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.

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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

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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.

Data  management as  seen by Olubor (2003) is  a  key for running any organization including education. Educational administrators at different levels of organization who have the major function of planning, organizing staff, directing and control depend on the type of information supplied to them, its authenticity, richness and quality of the information.

Data  management plays an  essential role  in  any growing organization like staffing, placement of students, recruitment which are   aided   by   use   of   computer.   Information   technology   has generated advanced tools for analyzing and managing data. Use of

those tools like computer diskette, microfilm, and microfiche, CD- Roms, DVD, World Wide Web, Flash Disk, among others which can improve the performance  of almost any operation. Steps made in capturing  mass  data  electronically have developed  the need  for effective management strategies.

Data management involves data modeling, data warehousing, data movement, data base administration and data mining. Data modeling is creating a structure for data collection, use and organization in a way that it is easily accessible and efficient for further use or analysis. Data warehousing is storing data effectively so that it can be accessed and used when required. Data movement is the ability to move data from one place to another. For instance, data need to be moved from where it is collected to a data base and then to an  end user.   This process takes  quite a bit of logistic insight.   Accurate data management brings about effective school administration in our secondary school system.

Effective school administration refers to the various ways in which human and material resources are utilized  to achieve set goals in an organization. It is the process that involves some co- ordinated  activities  like  planning,  organizing,  co-ordinating, controlling or leading in order to use available resources to achieve a desired outcome in the fastest and most efficient way (Akintunde,

2007). The most efficient way in co-ordinating the activities of others for goal achievement is the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) (Etesike, 2007). The official administrative work in schools   registration of students, maintaining records of students’ performance, keeping inventory supplies, printing reports and above all, down loading information for effective decision making can be better done through ICT. A school administrator who has the expert knowledge of the use of ICT can easily update information and coordinate other staff personnel and students’ activities for effective administration of the school.

In addition, proper data management by the use of ICT makes it possible for teachers to engage students in self-paced, self- directed problem-based or constructivist learning experiences, and test  students.  It  also  helps  learning  in  new,  interactive,  and engaging  ways  that  may  better  access  deep  understanding  of content and processes (Freedman 2000). Students in this kind of situation  remove  themselves  from  notorious  activities  such  as cultism, drug abuse, examination malpractice and as such make school administration easier and effective (Twining, 2002c).

The school bursar and the school secretary, with the expert knowledge of the computer, keep accurate and retrievable information of students payment of fees, mails and other official

documents of the school in a computer. In school administration, data are used in planning, organizing, coordination evaluation and motivation. Planning is to decide in advanced the objectives to be achieved and how to utilize the available resources in achieving these objectives. Data collected base on the students’ enrolment can  help  the  administrator  to  manage  the  limited  resources available to the school. No administrator can function alone without the  assistance  of  others.  Thus,  in  order  to  achieve  the  set educational objectives, the administrator must have a framework or structure for his school on which duties are created and assigned to people based on the data of staff available. A properly organized school reduces the problem of conflicts that normally occur in the school in the course of performing school functions.

Within the school system, the principal and his teachers are expected to carry out a lot of coordinating activities like assigning student to classes, placement of students, sharing of gifts and assigning of lockers/desk, chairs, among others based on data available to the teachers and principal. The principals are expected to  see  that  every  teacher  is  working  towards  the  attainment  of school goals without coming into conflict with one another. Odor in Enyi (2004) also pointed out that school administrators should coordinate  the  planning  and  implementation  of  special  school

programmes and  events, like   Foundation or founder’s  day and other anniversaries, inter-house sports, among others.

Generally, workers come to organizations with expectations that their personal needs will be met by the organization. The extent to  which  such  needs  are  met,  determines  the  workers’  level of motivation and hence their performance and commitment to work. Obi  (2003)  noted,  any  organization  that  has  a  programme  for helping workers to meet their needs is most likely to enjoy workers loyalty, commitment and hard work. Such motivation may come in form of sending teachers for training on ICTs. The need for data management in this respect is very crucial.

