Head Teachers' Records Management Skills and Their Relationship with Decision-Making in Selected English Nursery and Primary Schools in Yaoundé VI Sub-Division

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between head teachers’ records management skills and decision-making in selected English Nursery and Primary Schools in Yaoundé VI Sub-Division. The study was guided by three research questions: What relationship exists between the management of statutory records and head teachers’ decision-making? What relationship exists between the management of non-statutory records and head teachers’ decision-making? What relationship exists between record retrieval and head teachers’ decision-making? The study was anchored on the Big Bucket Record Retention Theory (2003), the Bounded Rationality Theory of Decision-Making (1957), and Systems Theory (1940). A descriptive survey research design was adopted. From a population of 140 head teachers, a sample of 103 respondents was selected using simple random sampling. Data were collected using a self-constructed questionnaire and analysed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Descriptive statistics were used to answer the research questions, while the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was used to test the hypotheses. The findings revealed statistically significant and very strong positive relationships between the management of statutory records and head teachers’ decision-making (r = .981, p < .001), the management of non-statutory records and decision-making (r = .988, p < .001), and record retrieval and decision-making (r = .985, p < .001). The findings indicate that effective management of statutory and non-statutory records, together with prompt record retrieval, is strongly associated with head teachers’ decision-making. The study recommended regular training in records classification, filing, indexing, storage, retrieval, and digital records management.