Managerial Techniques Required of Principals of Technical and Vocational Colleges for Quality Assurance and Skill Acquisition

The study is on the Managerial Techniques Required of Principals of Technical and Vocational Colleges for Quality Assurance and Skill Acquisition. The study was carried out in Lagos State. It covered all the six (6) technical colleges in the state. Survey design was used to elicit information from the respondents. The population of the study included all the Principals, and Vice Principals, departmental and unit heads. A total of six principals, twelve vice principals, five departmental heads and fifteen unit heads were used for the study. A pilot study was conducted to ascertain the reliability of the questionnaire items which was calculated to be 0.69. Five research questions were raised for the study and the data collected analysed with mean and standard deviation. The result of the study showed that Principals of technical and vocational colleges apply some levels of managerial skills though do not involve teachers in policy and decision making, Most of the managerial techniques of Principals of technical and vocational colleges are not very adequate to enhance the quality of technical and vocational education.


INTRODUCTION
The principal is a person with leadership qualities who can uphold accountability, recognize the creative potential, and value in coworkers, students, and peers to encourage them to pursue higher education.The principal accomplishes this through emphasizing goal-setting and daily goals that benefit the entire community, family, and the individual person.The leader and head of a secondary school is known as the principal.He is in charge of managing the school along with other members of the teaching and non-teaching staff.The principle is the top administrator of the school and is in charge of both the general management of secondary schools as well as instructional leadership through the coordination of co-curricular and curricular programs.The daily oversight, monitoring, assessment, and evaluation of teachers' use of contemporary teaching and learning innovations that contribute to pedagogical efficacy processes in the classrooms are within the purview of the principals.The management of secondary schools in Nigeria is the responsibility of the principals, who serve as the coordinators, managers, and stewards of the school's extracurricular and extracurricular activities.Torukwein and Lesi (2017) made this argument.His responsibilities in the administration of schools span a wide range of functions, such as management, staff delegation, parent-community relations, student discipline, teacher evaluation, and employment of new teachers.The management of the school is the responsibility of the principal.Someone who manages a school's daily operations is known as a school manager.Planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling tasks are completed to achieve this.It also has to do with managing the day-to-day operations of an organization, carrying out policies and choices to achieve a goal, and performing executive functions.For the purpose of achieving the required standard of a particular company, it is the deliberate and methodical arrangement and usage of both people and material resources, conditions, and opportunities (Technical and Vocational Education) Technical Colleges and Vocational are post basic institutions vested with provision of training of individuals in practical skills in various crafts.The schools offer a three-year programme leading to the award of National Technical Certificate (NTC) or National Business Certificate (NBC).Technical College is a special form of vocational education which requires more mathematics and science.The study of technologies and related sciences as well as the acquisition of practical skills, attitudes, and knowledge relating to occupations in various sectors of economic and social life are all included in technical and vocational education, according to National Policy on Education (2004).Technical and vocational education is used as a general term to refer to those aspects of the educational process.The realizations of these objectives rest on the shoulders of the Principals of Technical Colleges who have to apply their managerial techniques, harnessing all available human and material resources.According to Babayemi (2006), principals have a responsibility to change the staff's mentality and inspire them to work hard to meet academic objectives.Principals' success or failure in the educational system is mostly dependent on the caliber of their managing approaches.Give training and impart necessary skills to individuals who shall be self-reliant economically.The National Police on Education is stressing quality in Nigeria Education System where teaching and learning are of high quality as compared to developed nations of the world.
