COMMUNICATION SKILLS NEEDED BY PRINCIPALS FOR EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

This study investigated the communication skills needed by principals for effective management of secondary schools in Anambra State. The study adopted a descriptive survey design for the study.  It was guided by two Research questions and two null hypothses. The population of the study comprised of 103 principals and 103 vice principals in Post Primary School Service Commission Onitsha Zone in Anambra State. All the principals and vice principals were used because of their size. This gives a total of 206 respondents. An instrument constructed by researcher, titled: Communication Skills Questionnaire (CSQ) was used for data collection. Three experts validated the instrument, two experts from Educational Management and one expert from measurement and Evaluation, all from Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam. The reliability was established using a test – re-test method which yielded 0.81 correlations, coefficient using cronbach Alpha method.  Mean and standard deviation was used to analyze the data collected. The result of data analysis revealed the problems caused by poor usage of communication skills as low of standard of education, hinders educational policy implementation, misunderstanding and lack of unity of purpose in the school.  Based on these findings, some recommendations were made which include use of clear and concise language by principals, constant use of face-to-face communication and principals being active listeners.