Teachers’ Competence in the Use of Microsoft Office Suite for Administrative Tasks in Secondary Schools in Niger State, North Central Nigeria

This study assesses the competence of secondary school teachers in using the Microsoft Office Suite for administrative tasks in Niger State, North Central Nigeria. Beyond instructional roles, teachers increasingly bear administrative responsibilities such as record keeping, report writing, timetable management, and communication that benefit significantly from digital tool proficiency. A descriptive survey design was adopted with a sample of 150 secondary school teachers from Minna, Bida, and Suleja educational zones. A validated ICT Administrative Competence Questionnaire assessed proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint across task categories. Mean and standard deviation were used to interpret results. Findings indicate moderate proficiency in Word for basic document preparation but low proficiency in Excel-based grade computation and PowerPoint for report presentations. Teachers above 50 years of age reported the lowest competency scores. Younger teachers and those with prior ICT training demonstrated significantly higher administrative digital competence. The study recommends mandatory Microsoft Office training embedded in annual staff development programmes for all Niger State secondary school teachers and the integration of administrative ICT skills into education degree programmes at state universities. Keywords: Microsoft Office, administrative competence, secondary school teachers, Niger State, ICT skills