Challenges Facing School Head Teachers’ Roles in the Implementation of Home Grown School Feeding Programmes in Makueni County, Kenya

Abstract

The Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP) is an initiative to provide locally purchased, nutritious food to schoolchildren.  There is documented literature on HGSFP but  there are limited studies on the roles and challenges facing school head teachers in the programme implementation. This study explored challenges facing head teachers roles in the in the implementation of HGSFP in Makueni County. The study was carried out with school head teachers in Makindu Sub County, in Makueni County. This study location and study participants were purposively selected. The inclusion criteria for this study were all school head teachers in all ( 27) schools implementing HGSFP in Makindu Sub-County. However only three school head teachers voluntarily agreed to participate in this study, and therefore purposively sampled. The study used cross sectional study design and interview guides to collect qualitative data. Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with head teachers from school implementing HGSFP were conducted by the principal researcher. Data from KIIs was coded, and then organized into themes using Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) Miner Lite software.  Findings from this study showed that; school head teachers served as the managers, accountants, and procurement officers for the HGSFP and were facing  challenges of payment delays and unpaid bills of food supplies, lengthy procurement processes, inadequate and low-quality food supply, and overwhelming responsibilities. Insights from this investigation on challenges facing the role of head teachers in the implementation of HGSFP in Makueni County can be key in making changes to the feeding programme processes.

Keywords: head teachers, roles, challenges, homegrown, school feeding, proramme

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-19-03

Publication date:July 31^st 2023