Abstract

This study examined impact of principals’ application of security management practices for effective administration of secondary schools in Cross River State Nigeria. Two objectives were formulated for the purpose of this study. Also, two research questions were raised and answered while four null hypotheses were generated and tested at 0.05 significance level. Literatures were reviewed according to the variables in the objectives of the study. Descriptive survey design research was employed in the analysis. The population of the study was the 293 principals of the 293 public secondary schools in Cross River State. No sampling was done as the entire population was manageable enough to be used. Data for the study were collected through a self-structured questionnaire titled “Principals Security Management Practices Questionnaire (PSMPQ)”. Pilot study was conducted in four schools and the Cronbach Alpha was used to determine a reliability coefficient index of 0.73. The data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t- test. The mean value was used to answer the research questions while the standard deviation was used to ascertain the homogeneity or otherwise of respondents’ ratings. Based on the findings of the study, the following it was recommended that Secondary school principals should be encouraged to maintain the application of security management procedures in their schools so as to curb cult and criminal activities. The State government through the State Ministry of Education should ensure the provision of physical security management infrastructures and tools for secondary school safety