Educational Management Strategies for Building a Skilled and Inclusive Society in Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined educational management strategies for building a skilled and inclusive society in Rivers State,
Nigeria. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted the descriptive
survey research design. The population of the study comprised 6,043 respondents (367 principals and 5,676
teachers). The sample of the study was 375 respondents obtained through Taro Yamane formula. The stratified
random sampling was used to obtain 37 principals and 338 teachers. The instrument for data collection was a
questionnaire titled Educational Management Strategies for Building a skilled and Inclusive society
Questionnaire. The questionnaire was structured in the four-point summated rating scale response options of very
high extent, high extent, low extent and very low extent. The instrument was validated by two experts in
measurement and evaluation. Cronbach Alpha was used to obtain the reliability index of 0.86. Mean and Standard
deviation were used to answer the research questions while z-test was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level
of significance. 375 copies of questionnaire were administered but only 372 copies were retrieved and used for
the study. The study found no significant differences in the mean ratings of secondary school principals and
teachers on the extent to which investing in teacher development and improving educational leadership as
educational management strategies enhance the building of a skilled and inclusive society in Rivers State. The
study concluded that investing in teacher development and improving educational leadership enhances the
building of a skilled and inclusive society to a high extent. It was recommended that government should embark
on training and development of teachers for them to acquire modern skills that will enable them contribute to the
attainment of a skilled and inclusive society.