IMPROVING HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT OF COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN THE NORTH CENTRAL STATES NIGERIA

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ABSTRACT

This study was conducted  to investigate ways of improving human resource  management  of Colleges of Education in the North Central States, Nigeria.  Five research questions and five null hypotheses guided the study. Descriptive survey design and Delphi technique were employed for the study.  The population of the study consisted of 9 Colleges of Education in the North Central States,  Nigeria.  The respondents  were 321:  these consisted of 36 Management  staff,  63  Deans, 222  Heads  of departments/units.  For  the  Delphi,  20  homogeneous  experts  all Ph.D  degree holders consisting of 10 senior administrative staff and 10 senior academic staff were used.  Since the total population  of the study was small,  there was no sample as the entire population  was used for the survey.  Two instruments  were used:  a 50-iterns questionnaire  for the descriptive survey titled Improving Human Resource Management Questionnaire (IHRMQ), and a 47- items questionnaire  for the Delphi technique.  Two rounds Delphi were used:  in the round  one, the instrument was a 50-item questionnaire which was reduced in the round two to 47-items after the experts achieved a consensus; three items were discarded and some items were amended. The instruments  were  face  validated  by  three  experts;  two  from the  department  of Educational Foundations and one from Measurement and Evaluation,  Science Education Department all from the University  of Nigeria,  Nsukk:a.  The internal  consistency of the instrument  was determined using Cronbach alpha formula.  This yielded an internal  consistency  index  of 0.77, 0.68, 0.86, 0.93,  and  0.94  for  clusters  A-E  respectively:  the  0.87  reliability  coefficient  indicates  high reliability.  Mean and Standard Deviation  were  employed  in analyzing  the research  questions while t-test statistics was used to test the five null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance.  The findings  of the  study  revealed  among  others  that  the  ways  of improving  staff recruitment includes recruiting eligible candidates in terms of qualification,  merit and experience.  The ways of improving  staff training  includes  organizing  programmes  and making  funds available  for educational   projects   and   research   grants   for   staff    Improving   communication   between management  and staff includes organizing  regular  staff meetings.  Improving  staff motivation includes paying salaries and allowances promptly.  The results of the five null hypotheses showed that there were no significant differences  in the mean ratings of the respondents  thus,  the null hypotheses  of no  significant  difference  was  accepted.  It  was therefore  recommended  among others,   that  management   should:   determine   staff  recruitment   on  the  basis   of academic qualification, skills and relative abilities only, organize staff training programmes  and  sponsor members  to  workshops,  conferences  and  seminars  within  and outside  the  country,  organize regular staff meetings to encourage active communication  flow between management and staff, implement promotions with financial and material benefits

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background  of the Study

Education is an instrument par excellence and a powerful tool for individual and national development.  The guiding principles  of education in Nigeria  are the equipping of the citizens with knowledge, skills, attitudes and the values that will enable the society to derive maximum benefits from its membership (Federal Ministry of Education, 2005). The only navigator that can direct the society to the attainment of education is the teacher. Teachers are the key and the light that can lead to educational attainment: they are the hub of the educational process.  The Federal Republic of Nigeria  in her National Policy on Education (NPE,2004:49)  agreed with this view when  it  stated that  “no education  system can rise  above the  quality  of its teacher”.  This  is because it is the teachers who,  in the final analysis translate policies into practice and program into  action.  It  is  in  a bid  to  have  qualified  teachers  that  the  Colleges  of Education  were established.  The aim was to train National  Certificate  in Education  (NCE) teachers who will uplift the quality of teacher education. The functions of the college as spelt out in the Decree that established  it  include:  to  provide  full  time  course  for  teaching  instruction  and  training  in technical, vocational, science and arts, to conduct courses in education for qualified teachers, to provide teachers  with intellectual  and professional  background  adequate  for their assignment, and to make them adaptable to any changing situation not only in the life of their country, but in the wider world (Kogi State College of Education Public Service Rules, 2006: 1 ).1

Over the years the objectives for which these institutions were established were realized. Many professional teachers were trained, and their positive impacts were felt at both the primary and post primary levels.  However  for the past ten years (2005-2015)  the physical,  social,  and

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psychological  system of these colleges started declining.  Usman (2011) noted that the situation in these institutions particularly  state-owned  Colleges of Education in the North Central States have  gone  from bad  to  worse.  According  to  the  author  this  may be  due to  lack  of proper management of the human resources in the institutions regarding recruitment,  appointment,  staff training, motivation, staff relations, staff communication  and staff disciplinary practices. For the Colleges of Education to take their former pride of place as the home of “teacher trainer” once more there has to be improvement in its human resources.

