ABSTRACT
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the role of headteachers in mobilizing community support for quality primary pupils’ achievement in Pankshin L.G.A of Plateau State. The target population for the study consists of all public primary schools in Pankshin L.G.A. with a total of One Hundred (100). Stratified sampling technique was used to draw up the subjects for the study. . Questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection. The data was organized and analyzed using frequency and percentages to organize the demographic data of respondents, mean to answer research questions and chi-square to test the null hypothesis advanced at 0.05 alpha level of significance. The finding of the study revealed that, there is a significant relationship between the role of headteachers and community, and also there is a significant relationship between the role of school heads and their leadership style in mobilizing community support for quality pupils’ achievement.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The school as a social organization is structured towards the training and development of human resources in the society. For any organization to effectively achieve its aims and objectives there must be a leader, under whose leadership, the school activities will be directed towards goal achievement. The educational leader at the primary school system in Nigeria is the headteacher who is in charge of all the school activities. Ozigi in Udabor O.F. 2010 recommended that the Headteacher can be called by a variety of titles; leader of the school, Headteacher, Principal, School Father/Mother, Adviser, Chief Administrative Executive, Public Relations-Officer, curriculum director, policy maker, organizer, Communicator, School Authority Educator, Projectionist, Philosopher, Provost. The importance of headteachers in improving quality education and producing useful citizenry through the acquisition of appropriate skills, abilities and competences cannot be over emphasized. Headteachers assume role of supervisors, chief accounting oicers, liaison oicers, judges and mail runners of their schools.
Primary school heads also possess adequate knowledge and skills for effective coordination of the activities of their establishments to discipline and influence goals, policies as well as programmes and strategies for procuring and managing available resources needed to achieve the goals of the school. Headteachers as the key administrators of their schools have to use different leadership styles in order to partner with the community in managing their schools. There are different leadership style in managing the schools. Tolutope in Oyetunde, Aliyu, Haggai, & Musa (2010), identified major types of leadership styles which are, autocratic, democratic, transactional and liaissez-faire. By using these various styles of leadership, headteachers will enhance cordial relationship between their school and community and this will encourage community participation in the school activities hence lead to general development of the school. Henderson, Mapp, Johnson and Davies (2007), noted that the more the relationship between families and the school, the greater the student’s achievement. Where schools engage families in ways that are linked to improve students learning, students (pupils) make greater gains. When families are engaged in positive ways rather than labeled as problems, schools can be transformed from place where only certain students prosper to one where all children do well. Wekesa (1993), however noted that, if students are to get quality education in their schools the management of the schools need to be improved under the leadership of their headteachers.