ABSTRACT
This study examined the contribution of information communication technology and the management of students’ records in universities in Rivers State. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design with four research questions and four null hypotheses to elicit information sought for. The research instrument for data collection on the use of Information Communication Technology and Management of Students’ Academic and Financial Records is questionnaire. The instrument was subjected to face validity by two experts in the Department of Adult Education and Extra Mural Studies and one from Social Science Education Department of the University of Nigeria Nsukka. The target population for this study consisted of 2364 academic and non-academic staff (that is 664 non-academic and 1750 academic) from both RSUST and UNIPORT which are universities in Rivers State. The taro Yamen Formula was used to obtain the sample size. The sample size used in this study comprised of 342 which is 15% of the target population. Analysis of data was done using the mean and grand mean for research questions. The t-test statistic was used to test null hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings showed that it was generally accepted that ICT contributed positively to the management of students’ academic and financial records. All the null hypotheses were accepted showing that no significance differences existed between the mean responses from staff of RSUST and UNIPORT. Based on the research findings, the researcher recommends the adoption of ICT in the management of all aspects of students’ record, staff records and management of Universities process in all Nigerian Universities to improve performance.
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CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Education is one instrument that has the potential to unlock economic growth and modernization. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defined education as “a process of teaching, training and learning, especially in schools or colleges, to improve knowledge and develop skills”. Education has shown to be the bedrock for any nation and plays a major role in the development and improvement of mankind (Uchendu,
2012). According to Ebirim, Godwin and Obasi (2014) the educational system in Nigeria has been categorized into different levels which includes: pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. The increasing development of educational system at all levels continues to bring greater demands on educational administrators and personnel services.
Universities or tertiary institutions as the highest educational institutions are statutorily charged with the responsibilities of producing manpower who can fit properly and contribute meaningfully to the development of the society (Abdulkareem, Fasasi&Akinnubi, 2011). As enunciated in the National Policy on Education (2004), the universities function to achieve the following goals:
Contribution to national development through high-level manpower training, Development and inculcation of proper values for the survival of the individual and the society.Development of individual’s intellectual capacity to understand and appreciate their local and external
environments.Acquiring both physical and intellectual skills,
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which will enable individuals to be self-reliant and useful members of the society.Promotion and encouragement of scholarship and community service. Forging and cementing national unity. Promotion of national and international understanding and interaction.p14
There are three government owned universities in Rivers State. These are University of Port Harcourt, Choba (UNIPORT), Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUOE). All these universities have a lot of records to be kept and human beings are involved in managing these records. The two categories of staff involved in managing these records are: academic and non- academic staff. The non-academic staff are also known as administrative staff. School records are documents, books, diskettes and files which contain information on what goes on in the school (academic and non-academic activities), school personnel, students as well as other school resources such as instructional materials (Olagboye, 2004). The student records consist of the following: medical, financial, academic and disciplinary records.
Record management is the process of keeping, storing, retrieving and use of all the information in the school. Etesike (2008) suggests that record is recorded information produced or recorded in the initiation, conduct or completion of any institutional or individual activity and that comprises content, context and structure sufficient to provide evidence of the activity. It suffices to say that record is the documented evidence of the activities in the institution. Nworgu (2006) proposed the concept of record management as the practice of maintaining the record of an organization like the school from time they
are created up to their eventual disposal (Chidobi, 2015). Record management is the ability to arrange and maintain all the school records which are kept for retrieval of information when need be.
Manual record keeping and management practice are plagued with many problems such as: lack of skills in articulating student records, conflicting matriculation numbers, conflicting course codes, delay in result submission, late registration, inadequacy in interpretation of scores from assessment instruments and inadequate skills in records and preparation of reports (Fakae, 2011).
Managing students’ records in universities in Rivers State is a difficult task. Effective management of records cannot be achieved without sound knowledge of Information and Communication technology (ICT).
