CHALLENGES OF STRATEGIC PLAN DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION IN SIDAMA REGION GOVERNMENT SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

The main purpose of the study was to investigate the practice and challenges of development and implementation of strategic plan in government secondary schools of Sidama Region. Accordingly, to achieve this objective explanatory sequential mixed method design was employed. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to identify and select the major data sources of the study. Means; purposive sampling for school leaders, supervisors and woreda education office expert while, simple random techniques for teachers and school strategic planning team. The study included 31 school leaders (6 principals, 6 vice principals, 13 department heads, 6 unit leaders), 77 teachers, 9 school strategic planning teams( PTA and students), 5 school supervisors, 5 woreda education office expert as main data sources. Questionnaires, interview, focus group discussion and document analysis were major instruments used for data gathering. The quantitative data obtained through the above instruments were analyzed using descriptive statics (frequency, mean, standard division) and independent – sample t – test and qualitative data were analyzed qualitatively to substantiate the result of quantitative data. The finding of this study indicated that the existing practice of development and implementation of school’s strategic plan was poor due to: low participation of school’s strategic planning stakeholders (teachers, students, parents, and principals), poor monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, lack of commitment, conducting very poor SWOT analysis of school and lack of giving and taking feedback process. As a result it is concluded that:- lack of meaningful participation of stakeholders, inadequacy of strategic plan monitoring and evaluation, inadequacy assessment of school SWOT analysis was observed. Finally, it is recommended that the school leaders should enhancing stakeholders participation, the school leaders, supervisors, school strategic planning teams and woreda education office providing hierarchal strategic plan monitoring and evaluation system and school leaders take a core point about SWOT analysis methods that to be occurred.