CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background
of the Study
The school
administrator has the responsibility of seeing to the smooth running of a
school. The extent to which he succeeds in carrying out this responsibility
depends on a number of factors and one of them has to do with the records that
he is expected to keep. These records give a lot of information about the
school that will enable him to take decisions and also assess the progress of
the school. National policy on education requires that some of the records
should be kept appropriately. FRN (2004) Different people such as the
headmaster, the class teacher, and the local government education authority
keep different records about the school.
School records
are official documents, books and files containing essential and crucial information
on actions and events which are kept and preserved in the school offices for
utilization and retrieval of information when needed (Durosaro, 2002). Such
records are kept by principals, teachers, counsellors are administrative staff.
Some of the major school records include; students’ personal files, staff
record book, the log book, visitors book and inventories book, among others.
The purpose of record keeping and management is to ensure that accurate and
proper records of students achievement and growth, information on school
activities and matters that will promote efficiency and effectiveness of the
school system are kept, among others.
According to
Durosaro (2002), records are important tools for effective planning and
administration of a school. School records occupy strategic position in the
effective and efficient organization and administration of the school.
It helps for effective planning and
implementation of appropriate course of actions, thereby introducing proper
monitoring of school activities tasks.
Records are
important because they serve as major information tool that sustain the school
and aid in achieving educational goals and objectives. Records engender
teaching competence and maintain the trend in the history of teaching and
learning processes. Egwunyenga (2009) observed that not all information can be
considered as records until they satisfy such characteristics as genuinety and
authenticity, that is, the information that records give must be true, correct
and original; records must be comprehensive, accessible and secured.
School records
are grouped into statutory and non-statutory. Statutory records are those
prescribed by education law and so must be owned by every school and should be
produced on demand by constituted authorities. Examples of statutory records
include: admission/withdrawal register, attendance register, scheme of work,
time-table, school diary, log book, finance record books, continuous
assessments records, etc. Non-statutory records are of private use to schools
that find them useful. These include: cash book, stock book, punishment book,
school calanedar, inventory book, staff minutes book, school magazine,
inspection/supervision report file, confidential report forms and requisition
book. All the above records are commonly keep in schools presently. Records
management is the application of systematic and scientific control of recorded
information that is required for the operation of the school (Bosah, 1997).
Such control is exercised over the distribution, utilization, retention,
storage, retrieval, protection, preservation and final disposition of all types
of records within the school.
The aim of
records management is to achieve the best storage, retrieval and exploitation
of school records in the school system and also to improve the efficiency of
record making and keeping processes. A
school head must have accurate information to help him/her assess meaningfully
the progress of the school. All school records are very useful, school records
must be complete and be made available when the need arises. Records, which are
not regularly kept, will be incomplete and misleading, badly
kept records can hinder the progress of the school. The school leader must see
that school records are devoid of exaggerated reports or untrue statements.
According to Idoko (2005), school records management can only be properly
maintained if the school administrators employ desirable strategies for
improving school records management. These strategies could be; to place
priority on the supply of necessary school records, funds ear-marked for
records management should be retired accordingly, opportunity for professional
training by staff through in-service professional training course should given
to school administrators, timely supply of school records, among others.
Records management helps to control the quality and quantity of information
that is created in a manner that effectively serves the need of the school
(Akabue, 1991).
School record
management according to Fasasi (2004), is meant to enhance the performance of
secondary school administrators. Adequate records management programme
co-ordinates and protects institutions’ records, sharpens the effectiveness of
records as a management memory which controls the times, equipment and space
allocated to records and helps to simplify intra-organizational and
communication problems. The management of records in secondary schools, like in
any other organization, is a cyclic process involving the principals, teachers,
students, messengers, cleaners and other categories of staff.
The bulk of
records are handled by principals which are most often kept manually thus the
processing, retrieval and utilization of records are not easy.
Iwhiwhu (2005)
stresses the poor quality and quantity of manpower in records management in the
school system. He emphasized that manpower is employed without prejudice to
qualitative records management.
Iyede (2001)
viewed human resources management as the harnessing of the totality of the
peoples skills, energies, talents, latent capacities, social characteristics
like beliefs to achieve educational objectives and simultaneously making people
to be part and parcel of the school. This shows that
manpower energies, skills and latent capabilities are harnessed to meet
organizational goals. Also an enabling and conducive environment and enough
motivation are needed for the workers in the school to put in their best.
The term
management has been defined as the process of utilizing material and human
resources to accomplish designated objectives which involve the organization,
direction, supervision, coordination and evaluation to achieve organizational
objectives. Aghenta (2001) defined management as a process involving
organizing, planning, leading, measuring and controlling as well as undertaking
of risk and handling of uncertainty, planning and innovation, coordination and
routine supervision.
It is also
viewed as a process designed to ensure the co-operation, participation,
intervention and involvement of personnel in the effective achievement of a
given objective (Fabunmi, 2000).
The effective
management of school records by principals depends on certain management
procedures and functions such as effective supervision, creation of records,
effective leadership, monitoring, provision and training of adequate personnel,
records storage and retrieval, discipline and effective communication, delegation
of duty, developing record keeping skills and motivation (Ajayi, 1997).
Information and data generated from an effective and efficient records
management programme aids the school to plan and make useful decisions,
preserve facts and figures for future references, thereby enhancing the
efficiency and effectiveness of the organization and administration of the
school. The adequate provision of quality manpower, funds and equipment would
ensure optimum management of school records; however, inadequate or
non-availability of these resources would bring about problems and challenges
in the efficient and effective management of records.
Asogwa (2004)
asserts that records and data generated in the course of execution of legitimate
function of an organization or school should be kept and managed properly.
However, despite the overwhelming importance of school records, it has been
observed that they are poorly kept.
Since all
schools are expected to keep records for effective and efficient achievement of
educational goals and objectives, it becomes pertinent to examine whether the
records are managed properly or not in Otukpo Education Zone.
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