ASSESSING THE PERFORMANCE OF VOLUNTARY AGENCIES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF RETURNED MISSION SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ANAMBRA STATE

The study assessed the functions performed by voluntary agencies in the management of mission schools in Anambra State. Three research questions guided the study and three null hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 43 principals of the returned mission secondary school in Anambra State. Census sampling was used, as the entire 43 principals were studied, given the relatively small and manageable sample. A structured questionnaire developed by the researchers, titled "Assessment of Functions Performed by Voluntary Agency in School Management Questionnaire (AFPVASM)," was used to collect data. The instrument was validated by three experts: two from the Department of Educational Management and Policy and one from the Measurement and Evaluation Unit in the Department of Educational Foundations, all from the Faculty of Education at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess the instrument's internal consistency, yielding reliability coefficients of 0.81, 0.84, and 0.77 for Clusters A-C, respectively, with an overall coefficient of 0.81. The mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, and the t-test was used to test the null hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed, among others, that admission and disciplinary functions are performed by voluntary agencies in the management of mission schools in Anambra State. It was also found that voluntary agencies do not perform the acquisition of equipment functions in the management of mission schools in Anambra State. Furthermore, there is no significant difference in the mean ratings of voluntary agencies controlled by the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church on the disciplinary functions they perform in the management of mission schools in Anambra State. Based on the findings, it was recommended, among others, that the Anambra State Government increase grants to missions to enable them to discharge their functions in the acquisition of equipment.