DATA MANAGEMENT PRACTICES OF HEAD TEACHERS IN KOSOFE EDUCATION ZONE OF LAGOS STATE
ABSTRACT
This study focused on data management practices of head teachers in Kosofe education zone of Lagos state. The study tries to investigate how head teachers in Kosofe zone carries out data management. The Population for this study was 36,278 which comprises of 277 head teachers and 3,6001 assist, where the sample size used were 277 head teachers and 277 assistant head teachers making the sample size of 554. The reliability coefficient of the instrument was 0.96 using Cronbach Alpha while three experts - two in Educational Administration and Planning and one from Measurement and evaluation carried out the face and content validation of the instrument. Four research questions and four null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. Mean and standard deviation were employed to answer the research questions. A twenty four item questionnaire on data management practices of head teachers in Kosofe education zone of Lagos state was used to get the mean scores, the following results were obtained.
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CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
One of the most serious setback to educational development in Nigeria is none availability of data or lack of authenticity where available Nwagwu, 2003). In the blue print put forward by the implementation committee on the National Policy on Education (2004) it was noted that: Difficulties are encountered in Nigeria in obtaining such basic data like the population of students, the population of teachers, the number of instructional materials available in schools, tile number of school building to be renovated and many others (lgwe, 2004). The state ministries of education lack accurate data which affects its policies and programmes and this is as a result of fabricated data supplied to the ministry by the school head teachers (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004). According to Ikpe (2002), statistical data on educational expenditure are not always available and if available, they do not give a sufficient breakdown to make the data valuable for most planning purposes in the ministry of education. Uyanga (1993), opined that educational planners all over the developed economics of the world, sets future educational target based on objectives identification, peoples aspiration, problems of the society, needs and gaps in the field of education. This is made possible through a careful examination of the past and present efforts of stakeholders in
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education. In the absence of data, the said examination degenerates into “the rule of thumb”. Aghenta (2000), put it (hat most data obtained from head teachers are not factual but ambiguous, they are not accessible on demand and this has caused failures in some programmes carried out by the government. The administrators of the current Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme needs accurate data to be able to plan, organize and administer the programmes effectively. They are bound to take various decisions which should he useful to the children, school system and the society. This is decision sometimes becomes impossible in the context of accurate data. From the above observation it is imperative that there is need for data management awareness to the head teachers who are the custodians of data in their various schools in Nigeria.
Data are simply referred to as statistics. Data are numerical measures of phenomena and they are used in the process of scientific decision making. Data are of common occurrence in all discipline and fields of practice. According to Ali (2006). data can be define as the raw, unorganized facts that describes an institution, person, places, things, ideas and events which becomes information after being processed. In Igbe (2005), data are referred to as facts, figures. Letters, words, charts, symbols, images and several other examples in the field of education engineering, science and business Processed data are reduced to
information that could be necessary for decision making. According to Barch et al in Anyanwu (2000) data are language, mathematical or symbols which are generally agreed upon to represent people, object event and concepts. Information on the other hand is the result of modeling, formatting, organizing or converting data in a way that increases the level of knowledge for its recipient. There are two categories of data that can be kept by any educational institution. These are the quantitative and qualitative data. Qualitative data are those data about the values of the system, objective of the system and curriculum, of the system; the quantitative data relates to quality, volumes and number.
Quantitative data are often referred to as statistics. It will be an impossible task to plan and manage any organization in which data are not kept or where data are carelessly kept. Nwadiani (1998), states that the management and planning of any nations educational system depends greatly on the quality of data collection, analysis, storage and retrieval. The education system is a sure system of production and there is need for data to enhance good input and output in the system.
The issue of data management practice is not negotiable in our educational system. Considering the flaws in sonic laudable educational programmes in Nigeria there is need to develop a good data management system. Uwazuruike (2002), put it that the expected population of primary School pupil was far below the actual population during the
implementation of the Universal Primary Eduea6on (UPE) programme of 1976 and this has resulted to educational crises in the primary, secondary and even tertiary levels of education because unqualified teachers we]e recruited to curb the large number of pupil that turn up for the programme due to inaccurate data used in implementing the programme and There have been insufficient teaching and learning materials in schools since UPE was launched resulting to crash programmes, recruitment of adhoc teachers to meet the demands for teachers in schools and many other problems came up of as a result inaccurate data used in planning For the aforementioned programme (Uwazuruike, 2002). According to Asabaka (2007) there is a geometrical increase of prima,7 school pupil in Lagos state and the government needs accurate data that will enable it combat tile problem of human and material resources needed in school& The need of data management is undisputable at the primary school because failure in achieving the objectives education at the primary level is a failure in all other levels of education. Primary school is the fulcrum for all other levels of education. Ndu (1991) observed that no nation could produce the kind of citizens that would think creatively and help solve problems facing humanity without sound primary education. Thus primary education occupies a critical position in the education system and its importance which ranges from thus:
⦁ Inculcating permanent literacy and nurneracy, and ability to communicate effectively.
