DATA MANAGEMENT PRACTICES OF SECONDARY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS IN NSUKKA EDUCATION ZONE OF ENUGU STATE

ABSTRACT
This study was designed to investigate data management practices of secondary school administrators in Nsukka Education Zone of Enugu State. The study employed descriptive survey research design. The population comprised 58 principals and 2004 teachers. The entire population of the principals were used and 2004 teachers were sampled for the study using multistage sampling technique. Three research questions were used to guide the study. The instrument used for data collection was questionnaire. The instruments consisted of twenty two (22) items questionnaires titled Data Management Questionnaire. The instrument was analyzed using mean and standard deviation for the research questions. The results of the data analysis revealed that the major ways adopted by the school administrators in management of data include use of computer, CD Rom, Microfilm, microfiche, flash disc, test scores and questionnaire. Constraints to data management include requisite knowledge of managing data, lack of data storage, epileptic power supply and inadequate fund etc. Moreso, strategies that could be employed to enhance the utilization of data include refresher courses, administrators should be computer literate, equipment for storage and retrieval should made available etc. Based on the above findings a number of recommendations were made that: Administrators should be trained on the aspect of managing data like filling. All the departments and units in our schools and board should avoid inflation of data. There should be a laid down rule on how data should be collected, stored and managed to ensure its management.

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Before 1970, voluntary agencies and the missions had the
upper hand in the control and management of education in Nigeria.
As soon as the Nigerian Biafran Civil War ended in 1970, the
government of then East Central State was anxious that schools in
the war devastated parts of the country should quickly become
functional and went ahead to enact the Public Education Edict of
1970.  By  this  edict,  government  took  over  the  control  and
supervision of all schools within the state. According to Okonkwo,
(2003:19), the Edict, among other things defined the terms for:

Setting up state schools’ management
boards for the purpose of managing
primary and post primary schools; the
relationship between the Ministry of
Education (solely responsible for
planning, supervision, evaluation and
control) and the new school boards;
the management  of schools with
regard to issues of systems, structure,
types of schools, teachers, curriculum,
inspections among others .

The  secondary Education  Board  recently  called  Post Primary
School Management Board is a corporate body established by the
public Education Edict of 1970. It is the aim of the Ministry of
Education which has statutory functions of achieving the national objectives of education through data management.

In recent years, educational development in Nigeria has witnessed a lot of set backs due to non-availability of data or lack of authenticity where available, (Eze, 2009). According to Durosaro (2008) data are numerical measures of phenomenon and they are used in the process of scientific decision-making. The planning and management of any nation’s educational system depends steadily on the quality of data collection, analysis and storage and retrieval. Data are of vital importance in the effective administration of schools as it shows the programmes, activities and history of a school from year to year. From data kept in a school, all vital information concerning the principal, teachers, non-teaching staff and students, both past and present can be retrieved. According to Bosah (2006), data that are kept by the Post Primary Schools’ Management Board (PPSMB) include data in relation to staff population, qualification, ranks and promotion, data generated in relation to staff verification exercise, student enrolment, population data in relation to payroll voucher such as name of staff, present salary grade level, amount to be paid in cash and signature or comment by the principal and data in relation to inspection and supervision.

Data is the raw material that is processed into finished information products. Data must be processed into meaningful information to be useful to any organization. Agbo (2008), referred to data as documents that are kept in schools which directly or indirectly facilitate the process of school management, teaching and learning. Apart from contributing immensely towards proper performance of the various functions in the school system, appropriate data help school personnel to understand the complex nature of man because it helps school administrators to monitor the behaviour of students in the school. Through appropriate data, prospective employers often gather information on the background, nature, activities and achievement of applicants. If a student seeks transfer from one school to another, school data are needed to determine whether or not the school to which he seeks transfer should accept him. Accurate data is a crucial factor in the successful planning of the financial, physical and human resources in the school system by Ministry of Education and other relevant agencies (Binuyo, 2004).

For effective school administration, information about students, staff members, curriculum instructional facilities, equipment supplies and finances are collected regularly in the schools through data. Statistics, based on school data and report are needed at all levels- local, state, national and even internationally by agencies constituted by law, organizations and individuals interested in the schools or involved in decision-making affecting the schools. Furthermore, categories of students’ information used in planning and evaluation of instructional programmes include family and residence information; physical health information; behavioural and psychological information; school performance information and non-school information (Ozoemalam, 2005).

Data are of value to administrators in the management information required for scheduling students into classes and courses to be taken as entrance qualification, subject. Data of students’ aptitudes and performance in courses completed and recommendation. Data is also used for students requests for course type (full-time or part time) and the medium of instruction (direct students-teacher interaction, television, correspondence, radio or self teaching materials) are all of value to administrators. However, management is another unit of this research study has been described in variety of ways. According to Thieranf in Agbo (2006) management is the process of allocating and organizational input (human and material resources) by planning, organizing, directing and controlling with the purpose of producing outputs (goods and services) desired by its customers so that organization objectives are accomplished. Also Nwachukwu in Enyi (2004) refer to it as a group of people. This group sees management as a group or team of individuals in an organization. There are others that see management as a process demanding the performance of specific function. Furthermore, management can be seen as a situation where an individual or group sees to the proper utilization of what is entrusted into their hands to achieve a set goal (Ikeyina, 2010). In this study, management can be defined as a group of people that work for the achievement of goals in an organization. This will bring the researcher to the concept of data management as a key issue in this study......

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Item Type: Project Material  |  Attribute: 78 pages  |  Chapters: 1-5
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