ASSESSMENT OF THE APPLICATION OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT BY PRINCIPALS IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ENUGU STATE

Abstract

The study aimed at assessing the application of total quality management in the administration of secondary schools in Enugu State. Three research questions guided the study and three null hypotheses were formulated and tested at .05 level of significance. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population for the study comprised 9529 teachers. Proportionate stratified sampling technique was used to obtain a sample size of 540 respondents. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The instrument for data collection was validated by three experts; two from Educational Management Department and one expert in the area of Measurement and Evaluation in the Department of Computer and Mathematics Education, all from Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT). A reliability coefficient of 0.68 was obtained using cronbach  Alpha statistic. A total of 523 copies out of 540 copies of the questionnaire correctly filled and returned were used for the study representing 96.9 percent return rate.          The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for answering the research questions and t-test for testing the null hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that principals should apply teamwork, total commitment and continuous improvement in the administration of secondary schools in Enugu State to a low extent. It was recommended among others that secondary education board of the State should on regular basis organize workshops and seminars where management functions of the school principals should be discussed, and equally workshops and training should be made compulsory for all serving principals as to highlight the place of teamwork, total commitment and continuous improvement in school administration.