Influence of School Records on Principals' Administrative Effectiveness in Senior Secondary Schools in Bichi Education Zone of Kano State, Nigeria

Abstract

Every school's record reveals both its strengths and weaknesses. The keeping of records is one of the duties of school administrators. Maintaining complete and accurate records of all significant school-related occurrences is necessary. This study investigated the Influence of School Records on Principals' Administrative Effectiveness in Bichi Education Zone of Kano state, Nigeria. Specifically, the study sought to determine the influence of statutory and non-statutory records on principals' administrative effectiveness, how records management practice influences principals' administrative effectiveness, and determine the strategies for improving record management practice in senior secondary schools in Bichi education zone of Kano state. Four research questions guided the study, and four null hypotheses were tested at a 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The target population was 409 principals and teachers. Proportionate and simple random sampling was used for the sampling. The instrument for data collection was named: School Records and Principals' Administrative Effectiveness Questionnaire (SRPAEQ). Two experts validated the instrument. A 38 items-structured questionnaire was subjected to statistical analysis using mean and standard deviation for the research questions and Chi-square for testing the hypotheses. The study revealed that statutory records not only help in achieving administrative effectiveness but also provide growth for principals' efficiency. The result of the study further showed that non-statutory records with particular emphasis on the mode of storing and retrieving Data influence the principals' administrative effectiveness, and finally, the result proved that records management practice by Principals has a great influence on principals' administrative effectiveness in Senior Secondary Schools in Bichi Education Zone of Kano State, Nigeria. The following recommendations were made: Effective school records maintenance policy should be provided to ensure efficient and effective school records management, School administrators should be friendly with their subordinates and build confidence in them for the optimum attainment of school goals, Finally, schools should be adequately supplied with information communication systems capable of storing and retrieving information easily.