This study investigated availability and extent of Information and Communication Technology facilities usage for school records management in public secondary schools in Imo State. Two specific purposes, two research questions, and two hypotheses guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of all the 314 principals in the 314 (134 urban and 180 rural) public secondary schools in Imo State. All the 314 (134 urban and 180 rural) public secondary school principals in Imo State were used for the study; thus, the census technique was adopted for the study. Researcher-structured rating scales titled “Availability of Information and Communication Technology Facilities Checklist (AICTFC) and Extent of Usage of Information and Communication Technology Facilities Rating Scale (EUICTRS) were used for data collection. The instruments were validated by three experts; two experts in the Department of Educational Management and Policy and one in Measurement and Evaluation Unit in the Department of Educational Foundations, all in the Faculty of Education Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. Internal consistency co-efficient of 0.91 and 0.89 was obtained for AICTFC and EUICTRS respectively using Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient. The researcher administered copies of the instruments to the respondents with the help of seven research assistants. Data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, mean, standard deviation, chi-square, and independent t-test. The findings revealed that the state of ICT facilities in public secondary schools in Imo State is generally inadequate and significantly unavailable, with availability falling below the required standard in both urban and rural areas. The study also found among others that why ICT usage is relatively high in urban schools, rural schools demonstrate a low extent of utilization, highlighting a rural-urban disparity. Thus, the study concluded based on the findings that improving equitable ICT provision, especially in rural schools, is essential to enhance school records management, school administration, and bridge the digital divide as well as promote effective educational service delivery. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others that the Imo State Ministry of Education, Secondary School Management Board, principals, and teachers should prioritize equitable provision, maintenance, and training for ICT facilities across urban and rural schools to enhance accessibility and balanced usage.
Udobata et al. (Fri,) studied this question.