Effective school administration employs various ways in which human and material resources are utilized to achieve set goals in an organization. Research carried by Ogboegbulem (2011) has shown that most  educational managers  at different  levels  face  a  great number of problems in their bid to collect, store, retrieve and utilize data for drawing educational plans. It has also been observed by the researcher that in the statistics division of Post Primary Schools’ Management Board and even in most of the public schools, there are   usually   inadequate   data   concerning   some   aspects   of educational   information   like   students’   population   and   staff population. For example, in Enugu State, there are usually many

problems  associated  with  certain  data  in  the  management  of schools such as inability to interpret data and lack of storage facilities.

According to Binuyo (2002), such problems include, lack of storage facilities such as computers, shelves, cup boards, file cabinets,  file  jackets  and  lockup  drawers  for  data  processing, storage, retrieval and utilization. Other factors affecting the management of educational data include ignorance of the need and utility value of data and non utilization of submitted record. In addition, lack of security and poor management of staff files prevent easy access or location of the files. Furthermore, Obi is also of the view that one other problem of data management in the educational system  is the issue of wrong information and  inaccurate  figures which involves  both government officials, policy makers and wrong data or information on other stakeholders regarding educational management.

Statement of Problem

Recently, educational development in Nigeria has witnessed a lot of set back due to non-availability of data or lack of authenticity where available. In addition, the inability of school administrators to manage data on the three important correlates of administration namely the man, the job and the materials has greatly affected the

management of schools and achievement of school curricula. It is expected that when school administrators perform vital functions of administration like planning, organizing, directing or controlling, co- ordinating and evaluating activities aimed at achieving the goals of the establishment through adequate management of data, the entire objective of the curricula will no doubt be achieved. The incidence of truancy, non-adherence to school programmes are on the increase on the part of the teachers as a result of poor data management. Social vices of different kinds like cultism, rape, drug abuse, sexual harassment and examination malpractice have equally reached an alarming stage among the students. These are probably as a result of ineffective data management vis-à-vis poor administration. This study   therefore  set  out  to   find   out  the   constraints   to   data management practices and strategies that could be employed to ensure adequate data management practices by school administrators.

Purpose of the Study

The  general purpose  of the study  is to  find out how data management helps school administrators in effective school administration. Specifically, this study will:

1.      Find out the extent to which data management practices are utilized by school administrator.

2.      Find  out the  constraints  to data management practices  by school administrators.

3.      Find out the strategies that could be employed to enhance data management practices by school administrators.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study have both theoretical and practical significance. The theoretical significance is hinged on systems theory. A systems theory explains the existence of different parts which perform different activities. Many problems facing Nigerian educational system today could be solved through system theory. In Enugu  State  the  same  theory  could  be  applied  to  solve  the problems encountered by educational administrators in handling the data meant for them to keep.

The findings of this study will be practically significant in a number of ways to; educational supervisors, principals of schools, data collectors and non-tutorial staff of the board, Ministry of Education, post primary school management board and educational administrators.

The findings of this study will help educational supervisors to see the need for accurate data keeping and management;

The results of the finding will provide principals in secondary schools  with  the  various  importance  of  data  management  as regards educational planning in the system;

The findings will provide the data collectors at the board with various modern storage facilities such as computer, diskette, flash disc, CD-Rom, microfilm and microfiche;

The result of the study will enable non-tutorial staff of the board to have an insight on the need to save statutory records in the school;

The findings of the study will enable the Enugu State Ministry of Education to take necessary steps in providing alternative ways of storing data for effective performance of their duties;

The result of the study will also help the Post Primary Schools

Management Board to make their statistics unit more function.

Finally, the findings of the study will help create awareness on teachers and principals  as  regards  contributing  valid  information that will help to build up the school system.

Scope of the Study

The study was limited to data management practices of secondary school administrators of Post Primary School Management Nsukka zone of Enugu State (PPSMB).

The  content  area  focused  on  the  following  areas  of  data management practices namely:

Data    management    practices    as    utilized    by    school administrators,

Constraints    to    data    management    practices    by    school administrators,

Strategies that could be employed to enhance data management practices by school administrators.

Research Questions

The following research questions have been posed to guide the study:

1.      To what extent are data management practices utilized by school administrators?

2.      What are the constraints to the data management practices by school administrators?

3.      What are the strategies that could be employed to enhance the utilization of data management practices by school administrators?

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