Influence of School Climate on Administration of Public Primary Schools in Rivers State for Sustainable Development

The study investigated influence of school climate on administration of public primary schools in Rivers State for sustainable development. Three specific objectives, three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. This study adopted descriptive survey design. The population of the study was 9,033 consisting of 1,012 head teachers and 8,021 primary school teachers. The sample size for the study is 543 (174 headteachers and 369 teachers). The data collecting instrument for this study is a self-structured questionnaire titled “Influence of School Climate on Administration of Public Primary Schools in Rivers State for Sustainable Development Questionnaire” The instrument was structured using 4-point rating scale and was face and content validated by three experts in Measurement and Evaluation in Rivers State University. The instrument was tested for reliability using Cronbach Alpha Statistics and the scores collated yielded an average reliability index of 0.84. All the 493 copies of the questionnaire administered were retrieved and used for the study. Mean and standard deviation were used in answering the research questions while the null hypotheses were tested using z-test at 0.05 level of significance with a critical value of ±1.96. Findings revealed that innovative, open, and toxic climates influence administration of public primary schools in Rivers State for sustainable development to a high extent. Based on the findings, it was recommended that public primary schools’ administrators should organize regular workshops and training sessions should be provided to help teachers adopt new pedagogical approaches and technologies, school administrators should open channels for feedback should be established, where staff and students feel comfortable voicing concerns or suggestions and school administrators should conduct regular assessments to understand the causes of negativity, such as poor leadership, bullying, or inadequate resources.