Human resources  as defined by Ankur (2009) are the total knowledge, skills, creative abilities,  attitude  and aptitudes  of an organization’s  employees,  as well as their  values.  The human resources are the individual who make up the workforce of an organization.  Other terms sometimes  used  to   describe  the  human  resources   according  to  William  (2014)   include employees, manpower, people, staff, labour, and human capital. Oyebanji  (2012) described the human resources  as the intellectual resource pool of any educational  institution.  Oyebanji  also refers  to  the  human  resources  as  the  building  blocks  and  active  agents  of an  educational institution; on them rest the success or failure of an organization or institution. Every educational enterprise needs adequate skilled manpower  to function well. Other resources namely physical facilities and equipment are mere complementary resources.

The human resources in Colleges of Education are categorized under two groups namely the staff personnel and the student personnel. For the purpose of this study,  the focus area is on staff personnel.  Staff personnel  as defined by WebCrawler  (2014)  are the persons or group of persons  employed  in  an organization  or place  of work.  Staff personnel  comprise  the  entire human capital in an organization. The emphasis in this study was on the management staff and deans/heads  of departments;  which consisted of all the principal  officers namely the Provosts,

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Registrars,  Librarians,  Bursars,  Deans of schools,  and Heads of departments/units.  The reason for selecting these categories of staff is based on the fact that these groups are the major force that propel the institutions and are responsible for decision making and staff welfare. They effect changes and initiate ideas; the success or failure of the institutions is hinged on them. The place of human resources in a College of Education cannot be under emphasized.  This is because they are the most essential resources and constitute the most crucial factor in the development process of the  institution.  The  implementation of every policy  and program  in College  of Education requires the contributive effort of staff at various levels.  This cannot be achieved unless there is unity of purpose  and proper  coordination  of all the staff by the managerial team. The human resources  cannot function in isolation without  the leading and control of the human resource managers.  Owojori  and  Asaolu  (2011)  believe  that  improper  management  of the  human resources is among the problems that militate against management in the Nigerian school system. The management of an organization has the power to cripple and destroy or to build and make it.

Management  is the process of guiding or taking charge,  directing and controlling people m  an  organization   in  a  structured  and  thorough  manner.  It  is  the  process  of achieving organizational  goals by working  with  and through  people  and other  organizational  resources (Boselie,  2011).  Management  is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources.  In essence, management is the utilization of human and material resources,  resulting in the performance  of functions  of planning,  organizing,  directing and  controlling.  Rampur  (2012)  noted  that  in  every  organization  including  institutions  of learning,  the  functions  of management  involve  varieties  of activities  which  are recruitment, wages and salary administration, employee welfare, industrial relations. Owojori and Asaoluwa (2011)  believe  that the  solidity  of an organization  is  dependent  on its  management.  This  is

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because  it  is  the  management  that  determines  the  managerial  functions  and  success  of an organization.  Similarly  Onah  (2008)  noted  that  the  success  of any  organization  is not  only determined by the quality of the human resources  available,  but how well the human resources are managed and coordinated towards realizing the goals of the organization. The lapses (namely educational  backwardness,  mismanagement,  conflict,  low  self morale)  in  the  Colleges  of Education in the North Central seem to indicate that all is not well with its management.  This is because  it  is  the  management  that  determines  the  managerial  functions  and  success  of an organization.  There is an urgent need therefore,  for the management  team of the Colleges of Education to assess their human resource management functions in the areas of staffrecruitment, staff training, motivation, staff appraisal, communication, and discipline practices with a view to improving  them.  There  are  gaps  in  some  aspects  of Human  Resource  Management  in  the Colleges  of Education  in the North  Central  States (Usman,  2011).  According  to Usman,  the presence  of these gaps had led to the abysmal situation  in the standard  of education  and the quality of instruction in the Colleges of Education in the region.  Therefore, the ability to identify and close these gaps will greatly improve the management of the human resources.