⦁ Laying a sound basis for scientific and reflective thinking
⦁ To give citizenship education as a basis for effective participation in and contribution to the life of the society.
⦁ To mould the character and develop sound attitude and morals in the child.
⦁ To give the child opportunities for developing manipulation skills that will enable the child’s function effectively in the society.
To provide the child with basic tools for further educational advancement, including preparation for trades and crafts of the locality (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004). The above stated national goals of primary education can only be realize with good primary education administration which is dependent on a good data management practices of head teachers.
Data management practices of head teachers entails the process of collection, processing, storing and retrieving of data for the operation of educational programmes. Conceptually data management practices of head teachers means the science of gathering, analyzing, storing and retrieving educational data within and outside the educational institution by the head teacher. The primary education being the bedrock of the
child’s basic education is a very vital aspect of the nation’s education system that deserve lobe handled with great care and caution (Durosaro, 2004). This means that any en-or committed in the management of this level of education may reverberate on other levels and thus seriously mar the lives of the people and indeed the overall development of the nation. This is one good reason why all the stakeholders including head teachers must show enough concern for those issues that concerns the organization and management of the primary school system. It is therefore necessary for the head teacher to always have accurate and timely data at his disposal.
This study therefore present a humble attempt of what data management practices of head teachers is with a view to highlighting data collection, data processing, data storage and data retrieval in Kosofe education zone of Lagos state.
Statement of the Problem
Data have been an indispensable tool in education management because of its usage in planning. But despite this indisputable nature of data in education, there have been lapses in its management. Head teachers are among the stakeholders in education and they are the primary provider of data to the government in carrying out most of its educational programmes like the Universal Basic Education (U[3b) programme
The problem of this study emanated from the short-comings associated with the use of data in management of education institutions; these short- comings which ranges from improper record keeping, use of outdated method in data processing, storage and retrieval. These have been a limiting factor to the achievement of the envisaged goals of education. Thus, the necessary data needed for school management are no where to be found, such data includes; admission register, attendance register, school budget, fees register, staff record book and host of others.
Therefore the problem of this study is to find out the data management practices of head teachers since he/she is the key provider of data used by the government in carrying out its educational programmes.
Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of this study is to find out how data are managed by head teachers.
Specifically, the study seeks to:
1. Identify the types of data collected by school heads.
2. Find out how head teachers processes data.
3. Examine the data storage methods of head teachers.
4. Find out the data retrieval techniques prevalence among head teachers.
Significance of the Study
The benefits that shall come from this study are many. Specifically, educational planners, the government, pupils, international organization and future researchers will all benefit from this study.
The educational planners like the planning research and statistic unit of the state Universal Basic Education Commission will enjoy the outcome of this study because the head teacher will after this study be in good position to supply the commission authentic data. This is because they will be exposed to measures of keeping good record. Also the education secretary at the local government area who is also an educational planner will benefit from this study because head teacher will be able to provide him with accurate data.
The government of the state through the ministry of education will know areas that primary schools need its attention either financial or otherwise through the outcome of this study. The government will be sure of what she is spending money on. There will not he room for ghost workers or government spending money on projects that does not exist. It will make government budget efficient and reliable.
The pupil will benefit from the findings of this study because the government will use data obtained from head teachers to make provision for them in accordance with their population. It will help government to supply them instructional materials and other things needed in the school
based on their population. Facilities like classrooms, desk chairs, library and others will be provided using the accurate population of the pupils.
International organization like UNCEF, UNESCO, UNDP and others who contribute to the growth of education in Nigeria will be able to receive account from their benefactors. This study will expose the stakeholders whom these organizations deals with to render good account The findings of this study will be leverage to future researcher who
will find it interesting to carryout a further study on this or on other study related to this study.
Research Questions
To guide this study, the following research questions were posed:
1. What types of data are collected by head teachers?
2. What are the data processing measures used by head teachers?
3. How do head teachers store their school data?
4. What are the data retrieval techniques used by head teachers?
Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study and were tested at 0.05 level of significance.
Ho1: There is no significant difference between the mean rating of head teachers and assistant head teachers on types of data.
Ho2: There is no significant difference between the mean rating of headers and assistant head teachers on how head teachers processes data.
Ho3: There is no significant difference between the mean rating of head teachers and assistant head teachers on data storage methods.
Ho4: There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of head teachers and assistant head teachers on the prevalence data retrieval techniques.
Scope of the Study
The study was carried out in Kosofe education zone of Lagos state involving public primary schools in the zone. Kosofe education zone is in the northern part of Lagos state made up of six local government areas namely; Okosi local government area, Onuirno local government area, Ketu local government area, Mile local government area, Mende local government area and Ile-Ife local government area and Kosofe local government area.
The study focuses on data collection, data processing, data storage and data retrieval systems of head teachers.
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