Abstract:
This study sought to document educational life experiences of juveniles in Kabete Boys’
Rehabilitation center and Dagoretti Girls’ Rehabilitation center, with an intention to create
information on the selected factors related to effective management of formal education in
juvenile centers in Kenya. The objectives were to; examine whether the rehabilitation center
administrators have the required professional qualification and ability for effective
management of formal education, assess whether the rehabilitation centers have the required
professionally trained teachers with the ability for effective management of formal education,
determine whether the rehabilitation centers have the required physical infrastructure that can
facilitate effective management of formal education and ascertain whether the rehabilitation
center administrators are provided with adequate teaching and learning resources for effective
management of formal education. System theory in educational administration, social learning
theory and managerial leadership in education theory guided the study. The study used a case
study research design. The target population was 144 juvenile delinquents, 13 welfare officers,
18 class teachers and 4 school administrators. A sample size of 122 juvenile delinquents, 13
welfare officers, 18 class teachers and 4 center administrators were selected through stratified
random sampling making it a total of 157 respondents. The data collection instruments were
questionnaires, interview schedules and personal observation that were piloted in Shikusa
rehabilitation center in Kakamega. The validity of the research instruments was determined by
consulting experts in the department of Curriculum and Educational Management. Reliability
of the instruments was assessed using test re-test reliability technique and the study obtained a
reliability coefficient of 0.7 that met the threshold for educational research. Data was analyzed
using descriptive statistics using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.
The findings showed that majority of the administrators had no training in leadership and
management, majority of the teachers had not undergone training on curriculum
implementation and workshops on improvisation of teaching and learning resources, there
were inadequate classrooms and libraries and none of the centers had all textbooks for all
subjects. It is hoped that the findings of the study will useful to the staff working in the
juvenile rehabilitation centers, parents of juvenile delinquents, curriculum developers and
Ministry of Education, science and technology as it reveals the specific factors related to
effective management of formal education in the juvenile centers in Kenya.