ICT as a technology is used to process, store, transmit, communicate, create or exchange information (Becta, 2008). ICT may also be defined as computer-based tools used by people to work with the information and communication processing needs of an organization, it encompasses the hardware and software, the network and several other devices (video, audio, camera) that convert information (text) images, sounds motion and others into common digital form (Wikipedia, 2015).ICT has made the shift from print to digital information possible which has created an impact on students’ academic records and information centre (Gbaje 2009). According to Ray and Davis (1991), the potential of ICT to enhance human capabilities and revolutionize management of organizations was first realized in other sectors of human society, mostly in the business world and the military, other than in education. The importance of ICT contribution is also widely
recognized both in the workplace and at home. These examples are just a few pointers which show that ICT is becoming a vital enabling tool that can no longer be ignored in the management of universities. In the context of this study, ICT refers to computer- based systems that receive, process and store data. It facilitates student record management. With developments in information technology in the past decades, it is expected that ICT will be used for management of all sphere of the university’s activities in order to meet the challenges of modern day university management.
The study by Terry (2012), defined management as a distinct process consisting of planning, organizing, actuating and controlling, performed to determine and accomplish stated objective by the use of human beings and other resources. According to Lundy (1957), management is principally the task of planning, coordinating, motivating and controlling the efforts of others towards a specific objective. In the words of Koontz and O’Donnel (1974), management is defined as the creation and maintenance of an internal environment in an enterprise where individuals working together in groups can perform efficiently and effectively towards the attainment of group goals. In order words, management is a social interaction process involving sequence of coordinated events such as planning, organizing, controlling, supervision, budgeting and evaluation in order to use available human and marital resources to achieve a desired outcome in fast and most efficient ways in universities in the north central.
School management especially as regards to higher institution has become a difficult task in view of complexity of modern educational system in Nigeria. As the societal demands and needs keep on changing so does educational system embraces
innovations. Also there is worldwide technological development, which has invariably affected all areas of administration in education. School record management which is an aspect of school management was not left out in this innovation and change. School administrators have now discovered that the traditional methods of managing schools especially in the area of record management which involves carrying files all about are not appropriate to handle the accelerating change. The problems as stated above may leave students confused and result in time wastage. For example, conflicting matriculation numbers; if two students have the same matriculation number, it would be difficult to identify which student really has the matriculation number. Also, articulating student records would require that these records should be safely documented in a database that is not subject to manipulation. When course codes are not properly articulated, it would not be difficult for students to identify which course they have taken and which is outstanding.
Other problems includes muddled up matriculation numbers, inconsistent grades, and conflicting course codes, which made learning and assessment difficult. Hiding under the cloak of the disarray in the sector, students and lecturers perpetuated all manner of acts that undermined the progress of the institution. With student’s data/record not properly tracked, results and scores were not efficiently managed, courses were not tracked effectively and students evaded the payment of fees all to the detriment of the entire system. This has resulted in the following experiences: missing results, exam officer manipulation of results and harassment of students, delay in final year results due to unavailability of semester results, delay in issuance of matriculation number, late
submission of continuous assessment scores and result by lecturers, non-centralization of student’s results through ICT and general disorderliness in academic records.Akukwe (2003) identified some importance of computer to record management which ensures effective school management to include: promoting and maintaining standard and quality of work at a higher level over time than manual labor, saving cost, time and laborand increasing productivity and efficiency.
Due to the expansion of schools, it is essential that computerization takes place and a total overhauling of the existing ICT system be undertaken for easy record keeping and management. ICT has the potentials for not only ensuring effectiveness and efficiency in teaching-learning process, but also for easing the administrative duties of record keeping and management. Making use of ICT for record keeping and management will go a long way in raising the standard of school records anywhere in the world. Educators are fast realizing the need for using computer for keeping and management of school records. This would be convenient to both administrators and academic and non-academic staff in tertiary institutions. Records and record keeping constitute the life wire of organizations (Egwunyenga, 2006). It would be very difficult to plan and administer any organization such as the school effectively if records are not kept and managed properly.
