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Abstract
Effective secondary school administration in Nigeria depends less on the elegance of policy texts than on the fidelity with which those texts are translated into routine practice. This paper examines the implementation of education policy and the prospects for effective administration of public secondary schools in Enugu State. Drawing on Van Meter and Van Horn’s implementation framework, Lipsky’s street-level bureaucracy perspective, and an integrative review of empirical studies conducted in the state’s six education zones, the analysis shows a persistent implementation gap. National instruments, the National Policy on Education, the Universal Basic Education Act, and emerging National Senior Secondary Education Commission minimum standards, are reasonably well articulated, yet school-level execution is constrained by unstable and poorly targeted funding, policy discontinuity across political cycles, weak instructional supervision, inadequate professional development, insecure school environments, and a dual governance structure that separates basic education from senior secondary management. Recent state reforms, including a large budgetary commitment to education, teacher professionalisation, and the Smart Green Schools programme, create genuine prospects, but they remain concentrated on basic education and risk leaving existing senior secondary schools under-resourced. The paper argues that effective administration will require policy stability, ring-fenced operational funding for existing secondary schools, transformational school leadership, continuous teacher development, integrated digital administration, and a single accountability chain from the Ministry of Education through the Post-Primary Schools Management Board to principals. Recommendations are offered for state government, school administrators, and development partners.