DIGITALIZATION IN EDUCATION SYSTEM AND MANAGEMENT OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN RIVERS STATE

Abstract

This study investigated digitization in education system and management of primary education in Rivers State. The study focused on public primary schools in Rivers State. Three objectives, research questions and hypotheses guided the study. The study used an inferential statistic with survey research design. A self-designed questionnaire titled “Digitization in Education System and Management of Primary Education Questionnaire” was used to collect information for the study. The population of this study was 8,082 which comprises of all 994 head teachers and 7,088 teachers in public primary schools in Rivers State.  The sample size of 432 (32 headteachers and 400 teachers) was selected using multi-stage sampling technique. All the 432 copies of the instrument sent out were all retrieved and used for the study’s analysis. The instrument was face and content validated by 4 lecturers from the Departments of Educational Management and Measurement and Evaluation, Faculty of Education, Rivers State University. Test-retest method was used to test the reliability of the items and a reliability of 0.88 was obtained. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation while Chi-square (ײ) was used to test the formulated null hypotheses. All hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance. The result revealed that there was significant relationship between student-cantered learning, teacher-student ratio and management of primary education in Rivers State. The result also revealed that there is no significant relationship between digital literacy and management of primary education in Rivers State.  It was recommended that, tailored plans to cater for individual students’ needs and interest should be developed, primary school administrators should maintain a teacher-student ratio of 1:20 or lower to ensure personalized attention, and a state digital literacy program should be established for students, teachers, and administrators.