In the context of vocational education, quality assurance refers to the concept of excellent performance in areas like teaching, learning, infrastructure, student behavior, and the complete academic process.Quality here is in terms of academic excellence and human resource development besides other factors, depends on the ability of the principal and the extent to which he applies managerial techniques in achieving a set standard in line with quality assurance indices.Those who compare the good old days when they were in school to the current state of the educational system are among the modern critics who bemoan the deterioration in educational quality.The curriculum stuck to the basics with no frills and soft options; teachers were devoted and conscientious, maintained strict discipline, and insisted on high standards; students took their studies more seriously, worked harder, and learned more than they do today.Philip (1985), in his book on "the world crisis in education," presented that what those old days were like add up to the following scenario.So, the question of whether the current educational system is driven by a realistic and legitimate notion of quality and standards, consistent with the nature of a rapidly evolving and highly diverse world, persists.It is important to mention that the education system has sharply declined, which motivated well-intentioned educationists to work toward overhauling the educational system, including quality assurance.Quality and standards are in fact relative issues, as Philip (1985) noted.They are pertinent to the specific time and location, as well as the specific students and situations.
The attainment of the results required for people, communities, and societies to succeed remains the quality in standard of education.It is one that equips all students with the skills they need to become economically productive, create sustainable livelihoods, support stable, democratic societies, and improve wellbeing (VVOB, 2017).According to VVOB, quality education also gives credence to learning outcomes that are necessary in different contexts, but at the end of the basic education cycle, they must also include threshold levels of literacy and numeracy, fundamental scientific knowledge, and life skills like awareness and disease prevention.Additionally, it entails building the skills of teachers and other key education stakeholders, who are essential to the process.It is on this realm of reasoning that Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Education worked out what constitutes Education Quality Assurance for all levels of education in Nigeria.It asserts that all students, employees, and those who lead and administer schools should seek to reach high standards.Although they are occasionally incorrectly referred to as minimal requirements, these are quality standards that put an emphasis on enhancing learning outcomes.Nonetheless, because quality assurance is about ongoing development, quality standards shouldn't be viewed as ceilings for schools.Achievement, conduct, and the caliber of instruction and learning are all part of the quality standard.Both academics and facilities use managerial strategies.
Instructional monitoring, teacher caliber, school resources, class size, teacher welfare, school climate, and community involvement are some of these strategies.
Instructional supervision is an indispensable factor that should be carried out by the inspectorate division and school principals.Instructional supervision is aimed at monitoring and evaluating the methodology, materials, equipment and facilities in the school.It is important aspect of managerial techniques that oversees the work of teachers and assisting them to solve instructional challenges in such a way that students can benefit maximally from the classroom activities.
Managerial technique with regard to teachers' qualities entails the qualification, experiences, professional skills and personal qualities.Therefore, it is expected that at the point of recruitment of teachers, their qualities should be factors to consider.Principals of technical colleges should ensure adequate physical structures such as buildings, playground, furniture, electrical fittings, water pipe-fittings and other material resources for effective teaching and learning activities.The availability of school facilities directs well the task of teaching and shaping students' learning process in and out of school.
Teachers' welfare package is one of the techniques that can influence students' academic performance.Oko (2014) observed that favourable welfare allows teachers to do a good job which will automatically improve students' academic performance.These welfare packages could be salary increment, gratuity, regular promotion, job security and favourable relationship amongst the staff.The Principal therefore, should make provisions for good welfare package for his/her or her teachers.Also class size plays significant role in students' academic performance.It is obvious that crowded class do not give room for adequate classroom management and students' participation in classroom activities.The National Policy on Education ( 2004) directed that a normal class size should be 1 teacher to 40 students which often times is not adhered to because of inadequate facilities and resource persons.Though facilities may not be adequate in the school but the principal ensures and relate with the Ministry of Education to admit a reasonable number of students.The quality of technical education offered to the youths grossly depends on the versatility of the ingenuity of the principal.Very rare do technical schools in Nigeria score above average in quality rating both in academics and physical facilities especially during accreditation.It is based on this that the researcher deems it necessary to find the extent to which managerial techniques of the principals meet up with the needs of quality assurance.

