of co-curricular activities as determinant of students’ completion rates in public technical training institutions in Kiambu County, Kenya. Methodology: The study adopted mixed methodology and concurrent triangulation research design. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically along the objectives and presented in narrative forms. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages and inferentially using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Analysis with the help of Statistical Packages for Social Sciences and presented by using tables. Findings: The study established that, dropout rates among students in public technical training institutions have been high which has led to fluctuating students’ completion rates. The study further established that principals play a key role in the management of co-curricular activities and how such activities influence students’ completion rates in public technical training institutions. However, the study revealed that most principals are rarely involved in the actual planning of CCAs but appreciate the value of such activities in the wholistic growth and development of students. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study recommends that, as a practice, principals should continue allocating more resources for improving infrastructure for co-curricular activities. As a policy, the Ministry of Education should formulate a policy enabling colleges to partner with other statehooders to provide resources and better the quality of facilities meant for CCAs in technical training institutions.


INTRODUCTION
Co-curricular activities are a must in every technical training college as its management is an important element to the growth of the self-intelligence covering the physical, mental, social and emotional development.Hardman (2012) asserts that co-curricular activities have been blended into education system in and it is a must to every student.Co-curricular activities are also important as it is seen as a tool to promote unity among different races in college.Thus, to improve students' completion rates, principals' management of co-curricular activities is critical.Students' completion rate is the ratio between the number of students who graduate from technical training institutions in a particular year and the number of students enrolled.According to Macgowen (2014), completion is the outcome of how many students within a cohort complete and graduate from technical training institutions, typically measured in two, three or four years.In Kuala Lumpur, Siti, Kung and Haniz (2016) assert that technical training institutions where 75% and above of the students graduate are considered to have attained high completion rates.Siti et al (2016) posit that high students' completion rate in education is crucial in a modem society since education is one of the most effective instruments a nation has at its disposal for promoting sustainable social and economic development.Despite these postulations, in the Netherlands, Germany and United Kingdom, students' competition rates are still low with many students dropping out of technical training institutions midway.
In Thailand, for instance, there has been a struggle on how to improve completion rates of students in technical training institutions from 56.7% to 80% (UNESCO, 2013).This is despite the fact that many institutions consider outdoor activities as the panacea to improving students' motor and cognitive skills.In Australia, Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk (2011) posit that sports curriculum is considered as the complementary to the curriculum to which they are depending to each other to develop individual who is physically, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually balanced.Therefore, co-curricular activities do influence either directly or indirectly in the development of an individual.However, such influence of co-curricular activities on development of social skills among students cannot be achieved devoid of effective management of such co-curricular activities.
Management involves the interaction between those who administer and those who participate in management of co-curricular process.Compared to other fields of endeavors, co-curricular activities management is relatively new (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk, 2011).It is an offshoot of the older field called Physical Education.
However, co-curricular activities management has expanded to include professional cocurricular activities, facility management, event management and other areas.In other words, it is imperative therefore, that managers of co-curricular activities thoroughly understand the importance of effective and efficient management.In management of co-curricular activities, students and their coaches' level of development of social skills depends largely on the cooperation and efficiency of the manager in attending to their needs.These assertions affirm the fact that management of co-curricular activities is the bedrock or corner stone for development of co-curricular activities in virtually all nations.In other words, this is the aspect that is responsible for the smooth-running of various co-curricular activities in terms of planning, organizing, directing and controlling all essentials inputs in such activities to effectively aid development of social skills.
On the contrary, Vaisdy (2013) notes that, in Asia, co-curricular activities have legally acquired 73% status hand in hand with other subjects but practically it is going down to 20%, threatening its existence.In keeping with the views of Vaisdy (2012), Ashok (2014) asserts that, in technical training institutions in Nepal, colleges do not have the regular program on cocurricular activities as they have been taken as occasional and optional rather than an organized one.However, according to Armstrong (2011), countries which ensure that tertiary institutions engage their students in several co-curricular activities register a progressive increase in completion rates as shown in Table 1; In most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, management of co-curricular activities is regarded as critical in the development of social skills.In Ghana, Dzansi (2012) posits that effective management of co-curricular activities is a quintessential childhood activity which is both a need and right of students and is central to their well-being.Co-curricular activities should be fun, passionate, spontaneous, self-initiated, and purposeless because the activity itself is more crucial than the outcome.Dzansi (2012) further reports that effective organization and management of co-curricular activities enhances students' association with a range of playful activities contributes to their physical, social, cognitive, and emotional development and enhance their problem-solving abilities and creative thought.
Most countries in East Africa are no exception.For example, in Uganda, UNICEF (2010) initiated a national program on BECCAD which advocated for the students and youth empowerment with skills which would help them look into the possible challenges and demands of daily life.A baseline survey on life skills in Ugandan primary college students found out that, colleges put more emphasis on class work than in sports and games (UNICEF, 2010).It was further revealed that only issues of improving the standards of education, staff welfare and discipline were discussed in staff meetings but nothing at all was brought on board on how to cultivate the skills and talents of students.This was because the primary college curriculum in Uganda was already crowded and there was no enough time and space to integrate LSE through co-curricular activities (UNICEF, 2010).A few teachers had little experience on participatory teaching and learning while the majority had difficulties in conducting co-curricular activities to teach life skills (UNICEF, 2010).
The Ministry of Education in Kenya has not been left behind in designing a curriculum which focuses on thematic learning approach through Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development which would equip students with important psycho-social skills through various educational programs such as co-curricular activities.Wachira (2011) noted that effective management of co-curricular activities build the students' creative thinking, critical thinking and problemsolving skills which transform students from a state of dependency to independency as well as making them to explore their talents.The effect of extracurricular activities on students in technical institutions justifies their existence and proper management in inner-city technical training institutions (YESA, 2012).In Kiambu County, the scenario is the same with many technical training institutions having low students' completion rates.According to Magondu (2011), despite the steady growth in completion rate in both secondary and technical training institutions, there are still a high number of students not completing their tertiary education.In other words, the issue of low completion and transition rates in technical training institutions remain some of the major challenges facing the education sector in technical training institutions in Kiambu County.A report by KIPPRA (2016), for example, shows that the completion rate from Form I to Form IV is above 85.0 per cent, while those who complete their tertiary education is 42.69 per cent.This is a worrying trend bearing in mind that, by 2015, the country was expected to meet the call for Education for All.Another report by Ministry of Education ( 2019) also indicates public technical training institutions in Kiambu County has registered low students' completion rates compared to national statistics as shown in Table 2; Data in Table 2 paint a picture of declining trend in the number of students who complete their tertiary education in Kiambu County.To mitigate this challenge, institutions have adopted a series of strategies such as co-curricular activities.However, in Kiambu County, these activities rarely exist to complement the colleges' academic curriculum, augment the students' educational experience and provide a setting for them to become involved and to interact with other students.Such involvement extends to broader community life which implies that the primary goal of extracurricular activities encapsulates the individual student, the institution and broader community (Uwezo, 2011).In general, the architecture of technical training institutions emphasizes sameness including standard timetables, age-graded classes, extracurricular participation and teacher expectations.However, much still needs to be done to interrogate the extent to which management of such co-curricular activities have contributed to the students' completion rates.