Human  Resource   Management   (HRM)   is   the  process   of hiring,  maintaining   and developing the employees. Human resource  development  is  embedded  in HRM. This study is interested  in  HRM  since  it   encompassed   the  managerial   functions  regarding   the  human resources.  Human Resource Management is accountable for the selection,  training,  appraisal as well  as rewarding  of the  employees  (Williams,  2014).  Human  resource  management  is  the organizational  function that  deals with  issues related  to people  such  as recruiting    the right people  for the job,  training  and  developing  them,  managing  wages,  providing  benefits  and incentives,  evaluating performance,  resolving disputes,  and communicating with the employees

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at all levels.  The basic purpose  of HRM  is to maximize  productivity  in  an organization  by optimizing the effectiveness  of its employees.  Any organization without efficient HRM is bound to encounter serious problems.  This seems to be the case with State Colleges of Education in the North Central States.  Yakubu and Momoh (2011) noted that the managers of these institutions seem to be in dire need of improving  their managerial  functions as the academic  standard of these institutions is abysmal. Usman (2011) also noted that the products of these poorly managed Colleges graduate  as half educated teachers,  who  find it  difficult to communicate  in English language let alone teach using same.  The researcher visited some schools in the North Central States,  and observed teachers as they taught the pupils.  Some of the teachers taught using the local language and those who managed to teach in English language mispronounced most words and  sentences.   For  instance   ‘cow’   was  pronounced  as  ‘kawo’,   ‘crocodile’  as  ‘korokodile’,

‘plague’ was ‘plagwe’,  ‘Pharaoh’, was  ‘farawo’ or ‘faroar’. According to Maliki (2011) most employers  of labour including  government  agencies have lost confidence  in these institutions, and  are reluctant  recruiting  graduates  from them  to  teach  in  the primary  and post  primary schools. Higgins (2012) observed that the strongest factor that affects educational achievement is the quality of the teachers.  There seems to be a dire need for the management of State Colleges of Education in the North Central to improve their human resource management regarding staff training, communication, staff motivation, staff disciplinary practices and most especially, staff recruitment.

The  term  recruitment   according  to  Ogunu  (2001)  is  the  process  of searching  for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in an organization.  Recruitment is the process  of finding  and  hiring  the  best  qualified  candidates  from within  and  outside  an organization.  Staff recruitment  as defined by Ujo (2004) is the process of attracting applicants

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with certain skills and abilities and other qualities to job vacancies in an organization.  Richmond (2013) noted that staff recruitment  is  an important managerial  function as the quality of staff recruited in an organisation could build or destroy it.

The  Federal  Republic  of Nigeria  Public  Service  Rules  (PSR,  2006)  for  Colleges  of Education stated that all vacancies above CONTISS 06 are to be advertised both internally and externally in two national dailies while CONTISS 05 is to be advertised internally.  The short• listing of all academic post is to be done by the Heads of department after due consultation with the Deans,  and with the Registrar.  The authority  to  appoint  all senior staff is vested  on the governing council of the college on the recommendation  of the appointments  and promotions committee which is presided over by the provost.   Appointment  ofjunior staff is made through the  provost,  through  the junior  staff  establishment  committee  headed  by  the  registrar.  The appointment ofprincipal officers is made by the council or by the visitor.

The recruitment  exercise in the Colleges of Education in the North Central States  is not satisfactory. According to Maliki (2011) although management advertises vacancies,  it seems not to be selecting the right caliber of candidates as recruitment seems to be based on tribal, religious and political considerations. Maigun (2012) also noted that candidates are selected even before vacancy advertisements  are published.  According to the author the quality of some members of staff makes one to wonder about the credibility of the recruitment  committee members and the criteria  used  for recruitment.  Most  often job  selection  is based  on Federal  character  (quota system),  political  connections,  religious  and tribal sentiments.  Okeke (2004) agreed with this view by stating that the perennial problem that has befallen the standard of education seems to be due to undue political  influence,  the use of quota system for recruitment,  ethnic, and religious sentiments  among  others.    For there  to be  credibility  in the  administrative  functions  of the

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educational managers in the institutions regarding staff management,  there is therefore need for improvement in the recruitment process.