Statement of the problem
Technical colleges were founded to fill the technical manpower gap by educating people in practical skills, attitudes, and information that are relevant to the needs of the expanding labor market.The training programs in Nigerian technical schools, it appears, do not currently provide students with the necessary abilities.Low academic performance in schools has always been a recurring problem that may be in part due to principals who lack the necessary management and leadership skills.As a result, it might be assumed that technical college principals are unable to effectively and efficiently utilize both human and non-human resources in order to provide Nigeria with the high-quality technical education it requires.Principals' use of effective and efficient management strategies is crucial to the success of technical education programs and the accomplishment of quality standards.The story of low-quality technical education is true even when there are both human and material resources available, but the school manager is unable to motivate them into action to produce the desired excellence and quality.As a result, the study aims to determine the extent to which quality control and skill development are accomplished through the administrative strategies required of Technical and Vocational College Principals.

Purpose of the Study
The study seeks to find the extent to which the managerial techniques required of Principals of Technical and Vocational Colleges meet up with the needs of Quality Assurance and Skill acquisition.Specifically, the study seeks to determine the: 1.The managerial techniques Principals of technical and vocational colleges apply on welfare of his or her staff members.2. Facility related factors that can enhance the managerial techniques of Principals of technical and vocational colleges in meeting up with the needs of quality assurance and skill acquisition.3. The efforts of Principal of technical and vocational colleges in improving the quality of teaching and learning in the school.4. Principal's strategies for attracting quality teachers to his or her school.

The effect of class size on the managerial techniques of Principals of technical colleges
Research Questions 1.What managerial strategies do technical and vocational college presidents use to ensure the wellbeing of their staff members? 2. What are the facility-related elements that can improve the managerial skills needed by technical and vocational college principals? 3. How is the principal of technical and vocational colleges working to raise the standard of instruction at the institution?4. What are the Principal's plans for luring qualified instructors to his or her institution?5. How does the number of students in a class affect the leadership style of technical and vocational college presidents?

METHOD Design of the Study
In this study, a public opinion survey design was used.This design was deemed suitable since it aims to learn from the respondents how the managerial strategies of technical college principals align with the requirements of quality assurance indices.This was accomplished by having respondents fill out a questionnaire.

Participants in the Study
All of the principals, vice presidents, and instructors from the six technical colleges in Lagos State made up the population.There are 244 active teachers in these schools, while there are 18 principals and vice principals.120 instructors were chosen at random to participate as respondents.For the study, all 18 Principals were utilized.There were a total of 138 responders.

Validation of the Instrument
A structured questionnaire containing 44 questionnaire items were developed for the study and validated by three lectures in the department of Science and Technology Education, University of Lagos.The instrument was rated in four-point response mode: Strongly Agreed 4, Agreed 3, Disagreed 2, Strongly Disagreed 1

Method of Data Collection
The researcher gave the questionnaire to the participants.The respondents had two days to complete the questionnaire.The respondents were assigned the same numbers (138), which were gathered.

Method of Data analysis
The statistical methods that were utilized to analyze the information gathered from the respondents were mean and standard deviation.Any mean score above 2.50 was considered agreed, whereas mean scores below 2.50 were considered disagreed.2 showed that all the identified items can enhance the managerial techniques of Principals.Most of the respondents agreed that for effective administration these factors have to be put in place because they are necessary for classroom teaching and learning.The respondents ranked adequate number of classrooms highest followed by availability of workshop facilities with mean values of 4.01 and 3.56 respectively.

RESULT
Research Question 3: What are the efforts of Principal of technical and vocational colleges in improving the quality of teaching and learning in the school?The table above showed that most of the respondents agreed that all the factors above are challenges to the Principal's administration.Items number 32 and 34 have the highest mean values with standard deviation of 0.77 and 0.66 respectively.Item number 33 has the lowest mean value with standard deviation of 0.90.

