School Infrastructure Policy Interpretation: Consistencies and Variations among Headteachers and District Education Officers

The study sought to demystify the consistencies and variances in school infrastructure policy interpretation. A cross-sectional survey, guided by pragmatism and using mixed methods of inquiry, the study targeted 920 headteachers and 82 District Education Officers (DEO). The representative sample was 279 respondents apportion proportionately as 257 headteachers and 22 DEOs. Multistage sampling was used. Headteachers filled questionnaires while DEOs were interviewed. The questionnaire was pilot tested on 28 headteachers. Cronbach alpha was used to ensure reliability while peer review and pilot testing ensured validity. Responses were received from 247 head teachers and 20 DEOs. Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data while descriptive statistics were used to analyse quantitative data. The two sets of data were merged at the interpretation stage. School infrastructure policy exist in different documents but, is well understood, unambiguous, easy to apply and headteachers have a positive perception of it. The study recommends that the current school infrastructure policy that is spread over different documents be put together into one policy document for better communication, ease of reference and use.