Training as defined by Armstrong  (2001) is the formal and systematic modification  of behaviour through learning which occurs as a result of education,  instruction,  development and planned  experience.    Staff training  is any attempt  to improve current  and future employees’ performance  (Ross,  2010).  Staff training is the acquisition of a body of knowledge  and skills, which can be applied directly to work of a particular type. The Federal Republic ofNigeria in her National Policy on Education (NPE,  2004) stipulates that professionalism should be encouraged at all levels.  This  can only be attained  through  training  and development.  The goal of staff training is to create an impact that lasts beyond the time of the training.  The focus is to enhance skills,  development,  and improve behaviour.  Development  on the other hand,  is a course  of action  designed  to  enable  the  individual  to  realize  his  or  her  potentials  for  growth  in  an organization.

The Public Service Rule (PSR) for Colleges of Education stipulates that any member of staff teaching or non- teaching may apply for training leave for the purpose of acquiring a higher qualification in order to attain higher professional, technical or administrative competence appropriate  to the nature  of his/her employment  within the College.  Personal  observation  has shown that most staff members particularly the senior staff in the Colleges of Education have no wish to go for further training or development. The PSR may be accountable for this redundancy as it stated that staff of the rank of senior lecturer or equivalent status and above may not be granted training leave except in very special circumstances, which are certified by the Deans of schools or Heads of Departments with the support of the provosts (PSR ,2006:90.Section 4:2:2). Besides,  every staff training opportunity  in the PSR has a condition attached  to it.  What this

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mean is that training can only be granted to a particular category of staff while other categories remain obsolete.  The question at this juncture  is,  why is there a clause on the training of senior lecturers and its equivalent, and why are there many conditions attached to staff training opportunities in the PSR? Usman (2011) noted that the sanction on staff training has been used by Provosts,  Deans and Heads of Departments/units  to prevent  staff members  from going for training. Consequently most staff use obsolete teaching method and have little or no idea about modern  methodology  and  technology  in  teaching.    In this  study  staff training  is seen  as  a continuous  professional   development   and  training  process  through  which  staff  members’ knowledge can be improved to allow a more effective performance.  Staff performance  can also be improved through the provision of incentives in the form of motivation.

Motivation as defined by Williams (2013) is a bunch of internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested in and committed to a job.  Stoll and  Fink  (2012)  defined  staff  motivation  as  anything  done  to  make  the  employees  happy, satisfied,  dedicated  and  committed  in  such  a  way  that  they  bring  out  their  best  in  their organization so much so that the society, will greatly benefit from their services. Workers are the most important resources in any organization. Motivating them must be the top most priority of every manager. For the educational managers of Colleges of Education to retain good staff,  and for them to be encouraged to give their best to the institutions,  require that attention are to be paid to their financial, psychological  and even physiological needs such as stable power supply, good  water  supply among  others.   Basic  conditions  of service  for Colleges  of Education  in Nigeria  are  determined  externally  by  the  National  Commission  for  Colleges  of Education (NCCE) in conjunction with the Salaries and Wages Commission.  But the conditions of service being  interpreted  by  the  educational  managers  in  Colleges  of Education  seem  to  have  de-

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motivated  their  staff  in  the  areas  of welfare,  employee  benefits,  allowances,  appointment, training, promotions,  and lots more.    Yakubu and Momoh (2011) noted that staff welfare is not given much attention in the Colleges of Education in the North Central. According to the authors office and residential  accommodations  are not enough for staff. The problem  is so acute that some staff members live about 50 kilometers from their work place.  Maliki (2011) also opined that some of the institutions  in the North Central States seem not to have functional health care services for staff and students.  Promotions are not implemented  and where they are,  the arears are not paid. Mgbodile (2004) observed that poor motivation could lead to problems within the academic system such as low self morale, and redundancy.  There  is the need for educational managers in the North Central States,  to pay more attention to the issue of staff welfare,  with a view of improving on it.

