Diversity management for the attainment of sustainable development goal 16 in public secondary schools in Rivers State

Abstract

This study investigated diversity management for the attainment of sustainable development goal 16 in public secondary schools in  Rivers State, Nigeria. Three research questions and three hypotheses were raised to guide the study. The study adopted a descriptive  survey design. The population of the study comprised 276 Principals in all 276 public senior secondary schools in Rivers State, Nigeria.  The sample of 220 principals was drawn from the population, representing 80% of the population. The instrument for data collection was  a self-designed instrument titled: Diversity Management for Attainment of Sustainable Development Goal Questionnaire (DMASDGQ).  The instrument was face validated by three experts from the Department Educational Management of the University of Port Harcourt.  The reliability of the instrument was ascertained using Cronbach Alpha method, which yielded alpha values of 0.78, 0.82 and 0.86 for the  three clusters in the instrument while 0.88 reliability coefficients was generated for the overall clusters, which was considered high  enough. Mean and standard deviation were used in answering research questions, while z-test statistics was used to test the null  hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level. The finding of the study revealed that to a high extent cultural diversity, religious diversity and gender diversity management enhances the attainment of sustainable development goal 16 in public secondary schools in Rivers State, Nigeria.  In conclusion, cultural, religious and gender diversity management are strong variables that enhance the attainment of sustainable  development goal 16 in public secondary schools in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study recommended among others that the Ministry of  Education and their Agencies should regularly train school administrators and teachers on diversity management to make them aware of  the need to love, respect and tolerate diverse culture of the school in order to enhance sustainable development.