ABSTRACT

Most Secondary Schools in developing nations still yearn for management that can create a conducive environment for academic and research activities to thrive. In other to be a productive and prosperous, secondary school should be administrative by creative mind that are willing, through consensus to build and experiment with often untested idea and offer a variety of management styles. The current regimented nature of administration at engineering college and universities in some developing nations are obstacles to engaging rich and imaginative knowledge creation and developing the amino purpose of the existence of schools. The majority of people who play the most critical role in the management of schools in developing countries lack modern management traits that are important for such position and are rarely top academics, yet such person are commonly entrusted with management academic institution. The article focuses, in general, in managerial practices the inhabit the growth of secondary school in developing countries. The author present some recommendations of the best practices that managing of the need for good management in secondary school.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

According to Unugbro A. O. (2004) the most successful secondary school (HI) today are those that are translating modern management theories into practical action rather continuing to depend upon traditional individual management experience, trail and error method. Recent year have witness the failure of many secondary school (HI) both private and public academic not because they are worthless because they are poorly manage. According to Boyd and king (1983) education is a powerful instrument in transformation and modernization of society a commitment to the belief has characterized by intensive effort to extremely expansion of educational system opportunity have resulting phenomenal increase in higher number of school and in the study of environment of the students.

Education they say brings out the beauty in man, beauty in terms of behaviour, intellectual prowess, physical abilities, attitudes and values in conformity with approved and acceptable norms in the society. Educated individuals, therefore, will behave orderly, think independently, be creatively, critically, analytically and advance better probable solutions among other attributes, and also appreciate the value system of the society.

Several definitions and opinions of the concept education have been postulated by the classical, liberal, humanistic and utilitarian scholars with a nexus that learning, acquisition of skills, transmission of civilization and it’s values, critical and creative thinking is the hallmark of education whether formal or informal. Accordingly, Ehindero, Aladejana and Jegede (2009:12) define education as a process of critical, analytical and continuous re-assessment, readjustment and rediscovery of self, society and culture in the total contexts of life and living”. Education should enable those who consume it learn marketable skills to earn a job, learn to think, have an informed decision making which is cognizance of moral ethics as the component of life. It also entails personal development, and not just knowledge orientation or vocational. Relatedly, education is a process of providing knowledge, skills, competence or desirable qualities of behaviour or character being so provided especially in a formal course of study, institution or training (Akpa, 2002). Education goes on all through one’s life, deepening and broadening one’s vision with expectant benefits to him as a person and the entire society. The individual’s advancement in education is without doubt improved knowledge, skills and capacities on which the roots of development are anchored. The development of society is therefore couched on the level of its educational attainment. Martin Luther King Jr is quoted by Akpa (2002:25) as saying “The prosperity of a country depends not on the abundance of its revenues nor in the strength of its fortification. It consists in the number of its cultivated citizens in its men and women enlightenment and character”. The natural resources are mobilized, exploited to create a market by the humans. Thus economic development of any society begins with the mind of men and not with goods through education, organization and discipline (Udoh and Akpa 2001). Without education, all other resources remain latent untapped potentials; thus it is an indisputable tool for national development.

Deriving from this uncontestable important role of education, the Nigerian philosophy of education is tailored to give the learner a training that would equip him for self-reliance and meaningful contribution to political, economic and socio-cultural development of the state. In line with the Nigerian philosophy, the secondary education is fashioned on the base of preparing the individual for useful living within the society and for the pursuance of higher education. The Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004) defined secondary education as that form of education children receive after primary education and before the tertiary stage. Specifically, it has a planned diversified curriculum to cater for the differences in talents, opportunities and future role among other objectives. Secondary education is expected to groom the individual culturally, scientifically, technologically and commercially. It is to expose the school leaver to be creative and critical, and opportunities to acquire reasonable skills among other benefits.

However, as laudable as the objectives of secondary education seems to be, There are indications that the achievement of these goals are far from being reached from being jobless school leavers and poor performance at external examinations. The secondary schools have been besieged by a lot of challenges which are administrative, political, socio-cultural, demographic, environmental, economical, and technological and so on. This research is set to determine the effects of administrative problems on the management of secondary schools and goals achievement. Two administrative problems will be examined to see the extent to which they have affected the delivery of secondary school objectives. These are students’ population explosion, and information and communication technology (ICT). The secondary schools have suffered a pathetic population explosion which has affected proper implementation of its programmes which in turn has affected the achievement of its basic objectives. 

 Additionally, available statistics show that the pupil and students population in schools have increased progressively over the years. Consequently the secondary school is characterized by overcrowded classrooms, inadequate seats, ill-equipped laboratories and libraries, overcrowded students hostels and other facilities. Without qualitative and quantitative inputs to the increased number, it is difficult to give out quality products. 