Information  is  vital  in  any  organization.  Information  is received  or  passed  through communication.  Communication  is defined  by  Wolfen  (2008)  as the  exchange  and  flow of information and ideas from one person to another. Communication  applies to every aspect of managerial  functions.  Communication  is the means by which staff members both teaching and non-teaching  are linked together to achieve a common purpose in an educational organization. For educational managers  in Colleges of Education to be effective,  they need to communicate necessary  information  for carrying out managerial  functions and activities.  King (2012)  stated that communication  lays the keystone to every organizational upbringing  and grooming of the environment of that particular organization  for effective and efficient production.  According to king, communication is one of the most important ways to ensure a productive and creative staff, as well as to avoid complications  and mishaps,  and to ensure the optimum in a range of skills. The absence of communication  between the human resource managers and the staff (academic

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and  non-academic)   has   affected   the   institutions.   Lack   of  communication   and   gap   in communication among staff and between the management and staff is one of the major causes of conflict and low morale at work in the Colleges of Education in the North Central.

The Public Service Rules’ professional ethics for Colleges of Education (2006) stated that the provost (other principal officers inclusive)  shall have cordial relationships with all members of staff, be open-minded, and keep the staff aware of all information that may be of official interest to them. On professional ethics the Public Service Rule (PSR 2006: 109) stated that “the provosts shall try to relate with the students, try to know them as persons so as to identify, and where possible, solve their problems”. However, the reality seems to be the reverse. It seems the rules were not meant to be observed by the education managers. Personal observation has shown that staff and students seldom see their school managers let alone identifying and relating with them. Most education managers in the Colleges of Education in the North Central States do not seem to understand the importance of communication  as it has been relegated to the end of their managerial   list.  Most  of these  institutions  lack  modem   information  gadgets.  Most  often information is gotten  from the college grapevines  rather  than the school management.  Wiley (2014) noted that when communication is scarce, gossip and misinformation flourish. The consequence  is conflict  characterized by suspicion,  rivalry,  strife and low self esteem among staff and students.  There is an urgent need therefore,  for managers of Colleges of Education to appraise their information management with a view for improvement.

Discipline  is a process  that  is  designed  to  improve performance  or  change behavior. Desler  (2001)  defined staff discipline  as a procedure  that  corrects  or punishes  a subordinate because a rule of procedure has been violated.  Staff discipline deals with the level to which the employees  of an organization  are  able to  conform,  and submit  themselves  to the rules  and

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regulations  governing  their  conducts  in the workplace.  Discipline  prompts  staff members  to observe  rules,  regulations,   and  processes   necessary   for  the  effective   functioning   of  an organization.  The survival  and strength  of an organization  depend  largely on how much the employees  are  able  to  align themselves  to  the  goals,  policies,  rules  and  regulations  of the organization.   Nwangu  (2007) noted that staff discipline in school enables the staff to respect constituted  authorities,  obey  rules  and  regulations,  and  maintain  an  established  manner  of behaviour. Discipline is a very important tool to use in the hands of educational administrators to maintain law and order in the institutions. Kegan (2014) opined that it is important not to ignore workplace discipline because when it is properly administered, helps to curb problem behaviour, and upholds workplace standard, establishes workplace conduct, and promotes employee morale. Behaviours classified as acts of indiscipline  in an educational environment according to Smiles (2004)  are,  absenteeism,  insubordination,  violation  of institutional rules,  non performance  of duty,  fighting, drunkenness, tardiness and sexual harassment among others.

Public Service Rules (PSR) for Colleges of Education stated that disciplinary measure is to be taken against any staff for misconduct, or inefficiency.  The condition for outright dismissal as stated in the PSR are insubordination or willful disobedience, drunkenness, dishonesty such as stealing,  cheating,  gross negligence,  sabotage  and criminal conviction.  Disciplinary  measures listed in the PSR are verbal warning and reprimanding,  query and written warning,  withholding or  deferring  increment,  reduction  in rank  or  grade,  interdiction,  suspension,  termination  and dismissal. The punishment listed in the PSR is in commensuration with the offence committed.

