Principals’ Personal Variables and Management of Statutory Records in Secondary Schools in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria

The purpose of this study investigated how principals' personal variables influence their management of statutory records in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria. The study adopted an expost facto research design. A census sampling technique was used to select a total of two hundred and forty two (242) principals in the area of study. The instruments used for data collection were questionnaires titled Principals' Personal Variables Questionnaire" (PPVQ) and Management of Statutory Record Questionnaire (MSRQ). The questionnaire was validated and the reliability established using Cronbach alpha reliability estimate with the coefficient of 0.87 for continuous variable sub-scale in PPVQ and coefficient ranging from 0.77 to 0.90 for subQuestionnaires in MSRQ. The sub scales were high for the instruments to be considered dependable and consistent. The test statistics used for data analysis were one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and independent t-test. These statistical tools were selected based on the nature of the hypothesis and how they were measured in the instruments. The results showed that educational qualification and gender of principals influence their management of statutory records in all the dimensions that were assessed. Based on the results, it was recommended among others that school principals should be encouraged to ensure that admission and attendance registers are well kept for reference purposes.