Mentorship and Internship in Training of Employees for Performance in Public Junior Secondary Schools in Kenya

Junior secondary schools’ employees’ pedagogical knowledge is limited due to restrained application of disciplinary competence, psycho-pedagogical competence, physical competence and methodical competence which affect their performance, hence the need for constant training. The researchers established the effect of mentorship and internship on employee performance in public junior secondary schools in Trans Nzoia East Sub County, Kenya. The study was anchored on Balanced Score Card Model. Descriptive research design was used and the target population was 423 Teachers service commission employees who comprised 417 junior secondary schools’ employees, five curriculum support officers and teachers service commission Sub County Director. To arrive at a sample of 204, Yamane formula was used. There were six teachers service commission officers hence a census was used. Stratified & simple random sampling method was utilized in choosing research participants. The researcher gathered primary data by structured questionnaire thereby producing quantitative data & qualitative data. Pilot study using 19 employees and two teachers’ service commission officers was done in Trans Nzoia West Sub County to determine validity of research instrument. Internal consistency method was adopted in determining reliability using Cronbach Alpha method. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics with the aid of statistical package of social sciences. Descriptive statistics included the use of mean & standard deviation while inferential statistics utilized correlation analysis & multi regression analysis. The quantitative data results were shown in tables while the qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. The study findings indicated that mentorship and internship had significant effect on employee performance in public junior secondary schools in Kenya. In conclusion mentorship and internship were crucial in determining employee performance. The researchers recommend that there is need for Teacher Service Commission to collaborate with ministry of education in Kenya to formulate training policies meant to address workplace culture and offer specialized training for teachers selected as mentors. These mentors ought to be equipped with essential skills so as to provide professional guidance, emotional support, and constructive feedback to their mentees.