INTERFERENCE OF THE POLITICAL CLASS ON SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

This study focuses on the interference of the political class in school leadership in public senior secondary schools in River South East Senatorial District of Rivers State. The study adopted a Descriptive research design. The population comprised of 234 respondents (78 Principals, 78 Vice Principal Administration and 78 Academics. Census was use to select the population. Questionnaire was used for data collection. The reliability of the instrument was obtained using test-retest method statistics. 20 senior secondary school principals were administered the questionnaire, a reliability index of 0.739 and 0.81 was obtained through Pearson Product Moment Correlation statistics. Mean and standard deviation was used to answer research questions 1-4 while independent t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level of significance. From the findings, there was no significant difference between the mean ratings of principals and vice principals in the interference of politics on the appointment, promotion and posting of staff personnel etc. The study concludes that government should come up with acceptable criteria for appointment of principals to ensure proper management.