IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP ON SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT

Introduction

It is absolutely correct to say that the quality of leadership in a school determine how effective the school will be. Globally, educating a nation remains the most vital strategy for the development of the society throughout the developing world (Unterhalter, 2005).several studies on human capital development agreed that it is the human resources of a nation and not its natural resources that ultimately determine the pace of its economic and social development. School leadership is an important part of our education system. Educational practitioners have recognized leadership as vitally important for education institutions, since it is the engine of survival for the institutions. This recognition has come at a time when the challenges of education development worldwide are more demanding than ever before (Nkata, 2005). The rapid growth of educational institutions and the ever-increasing enrollment will require improved management.

INTRODUCTION

Leadership plays an important role in the school effectiveness and school improvement and this importance has always been emphasized by the researchers from the field of school effectiveness and school improvement (Hargreaves, 2003). Globally, educating a nation remains the most vital strategy for the development of the society throughout the developing world (Unterhalter, 2005).Many studies on human capital development concur that it is the human resources of a nation and not its natural resources that ultimately determine the pace of its economic and social development. School leadership is an important part of our education system. Educational practitioners have recognized leadership as vitally important for education institutions, since it is the engine of survival for the institutions. This recognition has come at a time when the challenges of education development worldwide are more demanding than ever before (Nkata, 2005). The rapid growth of educational institutions and the ever-increasing enrollment will require improved management. Leadership focuses on getting people to move in the right direction, gaining their commitment and motivating them to achieve their goals. School performance is measured in terms of school’s enrollment growth, annual productivity, and customer satisfaction and student performance. The study focused on school performance, especially some selected secondary schools in karu local government council Nasarawa state. Thus; the effectiveness of the school performance can be regarded on the types of leadership style being done in the service activities of the school’s education. The principal institutional mechanism for developing human capital is the formal education system of primary, secondary, and tertiary training (Nsubuga, 2003). The success of any school depends on the quality, skills, knowledge and commitment of the principal or leader of that school. Leadership has been observed as fundamental to the success of any group or organization. Therefore, leadership style in the classroom cannot be overemphasized in teaching and learning. It goes a long way in determining performance of both the teachers and the student or learner. It is the classroom teacher who is the boss, director, manager, administrator and organizer. He enjoys relatively higher degree of privacy and autonomy (Amadikwe 1991). Reasonable part of a teacher’s life is spent in building peoples’ knowledge, influencing the feelings and behaviors of pupils/students toward goal achievement. The teacher’s choice of career, professional training affects his/her skills, abilities and attitudes. The interaction between teacher and the student is one of the most important aspects of educational process, but the most neglected. Educational research reveals it through direct observation of teacher and students inside the classroom. Privacy and autonomy enable each teacher to manage and organize his own classroom the way he prefers to handle it. Mass education at secondary education level, however, may require new leadership approaches in order to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. Improved efficiency is needed and can be achieved through management reforms; raising the learner teacher ratio, increasing teachers’ time on task, reducing repetition and improving accountability (Nsubuga, 2003). Through inefficiency much learning time is lost in many Sub-Saharan African (SSA) education systems. Twenty five percent or more of school days may be lost each year in poorly managed schools (Lewin, 2006). Blake & Mouton developed the Managerial Leadership Grid (1991) which was designed to explain how leaders help organizations to reach their purposes through two factors: concern for production and concern for people. Leadership at work in education institution is a dynamic process where an individual is not only responsible for the group’s tasks, but also actively seeks the collaboration and commitment of all the group members in achieving group goals in a particular context (Cole.G.A, 2002). Leadership in that context pursues effective performance in schools and does not only examine tasks to be accomplished and who executes them, but also seeks to include greater reinforcement character like recognition, conditions of service, morale building, coercion and remuneration (Balunywa, 2000). After the former Somali government collapsed in 1991, many infrastructures were destroyed including schools especially secondary schools in Nasarawa which is the part of Karu region. From 1995, number of schools reopened. Although many schools are working in this district, unfortunately, the performance of the secondary schools in this area is poor because the leaders of the schools do not have enough skills and knowledge which caused by low performance and lack of quality management in the schools (Moberg, 2003).

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Priority has been given to the leadership quality of schools in education policy agendas nationally and internationally. It plays a key role in improving school outcomes by influencing the motivations and capacities of teachers, as well as the school climate and environment. Effective school leadership is essential to improve the efficiency and equity of schooling. As countries are seeking to adapt their education systems to the needs of contemporary society, expectations for schools and school leaders are changing. Many countries have moved towards decentralization, making schools more autonomous in their decision making and holding them more accountable for results. At the same time, the requirement to improve overall student performance while serving more diverse student populations is putting schools under pressure to use more evidence-based teaching practices. It is in view of this that the researcher intend to investigate the impact of leadership on school development in Nasarawa state.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is to ascertain the impact of leadership on school performance in Nasarawa state. But for the purpose of the study, the researcher intend to achieve the following objectives;

1. To investigate the impact of leadership quality on academic performance
2. To ascertain the effect of leadership style on the development of the school

• To investigate if there is any relationship between quality leadership and school development

1. To investigate the role of government in the development of the education sector.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is believed that at the completion of the study, the findings will be of great importance to the state board of education, to ensure that qualify, sound and reputable individual or persons are given the responsibility of leadership of public schools in the state, this is because the ministry of education are responsible for the transfer, promotion, demotion employment and retrenchment of teachers in the state. The study will also be of importance to the proprietors, proprietress and management of private secondary schools in the state as the study seek to highlight the importance of quality leadership on school growth and development and it impact on academic performance of students. The study will also be of great importance to researchers who which to embark on a study in similar topic; as the study will serve as a reference point. Finally the study will be of great importance to student, teacher, academia and the general public as the findings will add to the pool of knowledge.

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