Findings of the Study.
1.There are several managerial techniques the Principals can apply to improve staff welfare in the school to attain quality technical education.These qualities include: prompt payment of salaries and bonuses, opportunity for sick or causal leave, access to utility, free medical care and housing loan.2. The result of the study revealed that the provision of adequate number of furniture, public convenience, instructional materials and recreational facilities are some of the managerial techniques that could increase the efficiency and effective teaching.3. Managerial techniques that could ensure quality instruction in technical colleges include: regular instructional supervision, routine check of teachers' record books, Orientation for the newly recruited staff members, mentoring of younger teachers and retraining of staff members to update their knowledge and skills.4. That request for professionally qualified staff, engaging part time teachers, being part of recruitment and deployment of staff are enviable techniques for attracting quality teachers to school. 5. Crowded and congested classroom was found to affect managerial techniques of Principals of technical colleges.

DISCUSSION
The public concern for the falling standard of education in Nigeria has put blame virtually on every operator of education.However, nobody wants to admit the responsibility but there are indicators pointing to some unattended areas by some persons.It was revealed that staff welfare is a managerial technique of Principals of technical colleges in meeting up with the needs of Quality Assurance Indices.It was found that welfare benefits for teachers increase output.The study found that productivity is influenced by good employee benefits, consistent promotions, and effective staff training.This will help the teachers do their tasks more effectively.Teachers are the center around which the entire educational system revolves, therefore their performance in their designated duties will determine the level of efficiency, productivity, and ability of the educational system to fulfill its goals.
It is expected that with little available resources the managers of educational institutions should show some levels of improved standards.The study revealed that the provision of adequate number of furniture, public convenience, instructional materials and recreational facilities are some of the managerial techniques that could increase the efficiency and effective teaching.Physical facilities are very important in lesson delivery because students easily assimilate.According to Osuji (2016), an efficient school facility adapts to the evolving educational delivery programs and, at the very least, should offer a physical environment that is welcoming, secure, safe, accessible, well-lit, well-ventilated, and aesthetically pleasing with simple concepts and teachers who are not under any stress.School facilities have an impact on hiring, retaining, committing, and working hard of teachers.According to research from the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy Analysis (2019), school amenities have an impact on students' health, behavior, engagement, learning, and development in accomplishment.
Hence, studies typically come to the conclusion that it is very challenging to serve a large number of children with complex needs in the absence of proper facilities and resources.
Supervision of instruction is one of the several techniques employed in achieving educational objectives.
The study revealed that the Principals of technical colleges have to employ their managerial techniques in harnessing resources.This requires that Principals of technical colleges has to be skilled enough.
There are people who advocate for the professional development of school principals because, in Isaac's opinion (2007), one argument that has always been offered for the bad results in schools is that Principals are not adequately skilled and trained for school management and leadership.Reitzug (2002) noted that in order to improve successful teaching and learning, a principal must establish systems for nurturing and developing the potential of educators.
The study identified some of the factors that can bring about quality assurance in technical education since the importance of quality education in nation building cannot be treated with levity.Measurement and uniformity of academic programs are some of these factors.assessing the work's quality while supervising, using qualified teachers and administrative supervisors, Use of educational technologies for information dissemination to teachers and students with a goal of improving efficiency and effectiveness in the classroom, planning and organizing school activities, and staff members' motivation.To accomplish established goals, supervision makes ensuring that employees follow the proper routines, rules, and regulations.The principal is in charge of everything at a school.He oversees on the inspectorate's behalf at the school level.The principal is required to have a thorough understanding of curriculum and instruction and to provide competent leadership in all facets of the school program.The principal translates educational policies and objectives into the program.
He is accountable for accurately, honestly, and dutifully maintaining records of money, property, and people as part of the managing strategies used by the principal.Records help principals understand each child's background, nature, issues, activities, and progress since they contain information that can be accessed by students, instructors, and administrators as needed.When school records are preserved properly, they act as a data bank from which the administrator and his staff can retrieve data as needed.
Records give school administrators and teachers knowledge of students' backgrounds, issues, and activities.They also give parents and potential employers knowledge of candidates' challenges and accomplishments.Because keeping records is so crucial, the keeping of school records should follow efficient and effective administrative procedures, according to principals.
According to Lateef (2018), the poor quality of education in Nigeria is a result of a lack of money, infrastructure deficiencies, Nigeria's intermittent power supply, inadequate laboratories and workshops, and an excessive focus on business.Our teachers also lack access to contemporary teaching methods.It is not gain saying that education in Nigeria has become bureaucratized and been subjected to the manipulation and control the Nigeria by public service.Most of the learning facilities in the schools are in shambles, some stolen and damaged and left in the open for the harsh weather to finally destroy.Buildings are in dilapidated state, no furniture, no windows and doors.Effective classroom management increases student engagement, assimilation of facts, decreases disruptive behaviours, and makes good use of instructional time.Classroom management determines how effective the classroom instruction will take place.A poorly managed classroom has very serious effect on the teaching and learning that go no in the classroom.Therefore, the Principal has a vital role to play with regard to classroom management strategies and to help ensure that students achieve success.
To ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to learn, technical colleges must improve their teaching and learning processes by using effective teaching strategies and providing suitable facilities, equipment, and training materials.Adegoke (2007) emphasized that without sufficient manpower and qualified instructors who are the results of high-quality teacher education, no real progress can occur.A proper preparation in science, specialized knowledge, and vocational skill acquisition is necessary for theoretical and practical vocational teacher education.The Principals of technical colleges must be experienced, trained professionals in technical education who can effectively and efficiently infuse their managerial techniques in the administration of their schools in order for them to reach their anticipated level of academic and technological status in Nigeria and be prepared to compete with similar institutions worldwide.

