Influence of Principals' Communication Skills on Effective Administration of Public Secondary Schools in Jalingo Education Zone, Taraba State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of principals' communication skills on effective administration of public secondary schools in Jalingo Education Zone, Taraba State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined the influence of written communication skill, and public speaking skill, on effective administration. Two research questions guided the study, while two corresponding null hypotheses were formulated and tested at the 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The population consisted of 1,776 teachers from 43 public secondary schools in Jalingo Education Zone. Using Krejcie and Morgan's (1970) sample size determination table, a sample of 317 teachers was selected through proportionate stratified and multi-stage sampling techniques. Data were collected using a researcher-developed instrument titled Influence of Principals’ Communication Skills on Administration of Secondary Questionnaire” (IPCSASQ). The instrument was validated by experts in Educational Foundations and Measurement and Evaluation, while a Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.86 was obtained. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions, while Chi-square statistics were used to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that Principals' written communication skills significantly influenced effective administration of public secondary schools and Principals' public speaking skills significantly influenced effective administration of public secondary schools. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that principals' communication skills significantly influence the effective administration of public secondary schools in Jalingo Education Zone, Taraba State, Nigeria. It was therefore, recommended among others that the Taraba State Ministry of Education and the Taraba State Post Primary School Management Board should organize regular seminars, workshops, and in-service training programmes to improve principals' interpersonal communication skills for effective school administration.