CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

It is impossible to overstate the importance of education to the growth of both individuals and communities. Education is seen as a tool for fostering national development and bringing about desired societal change in many nations, Nigeria included (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2012). Perhaps this explains why everyone with a stake in the education business is becoming more anxious about the future of the sector and the implications for school management and administration. Preschool, elementary school, middle school, high school, and universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education make up the standard hierarchical structure of a standard formal education.

Educational qualification, experience and leadership behaviour go a long way in assisting the Principal in his job as administrator, but there are some challenges that can make or mar his efforts at achieving the set goals of the educational system. They include: unreliable data, Shortage of skilled manpower, poor funding, inconsistent educational policies, unstable curriculum, student indiscipline, low application of information and Communication Technology (ICT), industrial crisis by teachers, and cult activities amongst others.

Technology is often defined as the application of technical processes in order to achieve some practical ends. Technology is the practice of any or all of the applied sciences that have practical value and are of industrial and developmental use (Kosoko, 2002; Popoola, 2016). Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a combination of information and communication technology. Information technology deals with the collection, storage, manipulation and transfer of information using electronic means. Communication technology refers to the physical devices and software that link various computers hardware components and transfer data from one physical location to another (Laudon and Laudon, 2001; Alabi, 2005; Popoola, 2016). Various ICT devices or tools have emerged to enhance the speed and quality of service delivery and radically change services being handled worldwide.

The introduction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can facilitate administration as well as teaching and learning in the schools. Unfortunately however, many secondary schools in Niger State are finding it difficult to set up a functioning and well equipped ICT centre. Apart from lack of these physical facilities, lack of adequate skilled manpower to man the ICT has been another major problem. The most disturbing aspect of ICT is the negative use of handsets by students which include: watching of blue films during and after school hours, night calls and examination malpractices amongst others. All these activities seem to be encouraging students’ indiscipline.

Secondary schools are administered by principals who are accountable to the authorities that appointed them. As principals, they are expected to perform administrative functions including: planning, organizing, supervising, staffing, evaluating, coordinating, leadership and purchasing and maintenance of instructional materials, equipment and facilities. Principals are also expected to manage the school finances and accounts and to maintain staff and student discipline and welfare. The effectiveness of the principals, as administrators of their schools, depends on the extent to which they perform the above administrative functions effectively. Effectiveness is the degree to which an organization (school) achieves a stated objective using available human and material resources.

The indicators of administrative effectiveness include high productivity, morale (high motivation) turnover rate of teachers, degree of integration, maximization of individual potentialities, maximum utilization of available resources and value contribution to the society (Uzoigwe, 2013). Furthermore, the All Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) in 2004, cited by Uzoigwe (2013) also listed indicators of an effectively administered secondary school which include disciplined staff and students, students and teachers staying in school for classes during school hours, drastically reduced examination malpractice, high performance in junior or senior secondary school certificate examinations, exemplary leadership by the principal, clean school environment and parents rush for admission of their children into the schools. It is important that secondary school principals are effective in the discharge of their duties because principals determine to a great extent, the realization of the goals of secondary education.

Statement of the Problem

The secondary school is an open system that is in constant interaction with the environment. It receives inputs from the external environment, in the form of human and material resources, processes them and empties same into the environment (Okon, Ekaette and Ameh, 2015). These make the administrative functions of the principals really complex. The functions of the principals’ include decision-making, planning, communication influencing, coordinating and evaluation in the areas of curriculum development, instructional supervision, staff and student personnel administration, guidance, finance, community relations, construction and maintenance of facilities and special services (Selwood, 2005; Adeyemi and Olaleye, 2010). Secondary schools in Nigeria have become complex to administer. There are concomitant management demands being exerted on the principal, especially in this Information and Communication Technology (ICT) era. The enormous rise in the number of students in schools as well as the numerous programmes coupled with the complexity of administering a given secondary school has made school principals to handle large volumes of data which they must process quickly (Asiabaka, 2010). This complexity calls for the use of sophisticated equipment and facilities such as ICT for processing data in schools (Adewole, 2016).

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of information and communication technology on administration process in senior secondary schools. In specific terms the objectives of the study were to:

• Identify the level of ICT facilities in Niger State Public Secondary School;
• Investigate the extent of ICT usage for administrative purposes by public secondary school principals in the State.
• Determine the levels of public secondary school principals’ administrative effectiveness;
• Find out the impact of ICT on male and female principals’ effectiveness;
• Ascertain the impact of ICT on urban and rural-based principals’ administrative effectiveness;

Research Questions

The following research questions were answered in the study:

1. What are the ICT facilities available in Niger State Public Secondary Schools?
2. What is the extent of ICT usage for administrative purposes by secondary school principals in Niger State?
3. What are the levels of administrative effectiveness among public secondary school principals?
4. What is the impact of ICT usage on urban and rural-based principals’ administrative effectiveness?
5. What is the impact of ICT usage on male and female principals’ administrative effectiveness?

Null Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were tested in this study:

1. There is no significant relationship between ICT usage and principals’ administrative effectiveness in Niger State public secondary school.
2. There is no significant difference in the impact of ICT usage urban-based and rural based principals’ administrative effectiveness. iii. No significant difference exists in the impact of ICT usage on male and female principals’ administrative

Scope of the Study

The   study   dealt   with   the impact of information and communication technology on administration process in senior secondary schools. The population of the study consisted of selected principals selected local government areas of Niger State.

Significance of the Study

This study would be of immense use to school principals, teachers, bursars/accountants in the public secondary schools in Niger State. The official in the ministry of Education and its agencies would also benefit. They would be sensitized on the imperative of having a virile computer centre in each school, manned competent hands. They would therefore be compelled to make money available for this purpose. The principals would recognize the fact that effective school administration cannot be achieved without the usage of ICT in general, and record keeping and communication particular.

The study’s findings and conclusions would provide useful hints to principals and school accountants, on how to keep financial records and to retrieve them when needed. The findings of the study would help the teachers to keep and access students’ academic records as and when due.

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