Abstract:
Decision-making is an important set of skills that principals needed in the management of
schools. These skills are particularly useful when dealing with student indiscipline. The study
examined the relationship between principals’ decision-making skills and their ability to manage
student discipline among secondary schools in Bomet County, Kenya. The study was descriptive
survey by design. The target population was 572, constituting of 5 Sub-County Education
Directors, 189 principals and 189 deputy principals and 189 senior teachers. A sample size of
239 respondents, consisting of 78 principals, 78 deputy principals and 78 senior teachers
proportionally distributed and all the 5 Sub-County Education Directors, was obtained using
Yamane’s formula. Simple random sampling and purposive sampling were utilised to select
respondents. Data was then collected using a structured questionnaire and an interview schedule.
Interview data was subjected to content analysis while quantitative data was analysed using
SPSS version 24 to generate descriptive statistics. The results of the study revealed that
principals’ decision-making skills had a positive and significant effect on the management of
student discipline in public secondary schools (β4= 0.261, p=0.005). Therefore, key decision-
making skills such as focusing on relevant details, working cohesively with teachers and
students, reasoning, considering all available and relevant data, instincts, teamwork, emotional
intelligence, brainstorming and organizational skills, among others, helped principals to better
address student indiscipline problems in schools. It is therefore recommended that school
administrators and teachers should enforce school policies consistently to promote positive
student behaviour. School principals and teachers should be trained on how to enforce these
policies and respond appropriately to disciplinary issues that arise in the schools. This will help
create a positive learning environment and promote student discipline.
