Project topics and material on ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ON STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS 

1.1 Background to the Study 

Over the years, education institutions have developed into complex and functional field of endeavour from the previous simple experiences. Changes in technology, economic, social and political sectors have contributed immensely to this development. Therefore, for education institutions to stay abreast in this rapidly changing environment, they must adapt to the new technologies and the changing life world. These issues pose many problems and challenges for school managers. Consequently, the management of physical and human resources in the school system are of the utmost importance in order to achieve the overall goals and objectives of the schools. 

Resource management is the efficient and effective deployment of an organisation‟s resources when they are needed. Such resources may include financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or information technology (IT). Also, resource management can include ideas such as making sure one has enough physical resources for one‟s business but not an overabundance or making sure that people are assigned to tasks that will keep them busy and not have too much downtime. 

Educationresources include all movable and immovable materials, which are used for teaching, learning and other school activities. They are synonymous with school physical facilities, school material resources, school plant and school facilities. Olagboye (2004) stated that education resources consist of instructional resources such as audio and visual aids, graphics, printed materials. display materials and consumable materials. They also include physical resources such as land, building, furniture, equipment, machinery, vehicles, electricity and water supply infrastructure. 

Resource management is an integrated approach to operating, maintaining, improving and adapting the building and infrastructure of an organization in order to create an environment that strongly supports the primary objectives of that organization (Atkin & Brooks, 2000:1). Resource management can also be seen as the development, co-ordination and control of the non-core specialist services necessary for an organization to successfully achieve its principal objective (American Library of Congress 1989, in Barrett, Ed, 1993:23).This definition incorporates the element of development as part of the functions of resource management, highlighting that it is part of a constantly changing environment in the core activities of an organization.It suggest that Resource Management provides a supporting management function to the core business of an organization; concentrates on the area of interface between physical workplace and people; and requires a multi-skill approach to integrate people, place, process and technology in executing its support functions. The function could be as complex as strategic planning to as menial as cleaning services and a range of services in between. 

In education institutions, facilities constitute essential inputs, which create favourable learning environment, facilitate interaction and enhance organisational performance (Oyesola, 2007). In essence, the school curriculum would not be meaningful and functional if required facilities are not provided in adequate quality and quantity at appropriate times through the principal‟s administrative finesse (Uko & Ayuk, 2014).The International Resource Management Association (2003), described resource management as the practice of co-ordinating the physical workplace with the people and the work of the organization by integrating the principles of business administration and architecture with the behavioural and engineering sciences. This culminates in the collective and participative decision making process towards the selection, establishment and installation of school plants; design of school grounds, halls and spaces; upgrading, innovation and purchase of new machineries and equipment; choice, design and implementation of programmes and projects; backup and review of management policies, practices, rules and regulations.  

Resource management in schools, play a pivotal role in the actualization of education goals and objectives by satisfying the physical and emotional needs of the staff and students. According to her, physical needs are met through the provision of safe structures, adequate sanitary facilities, a balanced visual and thermal environment, sufficient shelter space for work and play; while emotional needs are met by creating a pleasant surroundings, friendly atmosphere and an inspiring environment. Supporting the need for effective resource management in schools, Fenker (2004), stated that it involves a planned process to ensure that the buildings and other technical systems support the proper discharge of operations and services within the school organization.In addition, there would be safety from danger, disaster and theft when resources are well managed, certain facilities, especially the ones in the laboratories, are delicate, dangerous, expensive and explosive. They need to be well managed in order to avoid the danger which would arise from their usage. Also, disasters such as flood and fire could be avoided if there is proper planning for safety precautions (Asiabaka, 2008). 

According to Uko (2001), effective management of school resources requires knowledge, skill and expertise in handling different facets of the school system. This to her calls on the ability of the principal to set required objectives, supervise resource usage, formulate plans for procurement and ensure actual management and supervision of available facilities to attain set goals of the school system. The principal as the manager of the school organization therefore has the onerous task of mobilizing available human resource to ensure a proper running of the school.Any organisation that does not plan for its human resources will often find that it is meeting neither the personnel requirement nor its over-all goals effectively (Stoner, 1978 as cited by Osagie&Okafor, 2012). For example, a school may decide to introduce new subjects into its school curriculum, if the school does not make adequate arrangements for the teachers to handle these new subjects, the subjects will remain on the time table without being taught. To further buttress this point, when the federal government launched the 6:3:3:4 system of education, it spent huge financial resources on equipment for technical education. However, the human resources required to operate the equipment was not considered. Consequently, the equipment were left to rot in the rain and many of the equipment were eventually stolen by hoodlums. 

Another aspect of human resources management in the school is the workload of the staff. This is the amount of work assigned to a teaching position. Staff workload include teaching subjects, administrative duties, supervision of students and other activities. In the research findings on teachers‟ workload by Naylor and Malcomson (2001), teachers saw their workload increased because they spent fifty-three hours a week preparing their lesson notes for teaching and marking scripts. The teachers reported that they modified their teaching methods to enable them cope with the stress of the workload. When that happened, it was difficult for them to accomplish all their objectives because of the lack of time. Consequently, the performance of the teachers and the students was impaired. 

