The Education Act (1968) defines a manager as 'any person or body of persons responsible for the management and conduct of a school,' and includes a Board. The Act, read together with the Teachers Service Commission Act, Cap. 212, confers on the Minister of Education extensive powers over the management and regulation of education in Kenya. The two acts give the minister extensive latitude to delegate his powers to local authorities, District Education Boards or Boards of Governors.

Tertiary institutions and public secondary schools are administered by boards of governors appointed by the Minister whereas primary schools are managed by school committees appointed by local authorities. The boards and committees are responsible for the hire and remuneration of support and subordinate staff in public schools. The boards also act as the custodians and trustees of the movable and immovable property of their respective schools. The principals and headmasters of these institutions serve as the secretaries and executive officers to the boards of governors or school committees as the case may be.

The Public Procurement and Disposal Act (2005) grants teachers the power to control the tendering and procurement process in public schools. The Teachers' Service Commission Act allows the Teachers Service Commission to delegate its powers relating to the hiring, control and discipline of teachers to Boards of Governors inter alia. The disbursement and utilisation of government funds under the Free Primary Education (FPE) and Free Secondary Education (FSE) programmes is subject to the provisions of the Government Financial Management Act (2004). The boards of governors are mandated by the Education Act to audit and regulate expenditure by the administration to ensure that all income received by the school is applied to the promotion of its objects. These statutes presume that members of the boards of governors and teachers are knowledgeable in law, human resources management, supply chain management, accounting and project management. Unfortunately, these skills are not present in the administration of many public schools.

The Ministry of Education continues to employ archaic techniques in its administration of education institutions. The tools for the management and evaluation of public education institutions have remained static despite the rapid technological, socio-cultural and economic changes in the country. Management organs such as boards of governors are constituted to include representatives of the communities served by the school, persons representing the voluntary body, if any, which founded the school (or its successor), and any other persons or representatives of bodies or organizations that, in the opinion of the Minister, should be included. But there are no definite criteria enumerating the skills necessary for appointment to a board. Service on school boards is not remunerated; consequently most professionals avoid it. The result is that most public schools are managed by old and unenergetic retirees, semi-literate businesspeople, or other semi-skilled non-professionals; often ignorant of elementary law or the basic concepts of public finance, human resource management and organizational management. In most public schools in rural Kenya, a managerial gap has ensued.

Parents typically oppose a school administration if they perceive it to be incompetent, opaque, or unaccountable. Students demonstrate their disenchantment in more insidious ways. Initially it was possible to conceal such managerial ineptitude through authoritarian leadership. Before the enactment of the Children's Act (2001) school heads would use actual or threats of corporal punishment to forestall complaints from students. This explains why the protests became more pronounced and dangerous since the use of corporal punishment in schools was abolished and replaced with guidance and counselling.  Incompetent school boards are a major source of discontent among students and parents, which is why it is surprising that the Education Act is so inexplicably lenient: suspension and forced resignation are the only penalties the minister can impose on an errant board.

Apart from appointing representatives to the board, religious organisations, which founded and continue to sponsor most public schools in Kenya, play a peripheral role in managing the schools. Since they can play a complementary role in guiding and counselling adolescent students, they should get more involved. Religious leaders exercise both temporal and spiritual authority and can exert significant moral pressure on delinquent students to infuse behavioural change.

While parents are quick to blame the school administration when things go wrong, they also shy away from practical involvement in the management of institutions; being content to play the perfunctory roles of paying school fees, electing Parents Teachers Association (PTA) representatives, and attending annual general meetings once a year. Parents should get actively involved and support the school administration in matters of enforcing discipline. 

There is a dire need to change the training curriculum for teachers to include new subjects which will equip teachers with elementary working knowledge of accounting, planning, financial management and project management. The Ministry of Education should also develop criteria for the appointment of members of boards of governors and create standard project monitoring and evaluation tools for managers of public schools.  It is important for the government, parents, school managers and educationists to review the current system of managing public institutions to attract more professionals and allow full and equitable participation by all the stakeholders. 

None of these tasks, obviously, will be smooth - the alternative is worse.