Published Paper Details:

Kenya government�s interest is realized in TVET institutions evident in enhanced support by way of funding for projects and increased enrolment, training of TVET tutors and management , and formation of TVETA, to fill the job skills gap towards Vision 2030. However, one component that has been overlooked is student leadership that links TVET management with the beneficiaries, the students, for focused operations towards individual specific TVET institutional goals. This is evident in student unrest and uncoordinated activities which together lead to general failure to achieve expected outcomes. In unravelling the underlying courses, it was realized that overally, less than 3% of students apply for consideration for leadership, only 15% of them were formerly students� council members in their high schools hence 85% had no formal institutional leadership experience. Therefore administrative vetting for appropriateness based on academic performance and discipline records does not result in quality contestants due to the small size of the pool of applicants from which to qualify candidates for election campaign. Despite the enticing monetary allowances and other non-monetary incentives for students� council membership, a preliminary survey revealed that out of the 81 TVET students (formerly high school students� council members) only 39(48%) would wish to serve in college leadership position. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish the extent to which high school students� council membership experience was a motivator for seeking student leadership in TVET institutions in Lake Region. The study was based on optimal anticipation model of decision making (Gollier & Muermann, 2010). The population consisted of 12 Deputy Principals (Administration) and 81 TVET students (formerly high school students� council members). Census method was used to select 10 Deputy Principals (Administration) and 71 TVET students (formerly high school students� council members). Instruments of data collection were questionnaire for 71 TVET students, and interview for 10 Deputy Principals and 20 TVET students(formerly high school students� council members). Validity of instruments was ensured by subjecting the tools to expert scrutiny while reliability was established through test-re-test method for 2 Deputy Principals and 10 TVET students whereby Pearson-r of 0.7 and above at a p-value of 0.05 was considered acceptable. The study finding was that there was a statistically significant positive relationship between high school students� council membership experience and motivation for seeking student leadership in TVET institutions. One way ANOVA revealed that at F = 0.106, df = 71, with a significance level of 0.042 at a p-value of 0.05, the set hypothesis that there was no relationship between the 2 variables was rejected. Therefore, the curriculum should include a compulsory leadership training course for all students at the initial stages after admission into TVET institutions given that TVET institutions have no control of the high school experience. The findings can be significant for TVETA in coordination and supervision, TVET curriculum designers and TVET management in ensuring availability of appropriate management skills and attitudes for students seeking student leadership in TVET institutions.