Being aware of the significant role of information and communication technology in our lives, especially in our educational activities, school authorities should be wise enough to use ICT in supporting record keeping and management. Presently, records of most tertiary institutions in Nigeria are kept manually and, with the passage of time, vital
records and information are lost due to the rise in the number of school activities. Many Universities in Nigeria are still experiencing these same problems which the Rivers State University of Science and Technology [RSUST] has overcome with the expert use of Information and Communication Technology.
It is certain that most of the universities in Rivers State such as University of Port Harcour,t Ignatius Ajuru University of Education and RSUST have taken a stride to place their students’ records on internet. Among all the universities in Rivers State, evidence abounds that RSUST appears to have taken the lead in the application of internet information in almost every facet of the administration, computation of result, registration of students on line and other related areas. The institution has trained more than one thousand staff and students annually through its ICT Academy (Fakae, 2011). This is quiet substantial and recommendable. The emphasis is that for any institution to develop, it must take cognizance of the capacity of the human capital which is the root of institutional development. In other words, the objective is that every member of the institution must be versatile in some computer packages having realized that enabling environment for collaborative human capital building in the university community is important.
Delivering a key note address on Repositioning RSUST Academic Staff for Sustainable Performance the Vice Chancellor of RSUST, Professor B. B. Fakae restated that the university has built up a very commendable and enterprise-wide website that speaks volume of the university as the premier University of Science and Technology in Nigeria. The current stride of RSUST, of becoming foremost e-varsity in the country, is
in no small measure providing an enabling environment for academic excellence. The university has shown doggedness in lever-aging ICT to fast track the development of the school. This has impacted positively on data management as the school integrates its processes online. The above information is evidence that RSUST has taken giant and aggressive steps to initiate the ideas on information and communication technology skills and knowledge in both the staff and students of the institution. The current administration has provided more than one thousand computers for the institution. To show the nature and intensive nature of the utilization of the technology, the institution was used to actualize the purpose and objective of Jamb internet based examination. This crystallizes the fact that the objective of initiating information and communication technology in Universities is not only to process students’ and staff records at the intuitions but to fulfil one of the mission of the institution; that is to support and sustain the expansion of the frontiers of human knowledge in the various disciplines, responding especially to the contemporary scientific and technical demands and challenges of the society.
It is even identified by the National University Commission that RSUST has become a role model to be emulated by other universities in Nigeria. With her robust ICT protocol, the university is one of JAMB’s centers for online examinations. More so, many corporate organizations patronize the IT services of the university. Notable foreign universities and organizations are beginning to collaborate with RSUST in many areas (RSUST, 2013).
ICT integration in school management is becoming increasingly used in
Universities, with the intention of enhancing effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery
of services. However, many Nigerian Universities seem to take a long before adopting ICT in the management of their students’ records. Notwithstanding the keenness by the federal and state governments to guarantee the use and penetration of ICTs in teaching and learning in every level of education, the evidence seem glaring that Nigeria is not yet ready in her preparedness to integrate ICTs in all spheres of her national economy (Ololube, Andrew, & Anthony, 2006).
This project focused on academic and financial components of the students’ record. The financial record consists of all the financial transactions of the students during their school period, these includes payment of school fees, hostels, convocation pack, training. The academic component consists of registration, course registration, grades and results (Osakwe, 2012).
The researcher in this study took a critical study on how ICT contributed to management of student records (academic and financial), strategies adopted for efficient utilization of ICT for orderliness in academic practices of student records, identify the benefits of using ICT for management of students records for orderliness in academic practices of tertiary institutions as well as highlighting constraints against effective utilization of ICT for management of students’ record in Universities in Rivers State. Statement of the Problem
Information and communication technology utilization is a process that enlarges the capacities and skills of individuals as it expands focus on a broad array of cognitive competencies. In other words, individual’s ability is developed to a large magnitude hence creating avenue for proficiency in administrative and academic excellence.
