ABSTRACT

This study was on the Assessment of ICT Competencies of Secretaries in handling office systems in Tertiary Institutions of Abia State. The study determined the ICT facilities available in the offices of Secretaries, requisite ICT utilization skills possessed by Secretaries, challenges faced by Secretaries in handling office systems with ICT skills and remedies to constraints faced by secretaries in acquisition of ICT competencies. Descriptive survey research design was employed. Four research questions guided the study. Two hundred secretaries from tertiary institutions in Abia state made up the sample for the study. Data collected were analyzed using mean and percentage. The findings show that all the facilities are available in the office and that the secretaries possess the requisite skills for their operations, constraints facing secretaries in handling office systems include unstable power supply, lack of current ICT update, ignorance of soft ware packages like coral draw among others. The remedies to the challenges include sponsorship to external workshop on ICT , provision of electric generator, organization of internal workshops on ICT software among others. Based on the findings, it was recommended that periodic training and update of ICT skills of school secretaries is necessary in view of the dynamic nature of ICT knowledge. The issue of stable power supply or renewable energy is vital to success in ICT management. The government should make it a priority since the school is the basic source of manpower training for the nation.