ABSTRACT
The study was carried out at
Otuocha Education Zone of Anambra State to investigate principals’ information
management of and secondary school administration in Otuocha Education Zone of
Anambra. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. Mean
and standard deviation were used to analyze the research questions while t-test
statistic was employed in testing the stated hypothesis for the study. Review
of literature and empirical studies provided the theoretical framework for the
study. A 24 item questionnaire on principals’ information management and
secondary school administration was used to elicit information from the
respondents. The items were based on 4 point rating. Based on the mean scores,
the following results were obtained. That lack of information storage
facilities like computer and file cabinets, funds and inadequate trained
personnel were the major areas of information management problems of the
principals in schools. Poor documentation of records, lack of data banks and
unskilled manpower were the major causes of information management problems of
the principals. Delay in decision-making, disruption of planning programme of
the schools and misunderstanding between the principals and the teachers are
the main effects of the information management problems of the principals.
Open-door policy in school administration, organization of seminars, workshops
for the principals on periodic basis, and allowing teachers to participate in
discussing matters affecting them are effective measures for improving
information management problems of principals. The findings also noted that to
improve the situation, principals should not hoard information to both the
staff and the students in the schools.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Information could be seen as the hub of every education system. Every
activity in education depends on the degree of understanding and interpretation
of information received and given out by the principal in the school.
Information according to Wehmeier (2000) is any fact or details about
something, to provide, give, pass on information, to collect, gather, receive
and obtain an idea. This implies one getting or receiving a new idea or
knowledge from his immediate environment or beyond from a given source. In line
with the above definition, Ifelunni (2002) defines information as any valid,
reliable and useable data about the world of work, education and or personal
social life. Also British professional (1999) sees information as a data
presented in such a way as to be of some meaning to the person who receives it.
This entails that information is to serve a purpose to the receiver. Hence, for
any information to be useful, it must be relevant, complete, based on facts and
cost-effective. In this study, information is defined as any relevant and
useful idea and news issued by the school principal to his staff and students
to ensure
proper achievement of educational goal as well as for effective management of
the school.
Management on the other hand, is the utilization of physical and human
resources through cooperative efforts and it is accomplished by performing the
functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling
(Resser, 2000). It may also be defined as the art of utilizing both human and
material resources available, so as to achieve organizational goal. Management,
whether defined as an art or a science, is a process that is used to accomplish
the set objectives of the school as an organization. Mgbodile (2004) defines
management as leadership which is aimed at influencing group activity towards
goal achievement. Accordingly, it is the behaviour of the man in leadership
position when he is carrying out the vital functions of administration such as
planning, directing, controlling or coordinating and evaluation of activities
aimed at achieving goals. In this study, management is the organizing,
controlling and coordinating of the school resources, men, funds and materials
by the principal, to achieve the objectives of education at the secondary
level. Principals of schools are heads of the schools as organizations who are
charged with the above responsibilities.
An organization is a body specifically established and designed to
achieve a set goal. The school is an organization formally established to
accomplish the goals of education. The success or failure of the schools
depends to some extent, on how the principals are able to effectively manage
information towards goal achievement. Information management involves the
collection and dissemination of ideas from one or more sources and the
distribution of such to one or more audiences. As applied in this study,
information management involves the various efforts put in place through
effective coordination by the principals to ensure smooth management and
realization of school objectives. This implies ensuring good information flow
between the principals and the teachers as well as among the teachers and the
students
With the proliferation of information technology starting in the 1970s,
the job of information management took a new dimension and also began to
include the fields of data maintenance. No longer is information management a
simple job that could be performed by everyone, but by those who are
specialists in the field. As information storage shifted to electronic means,
information right became more and more difficult,
until late 1990s, when information was regularly disseminated via computer network
and by other electronic media such as the internet. Thus, in acquiring,
organizing, storing and retrieving information, individuals found themselves
with increasingly complex tasks in hardware and software. With the latest tools
available, information management has become a powerful resource and a large
expense for many organizations. Information management entails organizing,
retrieving, acquiring, and storing information. (Adeyemi, 2001)
The importance of information in education calls for its adequate
management. Management of information in this study implies the ability of the
principal to source, store and disseminate information relating to the staff
and students accordingly. Storage of information as a vital area of information
management refers to how information could be stored or kept in order to
prevent unauthorized hand from accessing the data.
Management of information is not an easy one; it is an uphill task and so
information needed to be organized according to subjects and problem needs.
Managing is essentially informational. For the principal to carryout his work,
he must then be involved in the collecting, sorting, recording and....
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