Statement of the Problem
Principals play an important role in the management of co-curricular activities such as planning.
That is, they ensure that the environment tis well-designed and materials for co-curricular activities are available.

Objective of the Study
The study sought to address the following objectives; 1. To assess the status of students' completion rates in public training institutions in Kiambu County; 2. To establish how principals' management of co-curricular activities influences students' completion rates in public technical training institutions in Kiambu County.

Theoretical Framework
The study was guided by a theory of supervisory practice which was postulated by Sergiovanni (1982).This theory states that a supervision system that is based on theoretical foundations and conforms to the guidelines for developing a theory of practice contributes to the implementation of curriculum objectives by the standards for quality instruction and specific teaching behaviors that correspond to the theoretical dimensions are identified to ensure that the results of the art instruction are well within the control of classroom tutors and are consistent with the theory of learning.This theory was designed to improve instruction and the quality of classroom life through the integration of scientific, artistic, and clinical supervision methods.
According to this theory, scientific methods are used to identify facts and descriptions of instruction by focusing on the observed behaviors of tutors and students.
The principals' role, as the supervisors, in initiating, implementing, and maintaining academic programmes in colleges is significant.In many learning institutions, supervision for the purpose of improving or managing accountable instruction is the responsibility of principals and classroom tutors.In the context of this study, this was relevant in that it provided the three aspects of instructional supervision for the principals namely directional, collegial and nondirectional approaches.This theory was applicable because the principal is the chief supervisor in colleges and has the responsibility to oversee all the educational processes for the purpose of achieving the academic goals of the colleges.This theory places the principal as the person who teaches truths about the absolute standards and provides direct control to tutors.In other words, supervision is developmental by nature hence principals encourage and involve tutors to plan for instructional supervision in the college.

