Abstract
This study investigated the perceived influence of examinations and holiday periods on management of public lower basic schools in North Central Nigeria. Two research questions guided the study and two hypotheses were formulated and tested for the study. The study adopted survey research design. The population of the study consists of all 110, 022 teachers from 12,775 public primary schools in the North Central Nigeria. The sample size for the study was 399 teachers. This sample was in line with Yamene (1970) formula for determining sample size. The study employed multi-stage sampling procedure which include purposive sampling technique, proportionate stratified sampling and accidental sampling technique. The instrument used for data collection was questionnaire titled ‘‘Examinations and Holiday Periods and Management of School Questionnaire (EHPMSQ)’’. The instrument was validated by five experts with overall reliability coefficient of 0.82. Data collected were analyzed using Mean and Standard Deviation to answer the research questions, while chi-square goodness-of-fit was used to test hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that examination periods and holiday periods have significant perceived influence on management of public primary schools in North Central Nigeria. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that Ministry of Education across the nation should implement a standardized examination timetable for all public primary schools to ensure consistency. This will help reduce confusion and allow for better resource planning. Also, the Nigeria Education Development and Research Council (NEDRC) should create a well-structured academic calendar that balances instructional time and holidays, ensuring that students have adequate learning periods without being overloaded.