Headteachers’ administrative skills and effective management of public primary schools in Ikorodu Local Government Area, Lagos State

This study investigated head teachers' administrative skills and effective management of public primary schools in Lagos State. A descriptive research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 1,464 teachers in public primary schools in Lagos State, from which a sample of 314 teachers was drawn using simple random sampling technique. The instrument used for data collection was the Head Teachers' Administrative Skills and Effective School Management Questionnaire (HTASESMQ), which was validated by experts in Educational Administration and Planning and Educational Evaluation. The internal consistency of the instrument was determined using Cronbach's Alpha and the instrument yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.88 for the independent variables and 0.85 for the dependent variable. Data collected were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMC) to answer the research questions, and to test the null hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that there was a relationship between the head teachers' decision-making skills and effective management of public primary schools (r = 0.362). Findings also revealed that there was a relationship between head teachers' supervisory skills and effective management of public primary schools (r = 0.420), The null hypotheses were consequently rejected indicating that there was a significant relationship between both administrative skills and effective management of public primary schools. It was recommended that head teachers should be encouraged to adopt participatory decision-making approaches that involve teachers, parents, and other stakeholders in school governance. Professional development workshops on collaborative and evidence-based decision-making should be provided to head teachers on a regular basis. It was also commended that the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB) should develop clear supervisory guidelines and structured classroom observation frameworks to support head teachers in conducting regular and developmental instructional supervision, using it not merely as a monitoring tool but as a mechanism for improving teaching quality.