Principals’ Administrative Practices and Sustainable School Development among Public Secondary Schools in Oyo State, Nigeria.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64348/zije.2026645Keywords:
Principals’ Administrative Practices, Sustainable School Development, Secondary SchoolsAbstract
This study was conducted to investigate principals’ administrative practices and sustainable school development in public secondary schools in Oyo State, Nigeria. The study adopted a correlational research design with a population of 5,398 teachers in public secondary schools in the 11 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Oyo Central Senatorial District who teach in 17, 244 schools. This study was conducted using a multistage sampling procedure. In the first stage, Oyo Central Senatorial District was randomly selected from the senatorial districts in Oyo State. Six Local Government Areas; representing about 50% of the 11 LGAs, were selected in the second stage. In the third stage, sixty (60) public secondary schools were randomly selected from the sampled Local Government Areas. In the last stage, sixty (60) principals and 540 teachers were selected, giving a total number of 600 respondents. The data collected were analysed using weighted mean and standard deviation for descriptive statistics, Pearson Product Moment Correlation, regression and t-test analysis. The study revealed that principals’ administrative practices in public secondary schools in Oyo State were highly rated with a weighted mean of 3.16 while sustainable school development was also highly rated with a weighted mean of 3.07. The study further revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between principals’ administrative practices and sustainable school development (r = 0.62, p < .05). Regression analysis also revealed that principals’ administrative practices significantly contributed towards sustainable school development accounting for 37.9% of its variance. In addition, the study revealed that there is no significant difference between the opinions of principals and teachers on the contribution of principals’ administrative practices towards sustainable school development as evidenced by the reported t-value of 1.65 which was lower than the critical value of 1.96. The study concluded that effective principals’ administrative practices are necessary for the achievement of continuous school development in public secondary schools. It was further recommended that principals should put more effort into instructional supervision, teacher motivation participatory decision making, stakeholder collaboration and monitoring of school improvement initiatives while government should provide sufficient resources and capacity building opportunities for school leaders.
References
Adenuga, B. A., Olusiji, O. L., & Mukaila, A. Y. (2025). Leveraging technology education at secondary school level of education for sustainable development in Nigeria: A systematic review. Zamfara International Journal of Education, 5(2), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.64348/zije.20251 DOI: https://doi.org/10.64348/zije.20251
B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. Free Press.
Berezi, I. U. (2024). School-community synergy as predictor of sustainable development of secondary school education in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. International Journal of Education and Evaluation, 10(3), 81–92. https://doi.org/10.56201/ijee.v10.no3.March.2024.pg81.92
Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. Harper & Row.
Chinwuko, N. F., Onyali, L. C., & Anachuna, O. N. (2024). Implementation of feedback from external supervision for quality assurance in public secondary schools in Anambra State. UNIZIK Journal of Educational Management and Policy, 6(4), 43–56.
Ereh, C. E., Uko, U. E., & Vincent, E. A. (2025). Principals’ personal variable and administrative practices in public secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 9(4), 636–643. https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.90400049 DOI: https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.90400049
Eze, T. A. (2022). Principals and the implementation of education for sustainable development in secondary schools in Enugu State, Nigeria. Journal of Continuing and Development Education, 2(1), 76–82.
Idris, M. K. (2024). Assessment of principals’ performance in instructional supervision of teachers in public and private post-basic secondary schools in Kano Metropolis. Ilorin Journal of Education, 44(2), 225–236.
Mokwe, N. F., Obidile, S. O., Chike, H. N., Chime, G. O., Chukwu, N. W., & Ndubueze, O. J. (2025). Principals’ transformative management strategies for secondary schools’ improvement in Anambra State, Nigeria. European Journal of Marketing and Management Sciences, 8(2), 65–82.
Nwabueze, A. I., Obioji, J. N., Anigbogu, N. G., Oyibe, O. A., Ahamefula, C. F., Nnokwe, C. I., Osuagwu, L. A., Ifediatu, N. M., & Nweke, P. O. (2023). Principals’ leadership skills and administrative practices as predictors of sustainable peaceful learning environment in secondary schools. Educational Administration: Theory and Practice, 29(3), 1590–1599. https://doi.org/10.53555/kuey.v29i3.10447
Oduma, J. O., & Ossai, A. G. (2024). Principals’ key administrative practices and teachers’ job performance in secondary schools in Delta State, Nigeria. NIU Journal of Social Sciences, 10(2), 125–134. https://doi.org/10.58709/niujss.v10i2.1877 DOI: https://doi.org/10.58709/niujss.v10i2.1877
Ogharen, B. B. (2022). The imperative of education law in secondary school administrative practices in Nigeria. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 12(2), 324–333. https://doi.org/10.36941/jesr-2022-0055 DOI: https://doi.org/10.36941/jesr-2022-0055
Ogharen, B. B., Egbule, E. O., & Joy, A. C. (2022). Management of interpersonal conflict involving principals and teachers of selected public secondary schools in Nigeria. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 12(3), 320. https://doi.org/10.36941/jesr-2022-0090 DOI: https://doi.org/10.36941/jesr-2022-0090
Oguejiofor, C. N. (2023). Principals’ administrative practices as predictors of teachers’ job performance in secondary schools in Enugu State. UNIZIK Journal of Educational Research and Policy Studies, 15(2), 172–184.
Okaforcha, C., & Obijiaku, S. (2024). Administrative practices of principals as correlates of teachers’ job performance in public secondary schools in Anambra State. International Journal of Education Research and Scientific Development, 6(1), 103–116. https://doi.org/10.59795/ijersd.v6i1.172
Olanrewaju, A. O., & Abdulkareem, A. Y. (2021). School development planning and effectiveness in Kwara State public secondary schools, Nigeria. International Journal of Educational Management, 19(1).
Onyali, L. C., Ogbo, R. N., & Uwaezuoke, M.-R. I. (2024). Education law and principals’ financial management practices for achieving sustainable developmental goals in public secondary schools in Anambra State, Nigeria. UNIZIK Journal of Educational Management and Policy, 5(2), 99–105.
Yusuf, H. I., & Umar, H. (2025). Influence of principals’ administrative practices on the quality of teaching in senior secondary schools in Bauchi State. ATBU Journal of Science, Technology and Education, 13(3), 865–872.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Federal University Gusau Faculty of Education Journal

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.


