Influence of Availability of Resources on Completion of Construction Projects in Public Secondary Schools in Bungoma County, Kenya

Abstract

The paper aimed to determine influence of availability of resources on completion of construction projects in public secondary schools in Bungoma County, Kenya, informed by construction management and soft value management theories. The study employed purposive sampling technique in choosing 461study respondents (Principals and Chairpersons of Parents Teachers Association) who were purposively sampled to ensure homogeneity of the selected sample in ensuring that samples are drawn from each region encompassed in the target population, then followed by simple random sampling technique from each sub county. Questionnaires and interview schedules were the main data collection instruments. Data analysis involved use of statistical package for social sciences, SPSS version 21 too where both descriptive and inferential statistics were used. Cronbach Alpha of coefficient of 0.927 was attained on all constructs of availability of resources, which was above 0.7 as recommended by Cronbach (1951) implying the research instruments were reliable. The correlation coefficient (R) or the beta value β of 0.577≠0 at p=0.00 indicated that the hypothesis was accepted. The coefficient of determination, R-square of 0.333 implied that 33.3% of the variance in completion of construction projects was explained by availability of resources. From the study findings, availability of resources namely funds for school construction, unavailability and or shortage of equipment and workers interferes with project quality and hinders project progress. The study concludes that availability of resources positively influences completion of construction projects. Availability of funds for school construction projects is necessary for their completion and delay in construction project funds interferes with project completion. Availability of materials and workers for school construction projects hastens project work. The current study was done in public secondary schools in Bungoma County. Future studies are encouraged to be done in both private and public secondary schools in the whole country and compare the results. In addition, the research concentrated on education sector. Future research is encouraged to cover other sectors and compare the findings. The findings are of importance to the Ministry of Education in Kenya and other interested parties in future. Future research have the basis of reference from this study.

Key words: Availability of resources, Completion of construction projects, Public Secondary schools.