Research and Knowledge Gaps
Empirical studies and those conducted in Kiambu County by Wachira (2011) established that co-curricular activities are more advantageous to the students in colleges and have a substantial impact on students' lives.However, much still needed to be done to interrogate the extent to which management of specific co-curricular activities (shown in the conceptual framework) has affected students' completion rates.

Independent Variables Dependent Variables
Intervening Variables

METHODOLOGY
The study adopted mixed methodology and concurrent triangulation research design.Target population comprised 30 principals, 578 tutors and 600 student leaders totaling to 1208 respondents from which 300 respondents was sampled using Yamane's Formula.Stratified sampling was adopted to create four strata based on different categories of TVETs in Kiambu County.From each category of TVET, four principals were selected using purposive sampling.However, from each category of TVET, 15 tutors and 56 student leaders were selected using simple random sampling.This enabled the researcher to sample 16 principals, 60 tutors and 224 student leaders.Questionnaires were used to collect data from tutors and student leaders whereas interview guides were used to collect data from principals.Documentary guide was used by the researcher.Qualitative data were analyzed thematically along the objectives and presented in narrative forms.Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
This section presents the findings of the study based on the objectives.It also outlines the methods of presentation of the study findings and discussions.

Response Rate
In this study, 224 questionnaires were distributed among student leaders, but 220 were successfully filled and returned.At the same time, 14 principals and 49 tutors were interviewed.These yielded response rates shown in Table 3; From Table 3, principals registered a response rate of 87.5%, tutors registered 81.7% whereas the student leaders registered a response rate of 98.2%.This yielded an average response rate of 94.3% which, according to Creswell (2014), is appropriate besides being of acceptable levels for generalization of the results to the target population.

Status of Students' Completion Rates in Public Technical Training Institutions
The study gathered information on students' completion rates (measured in percentages, %) from public technical training institutions.Results are shown in Table 4. Table 4 shows that, in 2016, most of the public technical training institutions (66.1%) registered students' completion rates ranging between 60-70, 27.8% registered students' completion rates ranging between 70-80, 1.3% between 80-90, 4.2% registered completion rates between 50-60 whereas a paltry 0.6% of the public technical training institutions in Kiambu County registered students' completion ranging between 90-100.This indicates that students' dropout rates were high since most of the public technical training institutions registered a completion rate of between 60-70%.In 2017, students' completion rates witnessed a slight increase in the rates with 32.9% for rates between 70-80, 3.4% for rates between 80-90 and 0.9% for rates between 90-100.There was also a decrease in the rates between 50-60(4.1%) and 59.6% for students' completion rates between 60-70.Similar trends have been witnessed in the subsequent years.
In 2018, slightly more than half (56.3%) of public technical training institutions registered students' completion rates ranging between 70-80, 31.8% for rates between 60-70, 6.7% for rates between 80-90, 1.4% for rates between 90-100 which represents an increase in students' completion rates.However, there was a decrease in the number of technical training institutions which registered low completion rates between 50-60(3.8%).The same trend was witnessed in 2019 and 2020 with a majority of technical training institutions (62.4% and 67.5%) registering students' completion rates ranging between 70-80 with a slight increase in completion rates ranging between 80-90 and 90-100.Thus, despite this progressive increase in the number of students who complete their college education, many public technical training institutions are yet to ensure that they achieve students' completion rates of over 90%.
This is despite the efforts put in place by government agencies to ensure that students who are enrolled complete their college education regardless of their socio-economic status and other dynamics.

