The Rights and Equitable Treatment of Shareholders in Early Childhood Education (ECE) Management in Bahati Division, Kenya

Globally, the desire to establish whether schools are applying principles of corporate governance in managing school affairs is of importance. Proper application of corporate principals enables achievement of stated goals in management of ECE. This study sought to examine the rights and equitable treatment of shareholders in early childhood education (ECE) management have in Bahati Division Nakuru County, Kenya. This allowed identification of standards and norms with which to compare the stakeholders involvement in proper management of ECE in the Division. This eventually impacts curriculum implementation. The target population was 41 ECE centers in Bahati Sub-County and 123 teachers in the same area. A sample of 10 pre-school teachers, 10 pre-school head teachers and 10 pre-school committee members was taken for the study. A pilot study was carried out on a different set of respondents to better plan for the research. The test-retest procedure was used for testing reliability and it yielded favorable results to warrant reliance on the data collected and its findings. Qualitative and quantitative data was obtained through questionnaires. This was further analyzed and presented through narratives, tables and graphs. The study revealed majority of Pre-School teachers in Bahati, Nakuru North sub-county felt that preventing conflicts of interest influenced the establishment of rights and equitable treatment of shareholders with regard to ECE management, recording a mean of 2.9090 whereas a standard deviation of 1.37510 was recorded from the respondents. The school board should make known the legal and regulatory requirements to key personnel in the schools under study in order to ensure they appreciate and adhere to principals of corporate governance. In agreement with Crawford (2007), the management ought to be able to fulfill its duties and responsibilities irrespective of those who do not act in accordance to stated guidelines. The study recommends the Involvement offal stakeholders in all aspects of the management of ECE as a way of observing adherence to principals of corporate governance.