Application of Digital Surveillance as a Managerial Tool for Quality Assurance in Secondary Schools in Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined ‘Application of Digital Surveillance as a Managerial Tool for Quality Assurance in Secondary Schools in Rivers State, Nigeria.' Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted descriptive research design. The population comprised all the 258 principals in the 258 public secondary schools in Rivers State. A sample of 175 principals (94 males and 81 females), which represents 68%, was drawn from the population. The simple random sampling technique was used to select 175 schools, from which the principals were selected. The instrument that was used for data collection was a self-designed 15-item questionnaire entitled: ‘Application of Digital Surveillance for Quality Assurance Questionnaire (ADSQSQ).' The questionnaire was structured after the four-point modified Likert rating scale, and was duly validated. The reliability of the instrument was tested using the Cronbach's Alpha method to establish the internal consistency of the questionnaire items, and the coefficient of 0.81 and 0.69 were obtained for the two clusters respectively. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while z-test was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed, among others, that the benefits of the application of digital surveillance to the secondary schools include: instilling desirable behaviour in the students; improving teachers' pedagogical skills; making teachers to be more committed to their teaching tasks; enhancing students' academic engagement and helping to eradicate mass cheating during examinations. It was also discovered that the ways principals can use digital surveillance for quality assurance include: supervising the teaching-learning process in the classroom; monitoring students' behaviour in the class; guiding teachers on their pedagogical skills and ensuring that students learn in a safe learning environment. Based on the findings, it was recommended, among others, that the government should revamp the education sector by installing digital surveillance in the classrooms and also ensure that there is adequate power supply to sustain the initiative.