ICT Adoption in the Educational Management of Primary Schools in Kenya

Abstract

Information Communication Technology (ICT) plays an important role in enhancing the quality of education. The adoption of ICT for educational management in developed countries has significantly transformed the education sector in terms of data storage, resource management, and decision making. In African countries, initially, the use of ICT in management of schools was low compared to other fields such as business and engineering, however, in recent times, school managers have embraced ICT in the education sector. In the case of Kenya, through the ministry of education, the Kenyan government has made deliberate attempts to encourage the use of ICT to revolutionize the management of schools, which is evident through the introduction of National Education Management Information System (NEMIS), putting in place an ICT policy and creation of institutional websites. However, very few primary schools have effectively adopted ICT for management with a majority using it for teaching and learning. This is attributed to a myriad of challenges facing most schools and consequently resulting in slow and low adoption rates despite its promise and potential for improving educational management in schools. As such, this paper analyses the slowness that has surrounded the adoption of ICT in the management of Kenyan schools. The focus is on the benefits of introducing ICT in educational management, the current status of ICT adoption in educational management in Kenya and barriers to the adoption of ICT in educational management of primary schools in Kenya.