SCHOOL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES FOR IMPROVED ADMINISTRATIVE EFFECTIVENESS IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN RIVERS STATE NIGERIA

The study investigated school business competencies for improved administrative effectiveness in Public Secondary School in Rivers State. Three research questions and two null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The population of the study was 286 principals in all the public secondary schools in Rivers State. A sample of 166 through a stratified random technique was determined using the Taro Yamane formula. The instrument of the study was a self design instrument captioned “School Business Management Competencies Questionnaire (SBMCQ) and Principal Administrative Effectiveness (PAE) with the reliability coefficients of 0.77 and 0.84 respectively which was determined through the Cronbach alpha statistics. Mean scores and standard deviation was used to answer the research questions while Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was sued to test the hypothesis. It was discovered that the highest kind of business available in the public school is related to cafeteria / canteen services and that also to a high extent, resourcefulness as a business management competency improves administrative effectiveness in public secondary schools in Rivers State. It concluded that for the school administrators to manage the school business effective (administrative effectiveness), they must possess the core competence of resourcefulness, conceptual thinking and administrative organisation. It was recommended among others that the principal should have a comprehensive understanding of the school complex nature and also think critically at both abstract and concrete level to harmonize a rather multifaceted business challenges in the school and proffer realistic solutions.

Ultrasound Evaluation of Umbilical Coiling Index in Second Trimester of Gestation and its Association With Small for Gestational Age Status at Birth

Introduction: The degree of coiling of the umbilical cord, referred to as umbilical coiling index, has been shown to have an effect on perinatal adverse outcomes such as small for gestational age neonates, interventional delivery, meconium staining, low fetal pH and low Apgar score. This study proposes that the antenatal umbilical coiling index performed in the second trimester of pregnancy has a correlation with the gestation-specific birth weight and can therefore be used as a marker to predict small for gestational age neonates. Objective: To determine the association between antenatal umbilical coiling index (aUCI) in the second trimester and small for gestational age neonates. Methods: A prospective cohort study was carried out on 421 gravid women between 18 and 24 weeks gestation who presented to the Radiology department at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi for obstetric ultrasonography. The antenatal umbilical coiling index was calculated and the study participants followed up at delivery where the birth weight was recorded and grouped into the respective centiles to diagnose small for gestational age neonates. Results: The odds ratio of the association between abnormal coiling index vs. small for gestational age at birth was 0.8 (95% CI:0.37– 1.72, p 0.562). In the analyses of factors associated with aUCI, it was found that preterm delivery was associated with abnormal coiling(Odds ratio 2.9, 95% CI: 1.0 – 8.2, p 0.037). The interobserver variability in the calculation of the antenatal umbilical coiling index according to Kappa statistics was 0.95 and according to the AC1 statistic was 0.91. Discussion: Previous studies have shown a wide variation in the association between coiling and adverse perinatal outcomes, especially small for gestational age at birth. The current study, however, found no association between abnormal coiling and small for gestational status at birth. As in other studies, preterm deliveries was associated with abnormally coiling, which has been proposed to be due to an adaptive fetal haemodynamic response. The almost perfect inter-observer variability observed is reproduced in other studies and demonstrates that the measurement of aUCI is highly reproducible. Conclusion/Recommendation: There is insufficient evidence to support an association between antenatal umbilical coiling index and small for gestational age (SGA) status at birth and therefore its proposed use to potentially predict SGA status at birth is not plausible.