Uncovering administration challenges faced by female social sciences heads of department in selected secondary schools of Lusaka urban district in Zambia.
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Date
2023-05-11
Authors
Moomba, Ireen
Mulubale, Sanny
Mundando, Janet
Delina, Nanjekana Munkoyo
Kaumba, Chivunda
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Science Domain
Abstract
Managing a school department should be tilted towards achieving set goals and creating value for the education system. Generally, there seems to poor performance in social sciences departments that are headed by females when compared to other units within schools [1]. This inefficiency at departmental levels appears to have negative impact on the overall performance of schools. Therefore, the aim of this study is to unearth issues related to management of social sciences departments by female heads in some secondary schools in Zambia. The study followed a descriptive research design to generate evidence on experiences of female headed social sciences departments in some secondary schools. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews from a total sample of 25 participants. The data was analysed using a thematic approach with elements of comparative analysis [2]. The findings show that subject loads, constrained resources especially teaching aids, managing high numbers of staff in the departments as well as teacher absenteeism were main challenges faced. It was also found that the high rate of permission seeking behaviours to stay away from work by some teachers compromised teaching thereby testing the leadership of these female heads. Additionally, the limited office space or lack of adequate infrastructure for operations such lesson plan preparations hampered effective management of social science department. Therefore, the study concluded that challenges experienced by female social sciences heads of department are both structural and material. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education should increase funding in social sciences departments as they represent the largest in schools and there is need for school administrators to organize and offer periodic training to the Heads of the departments on their roles so that they are always acquitted with new changes in the school system.
Description
Article
Keywords
School management. , School management and organization. , Women school administrators--Zambia.
Citation
Moomba, I., Mulubale, S., Mundando, J., Munkoyo, D. N., & Kaumba, C. (2023). Uncovering Administration Challenges Faced by Female Social Sciences Heads of Department in Selected Secondary Schools of Lusaka Urban District in Zambia. Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies, 43(4), 30-39.