INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY SKILLS NEEDED BY PRINCIPALS FOR EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ENUGU STATE

Abstract

The study examined the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills needed by principals for effective management of secondary schools in Enugu State. The researcher adopted descriptive research design for the study. The study was guided by two research questions and two hypotheses. The study was conducted in the thirty one (31) public secondary schools in Enugu Education Zone of Enugu State. The population for the study comprised all the 31 principals and the 542 teachers. There was no sampling because the population was manageable. Questionnaire that contained 12 items was used as an instrument for data collection. Research experts in Faculty of Education, Enugu State University of Science and Technology validated the instrument. The reliability of the instrument was determined by the use of Cronbach Alpha method which yielded 0.80 for cluster 1 and 0.76 for cluster 2 with an overall reliability index of 0.79 which made the instrument reliable. A 4 point response scale of Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD) was used by the respondents. Two research assistants who were properly briefed assisted the researcher during the data collection process. The research assistants were guided on the method of administering the instrument as well as the responding to pertinent questions. The researcher made used of mean and standard deviation to analyse the data as regards the research questions and t-test statistics to test the hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that data processing and internet usage are some of the ICT skills needed by the principals for effective management of secondary schools in Enugu State. Based on the findings, the following recommendations were proffered: The principals should be given adequate training on the use of information and communication technology tools in order to improve their professional development opportunities; and the government should provide all the necessary internet facilities in the schools for easy accessibility by the principals as well as other interested staff.