Abstract:
The academic performance of the most private and public secondary schools
in Kenya has indicated rapid decline, which has hindered the learning
institutions from achieving their set goals. The deteriorated performance may
be attributed to several factors, such as insufficient resources. One vital
mechanism to be employed by the schools in achieving good performance is
the effective utilization of institutional resources. However, there is limited
literature on to what extent institutional resources availability can improve
the performance of secondary schools. On this note, the paper sought to
examine the relationship between institutional resources availability and
academic performance of Catholic-sponsored secondary schools in Kericho
Diocese, Kenya. The study was anchored on resource-based theory. A
correlational research design was employed, and the target population was
comprised of 789 graduate teachers. Stratified random sampling was also
used to determine a sample size of 266 respondents. Primary data was
obtained by use of a structured questionnaire. Quantitative data were
analysed using correlation and regression analysis and presented using
frequency tables. The findings from the study revealed a statistically
significant relationship between institutional resources availability and
academic performance of Catholic-sponsored secondary schools (R = 0.659;
β = 0.223; p < 0.05). The study results indicated that institutional resources
availability influenced Catholic-sponsored secondary schools’ performance
by 67.2% (R2 = 0.672). Therefore, the study recommends that secondary
schools effectively utilize institution resources to implement the strategic
plan, which will improve their performance.
