IMPACT OF DIGITIZATION ON SECURITY MANAGEMENT IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KATSINA-ALA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated impact of digitization on security management in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. Two research questions guided the study and two hypotheses were tested for study. The study adopted ex post facto survey research designed. The population of the study was all the 560 teachers from 22 public secondary schools in Katsina Local Government Area Benue State, Nigeria. A sample of 203 teachers was randomly selected using purposive random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was researchers’ structured questionnaires titled “Digitization and Security Management Questionnaire (DSMQ). The instrument was validated by three experts, two experts in Educational Management and one expert in Science and Mathematics Education all in Faculty of Education Benue State University Makurdi Nigeria. The questionnaire was trial tested on 30 teachers in two public secondary schools who were part of the population but not part of sampled population. The Cronbach Alpha was used to determine the reliability of the instruments and the result yielded reliability coefficient of 0.89. This showed that the instrument was reliable enough to achieve its purpose. A four-point likert-scale was used to establish the disparity in the respondents’ opinions with a response mode of Strongly Agree (SA)=4; Agree (A)=3; Disagree (D)=2 and Strongly Disagree (SD)=1. The data collected were analyzed using Mean Scores and Standard to answer research questions. Chi-square goodness of fit was used to test hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study showed that surveillance cameras and weapon detectors have significant impact on security management in public secondary schools in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. It was recommended that management of public secondary schools should intensify integration digitization for security management through the use of surveillance cameras such as emergency surveillance cameras, simple video cameras, high-definition cameras and that they should also use hand-held concealed weapon detectors, pop-up shelters, protective covers and operational test pieces so as to achieve high security management towards the realization of school goals and objectives.