Application of Public Relations in the Management of Secondary Schools: An Appraisal of Selected Schools in Yakurr Local Government Area of Cross River State
James U. Effiom
Department of Mass Communication
Cross River University of Technology, Calabar, Cross River State
Email: jimiko503@gmail.com
Abstract:
Public relations has become too relevant in this 21st century that almost all organisations or institutions both public and private seek to employ its services. That is to say, almost all organisations tend to depend so much on the peculiar contributions of public relations, especially in the area of image enhancement, building of mutual understanding between the organisation and its public and so on. That is why this study is set to find out if post primary schools in Yakurr Local Government of Cross River State
are equally employing the services of public relations in the management of her schools. The work is hinged on the Excellence Theory by James E. Grunig, which specifies how public relations makes organisations more
effective. The theory explained that the value of public relations lies on the importance an organisation attaches to it. The methodological approach was the use of qualitative research- Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and intensive interviews. Out of the 63 secondary schools in the LGA, 10 were purposively selected.The principals of these schools constituted the FGD. While 20 staff, students and stakeholders of each of these institutions were interviewed. Findings showed that the application of public relations in the management of secondary school in the area is zero percent. Respondents also embraced the idea of engaging public relations experts in the running of these schools in view of its enormous contributions to the well-being of orgasations. The study concluded that public relations experts are very necessary in organisations like secondary schools, and therefore, recommended strongly among others, the application of public relations and its experts in the management of secondary schools in Yakurr Local Government Area of Cross River State.
Keywords: Application, Public Relations, Management, Appraisal, Selected.
