ABSTRACT
This study undertook an "Assessment of the Role performance of Secondary School Principals in Benin Metropolis". Eight objectives were set out to be achieved and eight research questions were formulated while eight null hypotheses were stated and tested. Descriptive survey research design was employed for this study. The population of interest for the study was 6668 consisting of principals, vice-principals and teachers. This population was drawn from secondary schools both public and private in the Benin metropolis comprising Oredo, Egor and Ikpoba Okha Local Government Areas. Data was collected from a sample population of 357 respondents using a well structured questionnaire titled ―Questionnaire on Assessment of Role Performance of Principals in Secondary Schools (QARPSSP)‖. The data was analyzed using One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level of significance. Out of the eight null hypotheses tested,six were accepted while two were rejected. Findings of this research study were that principals of secondary schools in Benin Metropolis were performing poorly in the area of communication and instructional supervision of the teachers in the teaching and learning process. But on a positive note, it was found out that they were doing well in interpersonal relationship, decision making, staff development, discipline, school-community relationships and facility management. This research concluded that the principals of secondary schools in Benin City Metropolis do not posses good communication ability and do not carry out proper classroom instructional supervision of teachers in the teaching and learning process. It was therefore recommended that state ministry of education is to liaise with school owners and other stakeholders to organize seminars and workshops on communication for principals to educate them on the need to disseminate information within and outside the school community alongside how and when to use circulars and bulletin boards. and also on modern techniques of managing and improving on their instructional supervision abilities in the school system. It is suggested that further studies be carried out in rural areas of Edo state or by using other methods or instruments of research like structured observation and interview. Studies should be carried out on the age, sex, educational qualification of the principal and its impact on the role performance of principals in secondary schools not only in the three local government areas covered by this study but Edo state and Nigeria at large.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Education is a very important instrument of national development for any society. Education is a vehicle for economic, social-cultural and political development of nations and individuals (Obayan, 2006). According to Fafunwa (1974) ―Education is the aggregate of all the processes by which a child or young adult develops the abilities, attitudes and other forms of behaviour which are of positive value to the society in which he lives; that is to say, it is a process for transmitting culture in terms of continuity and growth and for disseminating knowledge either to ensure social control or to guarantee rational direction of the society or both. All educational systems, whether Traditional or Western-oriented, seek to achieve these goals irrespective of the curriculum, methods and organisation designed for the purpose‖. From this definition, education can be said to be a means by which every society pass down societal traditions, cultural heritage, knowledge, norms, values and ways of life from generation to generation.
In Nigeria and indeed most developing African countries, education has metamorphosed from the Traditional (Informal) system of education to a Western (Formal) system of education. The Western system of education as it is in practice today is broken down into three different levels namely: primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education. Schools at any of the three aforementioned levels are either publicly or privately owned as government and private individuals are actively participating in investment and management of schools in the Nigerian educational system.
According to the national policy on education (2004) the national (Formal) educational goals of the Nigerian educational system are, ―the inculcation of the right type of values and attitudes for the survival of the individual and the Nigerian society, the training of the mind in the understanding of the world around and the acquisition of appropriate skills and the development of mental, physical and social abilities and competencies as equipment for the individual to live in and contribute to the development of his society‖. The achievement of these set goals of education lies in the proper formulation, implementation and monitoring of detailed curriculum at all levels of education in the educational system.
Every school whether government or private owned is directly under the management and supervision of the school heads whose roles among others are to implement the curriculum to the letter. School Head determines the direction of the school and how much teaching and learning takes place. His insight, skills, managerial abilities, experience and character determines to a large extent the standards of achievement of both teacher and students in the school. The school heads that are at the helms of affairs are to report to the owners of the school whether government or private individuals through laid down procedures.
At the primary school level, head teachers are popularly referred to as headmaster or headmistress depending on sex, but the head teacher at the secondary school level is called principal irrespective of sex. At the tertiary level, universities, polytechnics, colleges of education etc the heads of the schools are referred to as Vice Chancellors, Provosts and Rectors as the case may be. These school heads at all levels of education are either employed or appointed by the owners or proprietors of the school to manage the affairs of the schools towards achieving set educational goals and objectives.
In their bid to achieving educational goals and objectives, school heads are given specific roles to perform. Some of these roles according to a vast array of literature and a questionnaire on the role performance of principals in secondary schools by Maina (2014) are ―building interpersonal relationship, decision making, ensuring proper communication, instructional supervision, staff development, maintenance of discipline, building school and host community relationship and maintenance of school facilities‖. For the school principals to succeed in these roles, they must as pointed out by Marlow and Minehira (20l1), possess a wide array of competencies in order to lead schools effectively towards the accomplishment of educational goals.
The essence of focusing the attention of this work at the secondary school level of education is that there is a growing society outcry and complaints that the administrative effectiveness of the principals is dwindling. This position need to be proven beyond mere public speculations through thorough empirical studies. According to Ekundayo (2010) It must be stressed that education cannot be an instrument par excellence for achieving national development where the secondary education is not effectively managed to accomplish its aims and objectives. Another major reason for the focus of this study is that at this stage of the student‘s life which is always at the teenage and puberty age, he or she is experiencing puberty attendant issues especially those that have to do with discipline. Enforcing discipline in schools and building the individual‘s character are part of the roles and responsibility of the school heads. A final reason for this focus is that this level of education in Nigeria as stated in the National policy of Education (2004) is aimed at preparing the individual for higher education and for useful living within the society. But contrary wise, Omoregie (2005) lamented that the products of today's secondary system can neither usefully live in the society nor move into higher institution without their parents' aid or forgery.