The  policies  which  an  institution  practices  regarding   discipline   and  how  they  are implemented have a far reaching effects on staff disciplinary situation.  Insubordination,  truancy and exploitation  of students  by staff members  seem to  characterize  most  States Colleges  of

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Education  in the North  Central.  Maliki (2011) noted that the rate of students’  exploitation by some staff is glaring and alarming in some educational institutions in the North Central States. According to the author,  students are made to pay exorbitant prices for books some of which have no bearing with their course of study. In addition, Maliki also noted that staff members who have political  connections or godfathers  seem to flaunt their connections;  such staff members seem to believe they are above constituted  authority.  They come and go at will without  any explanation  to their heads of departments/units.  Absenteeism  and truancy  seem to be having negative  impacts  on the Colleges of Education  in the North  Central.  Maigun (2013) lamented about the havoc caused to the educational  system in the North  Central States by BokoHaram (BokoHaram is an Islamic terrorist group that is violently against Western education and Christianity). The author further noted that some staff members for fear of attack by BokoHaram stayed from their duty stations,  while some (staff members)  in Plateau,  Niger  and Nasarawa states have used that excuse to relocate and they only visit their duty stations once in a while. This situation could cripple the quality of instruction and service delivery in these institutions. There is need for disciplinary measures to be taken against every act which can affect the quality of service delivery in the Colleges of Education in the North  Central States.  With the level  of power vested on the provosts  and other principal  officers according to the PSR,  one wonders why indiscipline  still prevails  in these  institutions.  There  is an urgent  need  for managers  of Colleges of Education in the North Central to improve on their human resource management. For this reason,  this  study adopted  the Delphi  Technique  in order  to seek experts’  opinion.  The Delphi  is a systematic  forecasting  method  which relies  on a panel  of experts  to respond  to questionnaire  items in two or three rounds.  As the experts make progress,  they may add new items they judged  to be relevant  or remove items  they deemed irrelevant until a consensus  is

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achieved   (Gweydin,  2012).  It  is   against   this  backdrop   that  the  researcher   is   interested  in investigating  ways  of improving  human  resource  management  of Colleges  of Education  in the North Central States, Nigeria.

Statement of the Problem

Over the years the Colleges  of Education  in the North  Central  States  were the bedrock  of solid educational  foundations.  In recent  years however,  the standard  of these  institutions  are on the decline due to poor management.  This seems to have affected  the quality of graduates  from them:  these graduates  find it  difficult  to communicate  effectively in English  language  let alone teach  using  it  (Usman,  2011)  and (Yakubu  & Momoh,  2011).  These  give  credence  to  wonder about   the   educational   qualification   of  the   lecturers  recruited:   if  they   were   examined   or interviewed before they were recruited.  Based on the abysmal state of the Colleges of Education in the North  Central States,  it seems staff training has been relegated  to the bottom of the priority lists  of both  the  educational   managers   and  the  staff  themselves.  Empirical   researches   and personal  observation  in these colleges have shown that most of the staff members  still hold tight to their entering qualifications  without  making any attempt  for further training and development in their  fields  of study.  One  of the  functions of management  is  communication but  due to the conflict  and various  factions  namely  religious, political, tribal,  and  ethnic  which  characterized most of these institutions  there  is communication breakdown  between  the management  and staff which  has resulted  to poor  service  delivery.  Absenteeism,  truancy,  insubordination,  and  gross misconduct  seem  to  be  the  norm  in  these  institutions.  These  have  practically   crippled  state• owned Colleges of Education  in the North  Central States  (Maigun,  2013).  Educational  managers do not seem to be making much impact  at improving  the human resources  of these institutions. The Federal  Government  through  the National  Council  for Colleges  of Education  (NCCE),  in a

14

bid to improve the standard  of instruction and administration  of the institutions provided  the Public Service Rules (PSR) as a guide.  Therefore, this study sought to find out from respondents and experts ways human resource  management  could be improved for effective  teaching  and learning outcomes and for high quality education in Colleges of Education in the North Central States, Nigeria.

