THE USE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) IN STUDENTS’ RECORDS MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF UNIVERSITY OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES, ACCRA

ABSTRACT 

The adoption of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in general administrative duties has been recommended for many industries, especially and more particularly, in education and students’ records managements.  For this reason, educational institutions, including University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), are gradually incorporating ICT in students’ records management in anticipation for the numerous potential benefits. It is in this vein that this study examined some records management practices and the use of ICT in students’ records management at UPSA. The objective of the study examined the types of students’ records kept in the University of Professional Studies, the extent of use of ICT in students’ records management, the benefits of ICT in students’ record management at UPSA, examine the challenges associated with incorporating ICT into students’ records management and also to make recommendations based on the findings of the study. The study employed the qualitative research method and relied on data from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data included interviews from staff at UPSA and secondary sources included literature such as journals, articles, books, internet sources among others. Data were collected using interviews with a sample of 10 staff involved. With the help of interviews, results from the study revealed that even though UPSA had an appreciable number of ICT facilities, their extent of usage is limited to few usual administrative duties. Inadequate staffs, power outages, slow internet access, lack of resources and others were the major challenges that were revealed during the interviews. On benefits, UPSA experiences effective and efficient records management, quick decision making, and also serves as a catalyst for timely and professional delivery of task and responsibilities. In attempt to address the identified challenges with the view of maximizing the benefit of ICT adoption in student records management, it was recommended that UPSA ought to hire more experienced and professional staff, organize regular training programs and to fully digitize all student records.