CONCLUSION
The management of technical colleges in Nigeria has to be given to experienced trained persons in technical education who understand the system and can adequately handle the affairs of the schools in terms of adequate provision of facilities, recruitment of teachers and admission of students, supervision of classroom instruction to ensure quality assurance in the system.The management of technical colleges determine the quality of the output of the colleges.

Recommendations
Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations were made To ensure high quality technical education, the importance of technical education in Nigeria has been emphasized.Following are indicators of high-quality technical education, according to the National Policy on Education (2004): • Provide technical manpower in the applied sciences, technology, • Provide technical knowledge and vocational skills necessary for agriculture, commercial and economic development •

Research Question 1.
What are the managerial techniques Principals of technical and vocational colleges apply on welfare of his or her staff members?

Table 1 :
Responses of the respondents on managerial techniques Principals of technical colleges apply on welfare of staff. in table1showed that most of the respondents agreed that Principals apply good and favourable techniques in welfare of staff members in his administration for items number 1to 6. Item number 4 has the highest mean value while item number 6 has the lowest mean value.This shows that payment of leave allowances ranked highest among the items.From the table, it can be observed that staff members do not have access to utility allowance, medical care and housing loan.What are the facility related factors that can enhance the managerial techniques required of Principals of technical and vocational colleges?

Table 2 .
Responses of the respondents on the facility-related factors that can enhance the managerial techniques of Principals of technical and vocational colleges.

Table 3 .
Responses of the respondents on the efforts of Principal of technical and vocational colleges in improving the quality of teaching and learning in the schoolThe result of the analysis in table 3 indicated that most of the respondents were of the opinion that all the items as shown on the table are managerial techniques that could ensure quality instruction in technical colleges.These managerial techniques when applied effectively can promote students' academic performance.From the table it can be inferred that punishment for absenteeism and truancy are good techniques to curb indiscipline among staff members.What are the Principal's strategies for attracting quality teachers to his or her school?

Table 4 .
Responses of the respondents on the Principal's strategies for attracting quality teachers to his or her school.

Table 4
revealed that most of the respondents agreed that request for professionally qualified staff, engaging part time teachers, being part of recruitment and deployment of staff are techniques for attracting quality teachers to schools.However, the effectiveness of these factors depends on the managerial abilities of the Principals.All the items have mean values above 2.50 with item 27 the least value.Item number 23 has the highest mean value of 3.55 with standard deviation of 0.77.
Research Questions 5: How does class size affect the managerial techniques of Principals of technical colleges?

Table 5 :
Responses of the respondents on the effect of class size on the managerial techniques of Principals of technical and vocational colleges.