Despite laudable efforts shown by the Government towards implementation of ICTs in schools some institutions have not really tapped the benefits of the technology and in institutions where management has done its utmost best to provide facilities, some of the staff and students were still very reluctant to embrace the technology because they have been so addicted to the conservative methods of administrative and academic tasks. Most workshops and conferences are not well strategized and planned, hence the staff and the students only see the training as a mere routine tasks which do not impact effectively on the academic and administrative tasks. Manual record keeping and management practice are plagued with the following problems: lack of skills in articulating student’s records, consistent challenges emanating from conflicting matriculation numbers, conflicting course codes, delay in result submission, late registration, blank results, inadequate interpretation of scores from assessment instruments, and inadequate skills required for records and preparation of reports.
For any school system to engage in satisfactory record keeping and management activities, information and communication technology must be applied in its operational system. It is still strange to see that in this era of ICT, staff of universities were still carrying about student’s files which can be claimed to have got lost anytime rather than harnessing the potentialities of the ICT to facilitate record keeping. It is these observed problems or gaps that the researcher intends to fill that form the need to investigate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and management of students’ records in universities in Rivers State.
Purpose of the Study
The general purpose of this study was to examine the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the management of students’ records in universities in Rivers State. Specifically, the study sought to determine:
1. The contributions of the use of ICT to the management of students’ academic record in Universities in Rivers State.
2. The contributions of the use of ICT to the management of students’ financial records in Universities in Rivers State.
3. The benefits of the use of ICT to the management of students’ records in
Universities in Rivers State.
4. The constraints to effective utilization of ICT in Universities in Rivers State.
Significance of the Study
The findings of this study will be of immense benefit to the stakeholders in educational sector, namely: the management of the universities, lecturers, parents, government and non-governmental organizations and students. This is because this study will reveal the significance of using information and communication technology for the extraction of necessary records or data for distribution and usage.
The result of the study will be useful to students and other researchers as it will serve as resource material to academic staff and students who intend to carry out further research in related areas.
The result of this study will also be useful to business educators, as it will generate data for further research work in area of emerging skills occasioned by technological innovations.
The study will be beneficial to planning officers at Nigerian university commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and Continuous and comprehensive Education (CCE), since it can be used as a reference material in formulating policy on recording management as well as integrating ICT into teaching and learning in tertiary institutions. The study will add to the volume of literature concerning the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in fostering orderliness in academic practices all over the world.
Research Questions
The following research questions were posed for the study:
1. What are the contributions of the use of ICT to management of students’ academic records at Universities in Rivers State?
2. What are the contributions of the use of ICT to the management of student’s financial records at Universities in Rivers State?
3. What are the benefits of the use of ICT to the management of students’ records at
Universities in Rivers State?
4. What are the constraints militating against effective utilization of ICT at
Universities in Rivers State?
Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study and tested at 0.05 level of significance.
Ho1: There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of staff of RSUST and staff of UNIPORT on the contributions of the use of ICT to the management of students’ academic records at the Universities in Rivers State.
Ho2: There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of staff of RSUST and staff of UNIPORT on the contribution of the use of ICT to the management of students’ financial records at the Universities in Rivers State.
Ho3: There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of RSUST and staff of UNIPORT on the benefits of the use of ICT to the management of students’ records in the Universities in Rivers State.
Ho4: There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of RSUST staff and staff of UNIPORT on the constraints militating against effective utilization of ICT at the Universities in Rivers State.
Scope of the Study
This study has both content and geographical scope. The content covers the contributions of the use of ICT to the management of students’ academic and financial records, the benefits of the use of ICT to the management of students’ records and the constraints militating against effective utilization of ICT at the Universities in Rivers State. The geographical scope is River State Nigeria. It is a state that has three public universities.
This material content is developed to serve as a GUIDE for students to conduct academic research
INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY AND THE MANAGEMENT OF STUDENTS’ RECORDS IN UNIVERSITIES IN RIVERS STATE NIGERIA
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