Principals' Management of Co-curricular Activities in Technical Training Institutions
The research sought to establish how principals manage co-curricular activities and how such activities influence students' completion rates in public technical training institutions.Descriptive data were collected from student leaders and results are shown in Table 5; Table 5 reveals that half (55.0%) of the student leaders strongly agreed that principals public technical training institutions have not ensured that play environments are well-designed as did 8.6% who agreed.Only 4.1% were undecided, 10.5% disagreed whereas 21.8% disagreed strongly.A fair proportion (45.0%) of the student leaders strongly agreed that principals of public technical training institutions have not provided adequate resources for co-curricular activities whereas 9.1% agreed.However, 3.6% remained undecided, 30.1% disagreed whereas 12.2%) strongly disagreed.During the interviews, however, the principals responded on the contrary and stated that they have often that their institutions have well-designed playgrounds and are often well-maintained for students' safety and allocated resources for such activities.Principal, P1, stated; I have always ensured that my institution has well-designed play environments with a worker tasked to maintain them on a daily basis.Though resources may not be adequate as anticipated, I have always ensured that there is an allocation of the institutional budget for co-curricular activities.
Tutors also that, despite the financial constraints to provide state-of-the-art play environments, technical institutions have playgrounds where a number of co-curricular activities can be conducted.Tutor, T1, noted In my institution, though not up to standard, there is a playground where students undertake their outdoor and co-curricular activities and sometimes host neighbouring institutions for similar events.
Despite the varying views from the students and staff, these findings indicate how relevant play environments are for effective implementation of co-curricular activities in any learning institutions.These findings support the assertions of Dzansi (2012) that, to realize the objectives of co-curricular activities for cognitive and psychomotor growth of students, effective management of outdoor environment for playing is critical and thus, need to be enhanced.In other words, designing of play environments and provision of adequate resources for co-curricular activities are the key aspects of management responsible for the smoothrunning of various co-curricular activities.
The study revealed that 33.2% of the student leaders were in strong agreement that they have never seen any occasion where principals of public technical training institutions help in selection of co-curricular activities whereas 4.5% agreed.However, 5.9% were undecided, more than half (50.9%) disagreed whereas 5.5% strongly disagreed.In the same token, only a quarter (25.0%) of the student leaders were in strong concurrence that, in public technical training institutions, principals have not been effective in the management of co-curricular activities while 3.2% agreed.Most of them (60.0%)disagreed while 6.3% strongly disagreed.Similarly, only a paltry 27.3% of the student leaders strongly agreed that, while conducting instructional supervision, co-curricular activities is not often given a priority by principals of public technical training institutions whereas 7.7% agreed.However, 6.4% were undecided, more than half (51.8%) disagreed whereas 6.8% strongly disagreed.During the interviews, the principals and tutors agreed with the views expressed by majority of the student leaders that with regard to the management of co-curricular activities.The interviewees stated that principals have been at the forefront in ensuring that co-curricular activities are dutifully undertaken.Principal, P2, stated; I have always helped my students in selection of which co-curricular activities to participate in and facilitated such events.I have often provided resources for cocurricular activities, hired coaches to train students, participated in regional and national programmes and even hosted some of the co-curricular activities.
Similar views were expressed by the tutors who stated that principals in technical training institutions given a priority to co-curricular activities.Tutor, T2; In my institution, other than instructional activities, the next activity which is allocated a lot of time in co-curricular activities.There is even a tutor tasked with coordination of such programmes and prepare a budget for annual events.This indicates that, there might be minimal involvement of principals in the planning of cocurricular activities, they value co-curricular activities as key to the cognitive growth and development of students.These findings support the findings of a study carried out in Australia in which Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk (2011) found that management of co-curricular activities in college succeed or fail to realize effective development of social skills owing to the appropriate decisions and actions of those who are in charge of institution and are responsible for managing such activities.Wachira (2011) also noted that effective management of co-curricular activities builds students' creative thinking, critical thinking and problemsolving skills which transform students from a state of dependency to independency as well as making them to explore their talents.These findings affirm the fact that prudent management of co-curricular activities is crucial for it to contribute to the growth of students and eventual success in their education.

