School Plant Maintenance as a Determinant of Secondary School Principals’ Effectiveness in Afikpo Education Zone of Ebony State
School Plant Maintenance as a Determinant of Secondary School Principals’ Effectiveness in Afikpo Education Zone of Ebony State.
ABSTRACT
The study sought to investigate school plant maintenance as a determinant of secondary school principals’ effectiveness in Afikpo education zone of Ebonyi State. Five purposes, five research questions and three null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study.
The design of the study was ex-post-facto research design. The study was carried out in secondary schools in Afikpo Education Zone of Ebonyi State.
The population of the study was 1,017 comprising of all the 79 principals and 938 teachers of post primary schools in the study area.
The sample for the study was 270 respondents representing 27% of the population, drawn using a proportionate stratified sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into two parts.
Part I was titled “School Plant Maintenance Questionnaire (SPMQ)” and part II was titled “Effective School Administration Questionnaire (ESAQ)”.
The questionnaire has a total of 72 items. The questionnaire was structured on a four- point rating scale of Very Great Extent (VGE) 4 points Great Extent (GE) 3 points Very Low Extent (VLE) 2 points and Low Extent (LE) 1 point Three experts validated the instrument.
It was recommended among other things that, since there exists a positive relationship between principals’ transformational leadership and school plant maintenance, before a teacher is appointed as a school principal, those transformational leadership qualities should be looked out for, for effective school plant maintenance.
It was concluded among others that effective maintenance of school plant could enhance students’ academic achievement towards achieving the goal of national development.
INTRODUCTION
Education is an essential tool in the society needed for human development and improvement. It is indisputably the instrument used in every nation for the development of her citizens.
For education to adequately perform its function, the school must be properly organized, made neat and adorable. In the secondary school system, the head of administration at the apex is designated as the principal.
The school principal has the responsibility of ensuring that both human and material resources of the school are utilized to achieve stated objectives.
Oboegbulem and Chiaha (2007) stated that human and material resources are effective tools in the hand of the school administrator for the accomplishment of school objectives. Material resources in form of school plant provides facilities for teaching and learning.
The more school plant is maintained regularly, the more the life span is prolonged. However it is regrettable that most school principals do not maintain school plant to serve the purpose it is meant for.
These physical facilities on ground are given little or no attention and left to dilapidate, decay, spoil and rot away due to lack of maintenance. This may be why principals, teachers and students achieve less in its absence.
Yusuf and Adigun (2012) asserted that without school plant, the school cannot exist. School plant indicates that school is in existence as it is an integral part of the entire school system that serves the needs of the society. School is a micro-community existing within a macro-community.
According to Anukam (2006) and Manilla (2007) school is a place of learning from the nursery to the tertiary institutions.
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CSN Team.
