Comparative Study of Orientation and Health Practices Adopted by Principals for Administration of Public and Private Secondary Schools in Abia State

Abstract

The researcher carried out a comparative study of orientation and health practices adopted by principals for administration of public and private secondary schools in Abia State. The study was guided by two research questions and two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 alpha level. Survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 16,033 respondents made up of 254 principals and 10,939 SS 2 students of public secondary schools and 727 principals and 8,113 SS 2 students of private secondary schools in Abia State. Proportionate random sampling technique was used to draw a sample size of 853 respondents made up of 27 principals and 547 SS 2 students of public and 72 principals and 207 SS 2 students of private secondary schools for the study. The instrument for data collection was a researcher-developed questionnaire titled “Principals’ Orientation and Health Practices for School Administration Questionnaire Rating Scale (POHPSAQRS)’’. The instrument was subjected to face validation by five experts made up of three experts in Educational Management and Planning as well as the two experts in Measurement and Evaluation. Cronbach Alpha which was used for test of the internal consistency of the instrument yielded overall coefficient of 0.81. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions and t-test to test the hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed among others that the orientation practices adopted by principals for administration of public and private secondary schools in Abia State included: enlighten newly admitted students on the school rules and regulations so as to enhance their awareness of the dos and don’ts in the school, introducing the newly admitted students to members of staff, enlightening the newly admitted students on the procedures of using the available facilities in the school, describing the various sport activities of the school to new students, introducing the newly admitted students to the school prefects and the various school clubs to the students. It was also found out that there is no significant difference in the mean ratings of public and private secondary school principals and students on the health practices they adopt. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that principals should utilize Parent Teacher Association meetings as platform to discuss health issues and encourage the supports of parents to improve the health practices in secondary schools.