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ASSESSMENT OF PRINCIPALS’ PERCEPTION ON INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) IN THE MANAGEMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN PANKSHIN METROPOLIS OF PLATEAU STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Information and Communication Technology (ICT), have come within a very short time one of the basic building block of modern society. Many countries now regard ICT as part of core subjects in education alongside reading, writing and numeracy. However, there appears to be a misconception that ICTs, generally refers to computers and computing related activities. This is fortunately not the case, although, computers and their application play a significant role in modern information management. Other technologies and systems also comprise of the phenomenon that is commonly regarded as ICTs, most school principals agree that knowing how to use computers is a worthwhile skill and it is not a waste of time, it is very important for them to learn how to use computers as a useful instructional material in almost all school subjects.

            A principal is a person who is vested with the responsibility of administering and running the affairs of post primary school. He is the leader, coordinator and overall supervisor of all duties and responsibilities of the school. He provides direction, resources and supports the teachers as an instructional leader. The Principal supervises the heads of ICT departments by making sure they are functional and efficient regularly, checking absenteeism, rewarding hardworkers, and punishing the indolent ones, assigning administrative duties to them and encouraging them to do the right things at the right time. All these are also inputs into the standard of education. Aminnze (2010) pointed out that Principals are responsible for informing ICT personnel about new ICT policies strategies, technologies and tools that apply to effective use of ICT in the school. The principal is a person that shoulders the responsibilities of the entire administration, success or failure of the school. He is a single individual who can liaise with the external community on behalf of the school. The principal identifies and set goals and objectives of his institution, which of course must be in line with the national objectives, analyses tasks and shares responsibilities of the staff according to the specialization and expertise. He is a financial controller of the school, the student’s welfare director (both academically and otherwise) and above all, the principal is the overseer of the development and implementation of school curriculum to the benefit of the students and the community at large. School principals are the key determinants for the realization of desired outcomes and success in schools and hence it is viewed as critical issue by all education stakeholders. In Nigeria, the economic commission for Africa indicated that the ability to access and use information is no longer a luxury but a necessity for development. The 21^st Century school principals face numerous challenges emanating from ICT management. This arises from the fact that many developing countries like Nigerian are still slow in ICT management (Aduwa, Ogieghan & Iyamu, 2015).

            Attitude issues as well as lack of ICT competences also affect ICT management in schools. There are few computers in secondary schools, especially in public school and no principal is committed to ICT management. Jensen & Boschee (2013), realized that the current movement towards putting the latest technology into classrooms is causing school principals to reassess school programmes and policies to examine the impact of ICT management on school administration in educational sector. In her study, she observed that ICT is essential for personal administration, student administration, resources administration, financial administration and general administration.

ICT provides facilities and possibilities for the educational administrators to perform their tasks. In this regards, ICT can be important in students’ records to various resource in an educational system. Willey (2013), notes that school principals needs effective and fast communication and accessibility to information which will make his work more effective and efficient. This is because school principals need to correspond through email and internet, create websites for school principals to communicate with the staff and the community at large. Around 2012, when e-mail started to become available to the general public (2019) ICT, covers internet service provision, telecommunication equipment and services, information technology equipment and services, media aid broadcasting, libraries and documentation center, commercial information and providers, network-based information services and other related information and communication activities. The field of education has been affected by ICTs which have undoubtedly affected teaching and learning and research. A great deal of research has proven benefits to quality of education. The ICT literacy level of principals directly impacts their decisions to utilize ICT in administrative functions.

It is in line with the above discussion that this study seeks to examine the attitudes of principals towards Information and Communication Technology (ICT) usage in secondary schools in Pankshin Local Government Area.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The role of ICT in secondary school cannot be overemphasized due to the many advantages associated with it including easy work presentations, easy information access and easy monitoring and evaluation among others. A majority of educational administrators perceive ICT to offer advantages to school management.

            Furthermore, the misconception of what ICT is to the school principals, they see it as a waste of time, energy and money and lack of efficient electricity hiders or gives the principals reasons to avoid ICT in their school curriculum.

            However, other research suggest that a significant minority of teachers do not see considerable learning benefits for students from ICT, regardless of the sophistication of their ICT system. School principals management, school community relationship, provision and maintenance of physical facilities and financial management in which managing such a high number of activities can be quite a challenging task in the absence of ICT resources in schools. It is in the light of the above discussion that this study seeks to determine the attitudes of principals towards Information and Communication Technology in secondary school management in Pankshin Local Government Area.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to make an assessment of principals’ perception on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the management of Secondary Schools in Pankshin Metropolis of Plateau State. Other specific objectives of the study are:

1: To determine how ICT Literacy Level among Principals Influence their Attitudes towards school management.

2: To examine what effect Principals’ Attitudes towards ICT usage have on Integration of ICT.

3:To find out the extent to which the availability of technical support influence principals attitudes to ICT usage.

4: To examine the impact the availability of ICT Infrastructure have on Principals’ Attitudes towards ICT usage in Secondary Schools.

1.4 Research Questions        

The following research questions were raised to guide the study:

1:How does ICT Literacy Level among Principals Influence their Attitudes towards?

2:What effect does Principals’ Attitudes towards ICT usage have on Integration of ICT?

3:To what extent does the availability of technical support influence principals attitudes to ICT usage?

4: What impact does the availability of ICT Infrastructure have on Principals’ Attitudes towards ICT usage in Secondary Schools?

1.5 Significance of the Study

The study will be of immerse need to principals, teachers, students and the community. They would have a degree of understanding on the factor that motivate principals to adopt ICT in administration of school.

The school principals use ICT to ensure effective job performance by the staff. Computers help them to keep bulky information about all the activities, facilities in their disposal. ICT helps them improve the quality, expand learning opportunities and make it faster and easier to access the system and it also makes it easier for the principals to update school programmes, school routine, solving individuals and groups problems and to develop staff.

ICT is very important to teachers, it will help them get new ideas day in day out on how t enhance their teaching skills and methods of teaching. And also they always update information on their subject matter which will make teaching work more effective. It will be useful to students in finding information and through the use of ICT and also use it for assignments and research work.

Information communication technology also helps school administrators to have cordial relationship between parents, community and schools in disseminating information through the ICT.

1.6 Delimitation of the Study

The study covers attitudes of secondary school principals towards Information Communication and Technology. It is restricted to South Local Government of Plateau State. The researcher is aware of other challenges confronting ICT in the educational sector, but he is restricted to only the attitudes of principals towards Information Technology and Communication. The implication of the defined scope of the study is that the findings are to be generalized in regard to secondary schools of Pankshin Metropolis.

1.7 Operational Definition of Terms

• Attitudes: Refers to a settled way of thinking or feeling about something, such as ICT use, typically one that is reflected in the principals’ behavior and can be either negative or positive.
• Education: This is the process of facilitating learning or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and habits.
• Administration: This refers to the formalized system which is intended to control, supervise, plan and make decisions about various activities across the school on the basis of established authority, which is the ministry of education, science and technology (MOEST), Albert on behalf of the government.
• Information Communication Technology (ICT): Refers to diverse set of information communication and technology tools and resources that are used to transmit, store, create and share information in the context of a school.
• ICT Infrastructure: Refers to all the computers and communications hardware and software that support the flow and process of information.
• ICT Literacy: Refers to the knowledge of ICT and its various applications and this is acquired through participation in an ICT seminar or workshop or undertaking a short course on ICT, such as computer packages course.
• Management: This is the act of directing people towards accomplishing a set of objectives or goals.
• Integration: Refers to the act of combining into an integral whole, such as making ICT an integral part of administration functions.