Introduction
Background of the Study
Head
teachers, their assistants and sectional heads as administrators of primary
schools are often expected to communicate with one another in a way that would
ensure optimal service delivery towards achieving the objectives of the school.
The head teacher as the head of the school is in charge of all the
administrative and instructional programmes of the school. To ensure that head
teachers effectively cope with the demands of their jobs, assistants are
appointed to assist them. The assistants are charged with instructional
supervision, pupil admissions and transfers, time table scheduling, and teacher
welfare. As they perform these roles, they report to the head teachers who also
assign other duties and responsibilities to them (Owie, 2004). Other duties of
the assistants are contained in policy statements issued from time to time by
the State Primary Education Board. Most of these policy statements are sent to
head teachers for dissemination to their assistants. What this implies is that
many of the functions of the assistants are dependent upon the directives of
the head teachers who are expected to communicate these functions to them.
The
head teachers also appoint sectional heads from among the teachers to help
co-ordinate the activities of the schools. They supervise their sections,
monitor teacher and student discipline, and ensure that classroom time is
productively used (Nwankwo, 2004). In line with these descriptions, Obinna
(2004) stated that head teacher usually delegate some administrative functions
to the assistants and sectional heads. All these activities require adequate
communication. Therefore, when communication gap exists among the
administrators, effective administration of schools is compromised.
Unfortunately, communication gap among head teachers, assistants and sectional
heads are not rare. In some cases, assistants often petition against the
activities of head teachers thereby thwarting the implementation of primary
education goals (Nwankwo, 2004). Studies such as Idama (1998), and Akinjide
(1990) found that communication between head teachers, their assistants and
sectional heads in many schools are filtered through rumors and counter rumors
because of the existence of communication gaps. In another dimension, Okezue
(2001) observed that primary schools administration is marred by unhealthy
rivalry among school administrators. Where communication gap exists, the
resulting tension may affect primary school administration adversely and as well
impede the easy attainment of the educational goals. It is therefore important
that some strategies should be adopted to manage communication gaps. Owie
(2004) defined strategies as measures, mechanisms, or ways of solving problems.
A strategy is an idea for solving a problem. It is against this backdrop that
this study was aimed at an empirical investigation of management of
communication gaps among primary school administrators.
Statement of the Problem
Communication
is very vital in every organization if the set goals are to be reached, and the
educational system is not left out. There is need for effective communication
between head teachers, their assistants and sectional head of the school system
as this will help in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the
administrative system, thus improving the quality and standard of the learners.
This is a result of the fact that when there is effective communication in the
system, it leads to effective coordination of the activities that are being carried
out.
Over
the years, there has been reports of disputes between head teachers, their
assistants and sectional heads where they often petition one another in the
course of their working together, in cases of this nature it has been
discovered that all these confrontations are as a result of what they heard one
person or the other saying at one time or another and without confirming from
the main source they get upset and this causes so much problem in the
administrative system. All these come to play because there is a very big
communication gap between these school administrators (head teachers,
assistants and sectional heads) as there is no proper channel or flow of
communication. The study therefore intends to find answers to how communication
gap can be managed in order to ensure optimal service delivery.
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