Due largely to the foregoing, it isnecessary to find out if the principals who are in charge of secondary school administration are actually performing their various roles. Even when they are performing their roles, it is also important to know how well they are performing hence this study.This study is about assessing the role performance of principals in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis. It will assess the secondary school principals‘role performance in the area of interpersonal relationship in schools, school community relationship, communication, discipline, staff development, facility management, instructional supervision and decision making. The outcome of this assessment in this study will be useful to all stakeholders in the education system. It will reveal the areas where the principals of secondary schools are lagging behind or doing well in their role performance. The recommendations to be made in this study will help all stakeholders to know how to assist the principals in carrying out and improving in their role performance.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Report of academic performance of students in the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by the West African Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Council (NECO) were poor in Nigeria between 2007 and 2010. The percentage of students who obtained credit level passes in five subjects and above including English language and Mathematics was about 25% in Nigeria. In 2011, only30.9% of the 1,540,250 candidates obtained credit level passes in five subjects including English and Mathematics while in the 2011 June/July NECO SSCE only 22.34% of the 1,160,561 candidates obtained credit level passes and above in English Language and 25.14% in Mathematics in the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (Owadie, 2011).
From the recent WASSCE result stated above, it is deducible that education at the secondary school level in Nigeria is in serious crisis. A situation where less than half of those who sat for the examination had five credit including mathematics and English language which is the pass requirement while the remaining failed in the examination. The following questions therefore beg to be answered; Is teaching and learning actually taking place in our secondary schools? Are teachers actually carrying out their assigned task of impacting knowledge? Are the needed equipment‘s and facilities for effective teaching and learning available and what is their current state? Looking critically at the foregoing questions, the school head immediately comes to mind as most of these questions fall under the roles and responsibilities of secondary school principals.
In the case of secondary schools in Nigeria and the Benin Metropolis in particular, the questions that come to mind are: what are the secondary schools head doing to ensure that proper teaching and learning takes place in secondary schools? Are the secondary school principals actually living up to expectations in their responsibility as school heads? Do they actually carry out proper supervision of teachers in the curriculum implementation process? The best way of giving answers to these questions is to carry out an empirical investigation of how well the secondary school principals in Nigeria have been able to meet their roles and responsibilities as school heads. This study is about assessing the role performance of principals in secondary schools in the Benin Metropolis. It is going to assess the secondary school principals in the area of interpersonal relationships in schools, school community relationships, communication, discipline, staff development, facility management, instructional supervision and decision making. This study is necessary so that the areas where the principals of secondary schools are lacking behind in their role performance can be exposed to give room for recommendation for improvement to be made. Recommendations can also be made in areas where it is found that they are doing well, so as to help them improve on existing level of achievements.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The study was set out to achieve the following objectives:
1. Determine the role performance of principals in interpersonal relationships amongst teaching and non-teaching staff as well as students in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
2. Examine the role performance of principals in decision making process in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
3. Ascertain the role performance of principals in communication in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
4. Determine the role performance of principals in instructional supervision in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
5. Find outthe role performance of principals in staff development in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
6. Ascertain the role performance of principals in maintenance of discipline in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
7. Assess the role performance of principals in school-community relationships in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
8. Examine the principal’s role performance in maintenance of facilities in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
1.4 Research Questions
The following research questions were formulated for this study;
1. What is the impact of the role performance of principals in interpersonal relationships amongst teaching and non-teaching staff as well as students in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis?
2. What is the impact of the role performance of principals in decision making process in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis?
3. What is the impact of the role performance of principals in communication in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis?
4. What is the impact of the role performance of principals in instructional supervision in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis?
5. What is the impact of the role performance of principal’s in staff development in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis?
6. What is the impact of the role performance of principals in maintenance of discipline in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis?
7. What is the impact of the role performance of principal’s in school-community relationships in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis?
8. What is the impact of the role performance of principals in maintenance of facilities in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
The following hypothesis were made for this study,
1. There is no significant difference in the opinion of principals, vice-principals and teachers on the role performance of principal’s in interpersonal relationships amongst teaching and non-teaching staff as well as students in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
2. There is no significant difference in the opinion of principals, vice-principals and teachers on the role performance of principals in decision makingin secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
3. There is no significant difference in the opinion of principals, vice-principals and teachers on the role performance of principals in communication in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
4. There is no significant difference in the opinion of principals, vice-principals and teachers on the role performance of principals in instructional supervision in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
5. There is no significant difference in the opinion of principals, vice-principals and teachers on the role performance of principal’s in staff development in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
7. There is no significant difference in the opinion of principals, vice-principals and teachers on the role performance of principals in maintenance of discipline in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
8. There is no significant difference in the opinion of principals, vice-principals and teachers on the role performance of principal’s in school-community relationships in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
9. There is no significant difference in the opinion of principals, vice-principals and teachers on the role performance of principals in the maintenance of facilities in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
1.6 Basic Assumptions
The following assumptions will be made for this work:
1. It is assumed that there is good interpersonal relationship between the principals and other stakeholders in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
2. It is assumed that the principals involves teachers, parents, community and other relevant stakeholders in the decision making process in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
3. It is also assumed in this study that the secondary school principals posses good communication ability in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
4. Another assumption of this study is that the school principals carry out proper classroom instructional supervision of the teachers in the teaching and learning process in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
5. It is assumed that the principals do all that is needed in staff development to enable teachers develop themselves professionally in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
6. In this Study, it is also assumed that the principals are well disciplined and also instill same on staff and students in secondary schools in Benin Metropolis.
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