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....
================================================================
Item Type: Project Material | Size: 77 pages | Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word | Delivery: Within 30Mins.
================================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.