Purpose of the Study

The  main  purpose   of this  study  was  to  investigate  ways  of improving  human  resource management  of Colleges  of Education  in the North  Central  States, Nigeria.  Specifically,  the study sought to:

1.    Identify ways of improving staffrecruitment in Colleges of Education

2.   Ascertain ways of improving staff training in Colleges of Education

3.   Find out ways of improving communication in Colleges of Education

4.   Ascertain ways of improving staff  motivation in the institutions

5.   Find out ways of improving staff  disciplinary practices in Colleges of Education

Significance of the Study

Theoretically, this study is anchored on Human Relations Theory which emphasizes the importance  of understanding  human behaviour,  needs and attitude in the workplace,  as well as social  interactions.  The  central  idea  of Human  Relations  Theory  (HRT)  is that  the  human resources are very important in the achievement of organizational goals.  Therefore,  educational managers need to understand that workers are to be motivated in the area of welfare, promotion, and prompt payment,  among others.  In relating this theory to this study Colleges of Education managers need to realize that worker’  attitude at work may be due to some factors.   Such factors

15

need to be forestalled.  According to HRT, money alone is not the cause of increased output, the factor that best  explains  increased output  is human relations.  The  implication of this  is that educational managers in Colleges of Education are to treat their staff in a positive manner.

This study has a number of practical significance.  The findings from this study will be of immense  benefit  to  educational  managers,  government,  staff  and  students  of Colleges  of Education  in the North  Central,  political  office holders,  and researchers.  The findings of this study  will  enlighten  educational   managers  on  the  importance  of organizing  conferences, workshops and seminars for staff development.  The findings of this study will be of benefit to the staff as the information generated will enlighten them to realize the need for professional development by attending conferences, workshops and seminars.

The information  generated will be of benefit to the state government  as the information from the  study  will  enlighten  them  on  the  need  to  organize  human  resource  management leadership workshop for provosts and the principal officers and thus improve service delivery in the institutions. The information generated will enlighten the educational managers on the importance of staff motivation as it will help create awareness in them regarding the importance of motivating  staff  by  implementing  promotions  promptly,  implementing  promotions  with financial  and  material  benefits.  The  findings  from  this  study  will  also  provide  educational managers with solid information regarding ways of improving staff disciplinary practices in the institutions as the suggestions on ways of improving disciplinary practices in the study will act as guide.  Finally,  it  is  hoped  that  this  study  will  add  to  the  existing  body  of knowledge  in educational research.  Any researcher  wishing to undertake  further study or research in related areas of human resource management will find useful information in this work.

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Scope of the Study

The study was carried out in the State Colleges of Education in the North Central which

1s  also known  as the  middle  belt.  The  states  are:  Kogi,  Kwara,  Benue,  Niger,  Plateau  and Nasarawa.  The study was restricted  to human resource  management  functions.  The functions focused  on  are  staff  recruitment,  staff training,  communication,  staff  motivation,  and  staff discipline practices. Provosts, Registrars, Librarians, Bursars, Deans of schools and Heads  of departments were the respondents for the study.

Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study:

1.     What are the ways of improving staff recruitment  in Colleges of Education in the North

Central States?

2.     What are the ways of improving  staff training  in Colleges of Education  in the North

Central States?

3.     What are the ways of improving  communication  in Colleges of Education in the North

Central States?

4.    What are the ways of improving staff motivation in the institutions  in the North Central

States?

5.    What are the ways of improving staff disciplinary practices in Colleges of Education in the North Central States?

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Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study and were tested at 0.05 level of significant.

H0:     There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of the management staff and deans and heads of departments with regards to improving  staff recruitment  in Colleges of Education in the North Central States.

H0:     There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of the management staff and deans and heads of departments with regards to staff training in the Colleges of Education in the North Central States.

H0,:     There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of the management staff and deans  and  heads  of departments  with  regards  to  improving  communication   in  the institutions in the North Central States.

HO,:     There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of the management staff and deans  and  heads  of departments  with  regards  to  improving  staff  motivation  in  the Colleges of Education in the North Central States.

H0,:     There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of the management staff and deans and heads  of departments  with regards  to ways of improving  staff disciplinary practices in the Colleges of Education in the North Central States.



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IMPROVING HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT OF COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN THE NORTH CENTRAL STATES NIGERIA

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