COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PRINCIPALS' HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR IMPROVING TEACHERS' JOB PERFORMANCE IN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY, ABUJA

The study comparatively analyzed principals' human resource management practices for improving teachers’ job performance in private and public secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Three research questions guided the study and three hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 4,245 teachers from 57 public and 2,060 from 103 private secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. A proportionate stratified sampling technique was used to draw 1,261 respondents (849 teachers from 23 public and 412 from 41 private secondary schools) for the study. A-researcher developed instrument titled ‘‘Principals’ Human Resource Management Practices for improving Teachers’ Job Performance Questionnaire (PHRMPTJPQ)’’ was used for data collection The face validation of the instrument was determined by three experts who are lecturers, two from the Department of Educational Management and Policy and one from Measurement and Evaluation in the Department of Educational Foundations, all in the Faculty of Education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. The internal consistency of the instrument's items was established using Cronbach's alpha, yielding reliability coefficients of 0.83, 0.80, and 0.79 for clusters I, II, and III, respectively, with an overall coefficient of 0.81. The researchers, together with three research assistants who are secondary school teachers in the study area, collected data. The data were analyzed using means and standard deviations to answer the research questions and a t-test to test the hypotheses. The study's findings revealed, among others, that there are similarities in the principals' orientations and reward practices for improving teachers’ job performance in private and public secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Further results showed differences in principals' staff professional development practices for improving teachers’ job performance between private and public secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. It was also found that there is no significant difference in the mean scores of public and private secondary school principals' orientation, reward, and staff professional development practices for improving teachers’ job performance in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Based on the findings, it was recommended, among other things, that the Ministry of Education, in conjunction with the directors of private schools, should organize annual professional development programmes for teachers to enable them to upgrade their skills and knowledge, thereby improving teachers’ job performance in private and public secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.