Secondary education which serves as a link between primary and tertiary levels, is vital to national development. Management of resources at this level is very vital to achievement of education objectives and appropriate management techniques would assist in taking care of all available resources. In ether words, resources which might have suffered neglect as a result of carelessness, ignorance, lack of commitment and proper management, would receive attention from school administrators and inspectors. Also, school resources which are well managed are likely to be durable. This will save us the lost of replacement within a short period of procurement. In the light of this background, this study will be carried out to determine the impact of resources management on students‟ academic performance in public secondary schoolsin Zaria and Giwa education zones in 

Kaduna State. 

1.2 Statement of the Problem 

Successive governments in Nigeria have made efforts towards the effective management of human resources in education institutions. However, certain challenges still persist with staff training and development, teachers‟workload, performance evaluation, supervision of instruction, conditions of service, staff turnover and motivation, disciplinary problems among students and teachers, promotion policies and so on. Hence, many senior secondary schools are having problems with the resources especially human and materials resources. In human resources for example, there are academic and non-academic staff. The quality of academic staff employed in secondary school today is below standard; some of the teachers are lacking proper training and mastery of subject matter. Some of them are employed based on god-fatherism not based on quality; this could be as a result of political involvement in education, other human resources who are regarded as supporting staff in secondary school are also not left behind in such regard. Management of the above resources is very paramount especially in school organisation. This is because absent of proper management may lead to so many abnormalities especially when it come to organisational performance. 

Funding is yet another fundamental factor in relations to resources, availability and accessibility of fund in a giving organisation is not just enough rather, proper management and utilization of such funds is highly crucial especially in an organisation like school. 

Observation shows that most secondary school in Zaria local government are having problem of mismanagement especially management of funds. There are series of report in relation to misappropriation of funds. This could be as a result of corruption, political involvement in education, appointment of unqualified personnel to handle financial sector in the school. Shortage of facilities (computer) that will man the affairs of assessing, controlling and keeping record related to financial expenditure. 

Aside all the mentioned problems, there is one other major problem and that is, shortage of managers to serve as school administratorascribed the responsibility of managing both human, material and financial resources respectively, absent of their quality in carrying out this task will affect the quality of performance in the school. In view of this, this study is out to investigate the impact of resources management on students‟ academic performance in public secondary schoolsin Zaria and Giwa education zones in Kaduna 

State. 

1.3 Objectives of the Study 

The main objective of the study is to examine the impact of resources management on students‟ academic performance in public secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones in Kaduna State. The study was carried out with the following specific objectives. To; 

1. Assess the impact of human resources management on students‟ academic performances in public secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones in Kaduna State. 

2. Ascertain the impact of material resources management on students‟ academic performance in public secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones in 

Kaduna State. 

3. Assess the impact of financial resources management on students‟ academic performance in public secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones in Kaduna State. 

4. Determine the impact of time management on students‟ academic performance in public secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones in Kaduna State. 

5. Assess the impact of instructional materials management on students‟ academic performance in public secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones in 

Kaduna State. 

1.4 Research Questions 

The following research questions were answered in the course of this study; 

1. Is there impact of human resources on students‟ academic performance in public secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones in Kaduna State? 

2. What are the impacts of material resources management on students‟ academic performance in public secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones in Kaduna State? 

3. Is there impact of financial resources on students‟ academic performance in public secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones in Kaduna State? 

4. What are the impact oftime management on students‟ academic performance in public secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones in Kaduna State? 

5. Whatare the impact of instructional materials management on students‟ academic performance in public secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones in 

Kaduna State? 

1.5 Research Hypotheses 

The following null hypotheses were postulated: 

1. There is no significant difference in theimpact of human resources management on students‟ academic performance in public secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones in Kaduna State. 

2. There is no significant difference in the impact of material resources management on students‟ academic performance in public secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones in Kaduna State. 

3. There is no significant difference in the impact of financial resources on students‟ academic performance in public secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones in Kaduna State. 

4. There is no significant difference in the impact of time management on students‟ academic performance in public secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones in Kaduna State. 

5. There is no significant difference in the impact of instructional materials management on students‟ academic performance in public secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones in Kaduna State. 

1.6 Basic Assumptions 

The study was carried out with the assumptions that; 

1. When teachers are adequate and qualified in their respective disciplines or subject areas, students will perform better in Zaria and Giwa education zones, secondary schools. 

2. If materials resources are appropriate, adequate and utilized effectively, teachinglearning activity will improve significantly in Zaria and Giwa education zones, secondary schools. 

3. Sources of financial resources have impact on the management of public secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones in Kaduna State. 

4. Adequate provision of material facilities will improve teaching and learning in 

Zaria and Giwa education zones, secondary schools. 

5. When time is judiciously managed, academic performance will be improved in 

Zaria and Giwa education zones, secondary schools.