School is one of the most important institutions in any society.

It is setup by the society with

a large number of objectives, which are of very important nature. It has crucial role in the
building up of the society that builds it. For this reason, organizing efficient and good schools
is one of the primary responsibilities of a society or state. It is therefore required that there is
excellence and efficiency in the area of school administration and management in order to
organize good and efficient schools. Meeting pre-determined goals and expectations of
society from education is possible if schools operate in the right way. This paper is majorly
going to evaluate the relationship between management and administration, and further show
how they enhance efficiency and effectiveness in the school administration structure. Before
delving into the following indicate, in a more abstract way what makes effective and efficient
schools.

An efficient and effective school relates to social, emotional, moral and aesthetic
development, satisfaction of teachers, effective use of sources and accomplishment of goals
and environmental harmony (Kirk and Jones, 2004). The prominent features of and effective
and efficient schools can be specified as follows: leadership, high expectations from students,
a systematical school climate, high expectations from teacher (members of staff), measuring
student success and giving feedback, effective classroom management, believing that each
and every student can learn, family, participation, and a well-organized curriculum (Cohen, et
al, 2004).

So, what is administration and management? Etymologically, the term administration derive
from the Latin word ‘ministric’, which means service rendered to others for their welfare
(Sidhu, 1996). In line with service rendering, administration is a process of systematically
arranging and coordinating the human and material resources available to any organization
for the main purpose of achieving stipulated goals of that organization (Amadi, 2008). When
applied to the school system, the process refers to as Educational Administration or School
Administration. The basic aim of administration is the need to get things done to accomplish
objectives.

Administration thus means overall determination of policies, setting of major objectives, the
identification of general purposes and laying down of broad programmes and projects. It
refers to the activities of higher level. It lays down basic principles of the enterprise. It is
ultimately means guidance, leadership and control of the efforts of the groups towards some
common goals (Amadi, 2008).

Relatively, Dash and Dash (2008) outlines that management involves conceiving, initiating
and bring together the various elements, coordinating, actuating, integrating the diverse
organizational components while sustaining the viability of the organization towards some

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pre-determined goals. In other words, it is an art of getting things done through and with the
people in formally organized groups.

Dash and Dash (2008) resounds that there is often a terminological conflict between
management and administration. Some suggest that there is no fundamental difference
between the two terms. Others suggests that the former has the decision making function and
the later has the execution function. Like a relay, administration passes functions to
management to carry on or to further finish the work of meeting organizational goals and
objectives and maintain an effective and efficient working environment for all the
organizational members.

According to Amadi (2008) and Kocchar (2011), in their difference in terminological

descriptions, management and administration relates tremendously in the following ways: on
meaning – management is an art of getting things done through others by directing their
efforts towards achievement of pre-determined goals; administration is concerned with
formulation of broad objectives, plans and policies.

In nature – management is an executing function while administration is a decision-making

function and; in process, management decides who should do the task and how he/she should
do it, while administration, decides what to do and when it is to be done. In function,
management is a doing function because managers get work done under their supervision,
while administration is a thinking function because plans and policies are determined under
it. Skill wise, management leans on technical and human skills while administration is
conceptual and human skills and; on level, management is middle and lower level function
while administration is top-level function.

Considerably, schools according (Kirk and Jones, 2004) are organized in administrative
structure with the top level as head teacher and the deputy as administrators; head of
department, senior teachers and head of sections as middle management and; teachers and
non-teaching staff as lower management. Everyone in the structure works towards achieving
the institution’s goals and objectives. In an event where the administrator does not do his or
her work or where management does not manage well, the whole structure will not work
properly.

Banks (1971) depicts the school as a social organization to have a structure bound by
hierarchy of authority, code of conduct, regulations etcetera. In practice, administration and
management are interchangeably in use to ensure that formulated policies (rules and
regulations) are followed; it is thus important to note that with administration and
management in place, it is easy to ensure that the school structure works as policies require.
For example, when it is time for teachers to teach, administration and management ensures
that all teachers are teaching.
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Further, for schools structure to work efficiently, the financial aspect should be well be well
managed and administered. According to Kirk and Jones (2004), management of the financial
aspect in an educational structure is important in order for the school to be able to achieve or
meet the demands that require funding. In addition, it is important to note, in a way, that the
human resource in the school structure get salary from the same finances for working towards
achieving the schools goals. Should there be any financial mismanagement, it means that it
will be difficult to satisfy such activities as paying members of staff, building the school
structure, buying of learning and teaching materials among others. In the end, the school may
not expand to adopt new subjects such as Computer Studies that require building of computer
laboratories and buying of Information Communication Technology related technologies.

Another way in which management and administration makes the school’s structure efficient
and effective is by ensuring proper planning, directions and evaluation (Kocchar, 2011 and
Amadi, 2008). As an English saying goes, “failing to plan is planning to fail.” This means
without a plan, the school will not have a road map or direction pointing towards the goals or
objectives to attain in all its efforts. It is for this reason that administrators will devise
monitoring and evaluation strategies to ensure that there is a plan followed in all that a school
administration structure is doing, and that the plan in existence is followed and successes or
failures are well recorded and efforts are made to iron out failures if it any. In this way, the
school administration structure can be efficient and effective in that all the activities will be
coordinated.

In continuity, in quest to bring about solidarity and oneness in the school administration
structure, Sidhu (1996) and Kirk and Jones (2004) states that in the school structure, for
example, the role of the manager or is pluralistic combining its institutional characteristics
with the personality of the individual (the head teacher or management). Effective managers
and administrators perform their roles in several ways concerning behaviors in regards to
rational goals, internal process, human relations, and open systems.

Lastly, about human relations, management and administration via the individual
(administrators and/managers) fosters a development oriented school culture through his
personality. This entails that the aspect of self-management on the side of managers and
administrators must be exercised, so that they can be able to relate very well with their
subordinates. In return, a threat free and optimal work environment can be created and
encourage hard work in quest of meeting organizational goals.

In conclusion, the essay has evaluated that the relationship between management and
administration exists in a relay form, in that administration is at prescribing or policymaking
and management is at the execution end. Otherwise, administrators can perform managerial
functions and vice-versa. In function, management and administration have contributed to the

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efficiency and effectiveness of school administration structure. Among others, policymaking,
policy execution, financial management, monitoring and evaluation have shown cardinality in
proving the application of the two in a school administration structure.

REFERENCES

Amadi, E.C (2008). Introduction to Educational Administration: A Module. Port Harcourt:

Harey Publications.

Banks, O (1971). Sociology of Education 2nd Edition. London: B. T. BATSFORD. LTD.

Cohen, L et al (2004). A Guide to Teaching Practice. New York, NY: Routledge.

Dash, M and Dash, N (2008). School Management. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and
Distributors (P) Ltd.

Farrant, J.S (1980), Principles and Practice of Education. London. Longman.

Kirk, D.J and Jones, T.L (2004). Effective Schools. Boulder, CO: Pearson.

Kocchar, S.K (2011). School Administration and Management. New Delhi: Sterling
Publications Pvt. Ltd.

Sidhu, K.S (1996). School Organisation and Administration 3rd Revised Edition. New Delhi:
Sterling Pvt. Ltd.

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