Inferential Analysis
To further ascertain the relationship between principals' management of co-curricular activities and students' completion rates, data were collected from the 14 technical institutions on the number of management activities for CCAs (designing environment, selection of CCAs, provision of materials, hiring of trainers and enrolling institutions in regional competitions) undertaken by each principal and students' completion rates from such institutions for the last five years (2017)(2018)(2019)(2020)(2021).Results are shown in Table 6; Table 6 shows that, in public technical institutions where principals fully participate in the management of co-curricular activities, students' completion rates are high.Hardman (2012) also notes that principals who prudently manage co-curricular activities ensure that students grow in their self-intelligence covering the physical, mental, social and emotional development.In such institutions, co-curricular activities have become a potential platform for the construction of generic skills to students, whose consequence is faster rates of completion of their education.The data above were run in the Pearson's Product Moment Correlation Test Analysis and results are shown in Table 7: Table 7 shows a Pearson Product Moment Correlation Test Analysis which generated correlation coefficients of r1 = 0.650, r2 = 0.553, r3 = 0.815, r4 = 0.664 and r5 = 0.560, with corresponding significant levels (p-values) of 0.012, 0.040, 0.000, 0.010 and 0.037 which were less than the predetermined level of significance, 0.05, that is, p-value = 0.012, 0.040, 0.000, 0.010 and 0.037<0.05.Thus, the data shows there is significant influence of principals' management of co-curricular activities on students' completion rates in public technical training institutions.The results further indicate that the role of effective management of cocurricular activities in improving students' completion rates in technical training institutions cannot be wished way.Activities undertaken by principals such as designing of play environments, selection of CCAs, provision of resources, hiring of trainers and ensuring that institutions take part in competitions, contribute considerably to the rates at which students complete their tertiary education.

Conclusion
From the study findings, dropout rates among students in public technical training institutions have been high which has led to fluctuating students' completion rates.Though there has been a progressive increase in the number of students who complete their college education, many public technical training institutions are yet to ensure that they achieve students' completion rates of over 90%.The study further established that principals play a key role in the management of co-curricular activities and how such activities influence students' completion rates in public technical training institutions.Such activities include designing play environments, selection of CCAs, provision of resources, hiring of coaches and ensuring participation in regional competitions.However, the study revealed that most principals are rarely involved in the actual planning of CCAs but appreciate the value of such activities in the wholistic growth and development of students.

Recommendations
The study recommends that principals should ensure that duration set in the time tables are utilized for quality teaching not just checking the times for arrival in class and when one leaves.Principals should continue allocating more resources for improving infrastructure for cocurricular activities.This may go along in partnering with other statehooders to provide resources for the same and better the quality of facilities meant for CCAs in public technical training institutions.

Figure 1 :
Figure 1: The Conceptual Framework Source: Researcher (2023) technical training institutions have not ensured that play environments are well-designed 55.0 8.6 4.1 10.5 21.8 Principals of public technical training institutions have not provided adequate resources for co-curricular activities 45.0 9.1 3.6 30.1 12.2 Student leaders have never seen any occasion where principals of public technical training institutions help in selection of co-curricular activities 33.2 4.5 5.9 50.9 5.5 In public technical training institutions, principals have not been effective in the management of co-curricular activities 25.0 3.2 5.5 60.0 6.3While conducting instructional supervision, cocurricular activities are not often given a priority by principals of public technical training institutions 27.3 7.7 6.4 51.8 6.8

Table 1 : Global Students' Completion Rates in Technical Training Institutions from 2015 to 2018
Source: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) (2019)Table1indicates that effective management of co-curricular activities plays a crucial in improving students' progression in tertiary institutions and colleges.

Table 2 : Students' Completion Rates in Public Technical Training Institutions in Kenya and Kiambu County from 2015 to 2018
However, in Kiambu County, students' completion rates in technical training institutions are low.KIPPRA (2016) indicates that the completion rates in technical training institutions in Kiambu County is 10.69%.As indicated in Table 2, completion rates among students in public technical training institutions in Kiambu County are on a downward trend.Despite these statistics, few empirical studies have interrogated the extent to which principals' management of co-curricular activities influence students' completion rates in technical training institutions, hence the need for this study.
Provision of play materials as frequencies and percentages and inferentially using Pearson's Product Moment Correlation Analysis with the help of Statistical Packages for Social Sciences and presented by using tables.

Table 7 : Relationship between Number of Management of CCAs Undertaken by Principals and Students' Completion Rates (%) in Public Technical Training Institutions
Number of Management of CCAs Undertaken by Principals; B, C, D, E and F-Students' Completion Rates (%) for the Years 2017 to 2021 respectively.