 Equally problematic is the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the contemporary society of ours in dictating the pace of development. Communication facilities like telephone, fax, e-mail and computer network has turned the world unto a global village. A simple press of a knob and information and knowledge is made available in seconds. ICT provides ready access to information and knowledge acquisition and application wherever it is found. The speed, accuracy and neat processing and retrieval of information cannot be ignored. The effect of ICT cuts across all human endavours and as such education cannot be an exception. Ada (2011) posits that effective management of education requires effective use of ICT. Lack of ICT facilities in schools has hindered the implementation of Nigerian educational reforms to comply with the trends in economic, social and politics of the 21st century, as the number of computer illiterates buttress to this fact. Explosion of students’ enrolment in schools without corresponding resources in terms of qualified teachers, funds, school facilities has affected the smooth transmission of knowledge in secondary schools. Lack of adequate financial resources to education is a nagging problem as the level of other inputs suffers set back, and in turn influences the level of quality. The failure of secondary education to produce quality graduate to be self reliant and pursue higher education has defeated its strategic position as an anchor of accelerated national development.

Unfortunately, the problems of staffing, planning, communication, directing and controlling in area of professional personnel, lack of facilities if the environment to be a conducive atmosphere, inadequate of institutional material, problems of administration strategies (RAS) higher population, finance and political reason (FAPR) have being apparent for the desire to lesson the effectiveness of their impediment in the teaching and learning process. In this era of technology (EOT) it is an advantage to introduce it to in other to promote the secondary school training and other scientific approach on the teaching industries.

Along side of this regards, secondary school  that is located at Edo State district with many confront with the problem of management as such secondary school in more generously the problem of management has become a complex task in higher institution. Due to social and economic change that is taking place in the complied with the over increment in knowledge and dynamic method of doing things. (This topic is therefore design to examine the problems of secondary school management).

STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS

The essence of education is in the expected benefits to the learner and society. The educated individual is self-sustaining creative, analytical and critical of issues, objective in reasoning, and most importantly he contributes better to development projects of the society. Education involves a process by which the mind is not only opened to new horizons but also disciplined to make critical evaluations and to tolerate ambiguity. The inability of the learner to exhibit these attributes upon completion of a certain level of education defeats the essence of such an education which the secondary school leaver appears to be.

 Secondary schools in Zone A Educational District of Benue State have been confronted by challenges in multi-dimensional facets. Challenges of explosion of students population, inadequate and decaying and nonexistent school facilities as well as unavailable information and communication technology (ICT) in schools among others. The populations of students in schools are far and above the capacity of such schools, which exhibit overcrowded classrooms, high level of teacher/student ratio which makes effective monitoring and supervision of teaching less effective. Inadequate and decaying school facilities have continued to stare in the face of managers as pressure is high on them and grossly insufficient to accommodate the teaming number. Lack of information and communication technology (ICT) facilities (internet, satellite cable television, the video and digital communication) is a serious challenge which deserves a quick and functional solution that would place the teacher and the educational manager of the 21st century in the utilization of ICT to function effectively in the classroom and school system.

 These challenges have so affected the secondary school so much such that the credibility of its certificate is becoming doubtful. The secondary school is endangered. It is fast loosing its relevance and value as its underlying aims and objectives within the overall National development objectives are being defeated. It is against this background, that the research is set to determine the effects of administrative problems on the management of secondary schools and the attainment of its aims and objectives.

RESEARCH QUESTION

The following research questions formulated guided the study.

1What is the effect of population explosion on the management of secondary schools in Zone A Educational District of Benue State?

2. In What ways have information and communication technology affected the management of secondary schools?

THE OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main purpose of the study is to find out the effects of administrative problems on the management of secondary schools in Zone A educational District of Benue State. Specifically the study sought to:

1.       Investigate the effect of population explosion of students in schools on the management of secondary schools in Zone A Educational District of Benue State.

2.       Findout the effect of information and communication technology on the management of secondary schools.

Research Hypotheses 

The following research hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance 

1.       There is no significant effect of population explosion of students on the management of secondary school in Zone A Educational District of Benue State.

There is no significant effect of Information and Communication Technology on the management of secondary schools.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Fundamentally, the result of the research and recommendations will be of value to the Educational Stakeholders (i.e. The Ministry of Education, Educational Agencies and Policy Makers). The research findings will bring out the effects of students population explosion, and information communication technology (ICT) on the management of secondary schools, and effective teaching and learning with the view that stakeholders will improve on the study variables. The research findings will bring to the fore the importance of ICT to the management of schools, teachers and students. The availability of ICT facilities provides access to current information in audio, graphic, a wide range of various manipulated multi-media form which enhances teaching and learning with better performance and effective management.

The study will improve other study and standard of research work. The study will be important to research students working on the related topic. The study when successfully completed will be of valuable to the education planner.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Management: This is a group of people that come together and put the effort to achieve the objective of the institution

Population: The number of people that are in the school environment

School: This is the geographical area when learning takes place

Society: This is a group of people living in an area of land that have common interest, believe and share ideal

Educationist: This is the scholar in the academic career.

Effectiveness: The application of skill and knowledge

Problem: Barrier

Staff: These are the intellectual and skill lecturers in the school