the effective management of primary schools in ekiti state, nigeria:

THE EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN EKITI
STATE, NIGERIA:
This study investigated the management of education in primary schools in Ekiti State, Nigeria. As a
correlational research, the study population comprised all the 694 primary schools in the State. Out of
this, a sample of 320 schools was selected through the stratified random sampling technique. Two
instruments were used to collect data for the study. These were an inventory and a questionnaire. The
data collected were analyzed using mean score, t-test, correlation analysis and multiple regressions.
The findings show that the level of management of primary schools in the State was low and ineffective.
Human resources were better managed than physical resources in the schools while small schools
were found to be more effectively managed than large schools. Rural schools were also more
effectively managed than urban schools while years of teachers’ teaching experience had significant
relationship with effective management of schools. It was however, found that there was a low level
usage of management tools by school head teachers. Based on the findings, it was recommended that
head teachers of schools should be exposed to seminars and workshops to equip them with modern
tools of management. Increased efforts should also be made by the State Ministry of Education and its
agencies at regular supervision and monitoring of schools for effective management.
Key words: Effective, management, primary, schools, Ekiti, Nigeria.
INTRODUCTION
The term ‘management’ has been defined in various
ways. Musaazi, (1982) defined it as a social process concerned
with identifying, maintaining, motivating, controlling
and unifying formally and informally organized human
and material resources within a social system. In
such a social process, there is always a structural hierarchy
comprising the subordinates and super ordinates.
Sherlekar (1984) described it as a guideline, leadership
and the control of the efforts of a group of people towards
some common objectives. Management has also been
seen as a hierarchy of people and their functions within
an organization (Akintayo and Adeola, 1993). It is concerned
with the efficient and effective performance of a
task in achieving the goals and objectives of an organization.
Supporting these points, Nwadiani (1998) described
management as a variety of sequential and related activities
that are designed and carried out in order to effecttively
and efficiently achieve the goals of teaching and
learning in relation to the needs of the society. This achievement
could be made through effective planning, organizing,
coordinating, supervising, directing, motivating,
controlling, budgeting and evaluating programmes as well
as undertaking of risks and handling of uncertainty
(Webber and Skau, 1993; Lodiaga and Sitna, 1993;
Fabunmi, 2000; Ajayi and Ayodele, 2002).
Against this background, educational management is
the process of providing leadership within an educational
system in the way of coordinating activities and making
decisions that would lead to the attainment of the
school’s objectives, which are effective teaching and
learning. In order to accomplice this task, the school
manager must co-ordinate the activities of the divergent
groups in order to achieve the objectives. He needs to be
well equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to
perform his duties. Thus, management involves a manager
making use of resources both human and material to
achieve the goals of the organization while effective
management involves ensuring efficiency and effectiveness
in the use of the available human and physical
resources together with the ability to combat any constraints
that might hamper the achievement of the objecttives.
Human resources in any organization are the people
who act as coordinators of all other factors of pro

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