APPRAISAL OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN EDUCATION ZONE “C” OF BENUE STATE

ABSTRACT

This   study   was   carried   out   to   appraise   community   participation   in   the administration of public secondary schools in Education Zone “C” of Benue State. Four research questions and two null hypotheses were posed and formulated respectively to guide the study. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance.  The related  literature to the study was reviewed  under four main headings namely: conceptual framework, theoretical framework, review of related empirical studies and summary of literature review. This study used descriptive survey research design. The population of the study was 1427 while the sample was 284 respondents. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire titled “Appraisal of Community Participation  Questionnaire  (ACPQ)”.  Three experts validated the instrument, two in Educational Administration and Planning, department of educational foundations and one expert in measurement and evaluation,  department  of  science  education,  all  from  University  of  Nigeria, Nsukka. The instrument was trial tested and the overall reliability coefficient of

0.91 was obtained. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions  that guided  the study,  while t-test  statistic  was used  to test the null hypotheses  formulated  at  0.05  level  of  significance.  The  Results  of  the  study revealed that: the communities participate in funding public secondary schools in Education  Zone  “C”  of  Benue  State  to  a  less  extent,  the  communities  also participate in the provision of infrastructural facilities in Education Zone “C” of Benue State to a less extent. Communication gap between the community and the school  was  one of the problems  militating  against  community  participation  in administration of public secondary schools. The respondents in rural and urban schools had the same views on the strategies for integrating community members for effective school administration in Education Zone “C” of Benue State. It was recommended  among  others  that  since  the  Principal,  the  teachers  and  the education administrators are also members of the community, they can help to disseminate information to other members of the community on the need to take active participation  in the education of the young ones. The limitations of this study were highlighted and suggestions were made for further studies.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Education  is recognized  as the cornerstone for sustainable development. Education is a veritable instrument for achieving economic development and social transformation of every society. Fertig (2000) regards education as a social responsibility that every citizen should enjoy as a member of a country and that everyone  has  a  right  to  education.  Federal  Republic  of  Nigeria  (2004)  also accepted   education   as   an   instrument   that  brings   about   even   and   orderly development for a country. Senge (2006) opined that socio-economic development of any nation hinges on its level of educational development. The author further stressed that any country that fails to educate her citizens is trying with the level of her development; hence education is regarded as an investment which must yield high dividend.

Consequently,  Ogundele (2008) noted that Nigeria as a country is faced with a lot of crises in her educational industry. These crises had been attributed to inadequate funding, poor and irregular payment of salaries, students’ population explosion, poor teachers’ job satisfaction, and inadequate supply of educational facilities and needed equipment for effective teaching learning process. The result of this brings about low quality and fallen standard of education in our secondary school system. The filmsy excuse of the government is that government alone cannot take up total responsibilities of education that it has to be paid for by all and

sundry.

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Due to the inability of Government to attend to these issues, appraisal of community  participation   in  the  administration   of  public  secondary  schools becomes necessary. Appraisal is an expert estimation of quality, quantity and other characteristics of someone or something. According to Bondesio (2000), appraisal is the act of assessing an expert or official value of something for the achievement of goals and objectives. In this context, appraisal is used to determine the level of community participation in the administration public secondary school.

Community could be viewed in terms of all the people or group of people living within  a specific  geographical  area  such  as a village,  a town,  a city,  a neighbourhood or even a whole state. Community when conceived in this way is used in two senses, first, as social unit and second as geographical or ecological unit.  This  implies  that  such  groups  of  people  are  closely joined  together  and organized. This togetherness among the people spells out a common feeling of community (Oghuvbu 2004). The researcher further perceived  community as a people or group of people who share common interest or functions such as farming group or agricultural  group  education,  culture or religion.  This group may not include  everyone  within  the  geographical  area  or  boundary,  but  who  have  a particular interest or functions in common. Ugwu (2000) described a community as a people obliged to one another not because of place of birth, race, sex, religion but people bound  to one another and governed by shared  taste, value, specific words  for  common  interest.  Throughout  history,  the  relationship  between  the school  and  the community has  been  a matter of major  concern.  Yusuf (2000) opined that it is important that the school and the community should have mutual

relationship to foster cordial existence. The researcher further stated that the community where  the  school  is  situated  forms  a  focus  point of assessing  the activities of the school and make necessary contributions towards its growth.

In a similar vein, one can define community as a legal, political or administrative unit. As a legal unit, it is likened to a municipality, a school district or a nation with a clearly defined social structure. In this sense, a community will feature the formulation of laws to guide the conduct of members, and this is what is required  to ensure its existence.  The regulations or laws are enforced by an administrative unit. As a legal unit, it is likened to a municipality, a school district or a nation  with  a clearly defined  social  structure.  The  community through  a healthy working relationship with the school management and the entire school community would get to know the school strength and weaknesses (Obiechina,

2006).

Community participation  in the administration  of secondary schools has become  necessary as  a result  of lack of proper management,  lack of funding, facilities and equipment, poor learning environment, inadequate provision of teaching materials, problem of discipline and proper supervision  of instruction. The community has immense input in the funding of educational projects such as endowment funding, sponsoring of projects and Parents Teachers Association involvement (Okoro and Okoro, 2005). All these indicate that the community and the  school  exist  side  by side  and  always  being  in  existence  as  a pre-existing condition for effective school administration. The most involvement of parents in school matters in most of the communities is usually through the Parent Teacher

Association (PTA). With a few exceptions, the traditional role of the PTA has been the making of financial contributions to schools (Ugwu, 2010).

The participation of communities in the administration of secondary schools has gone beyond mere financial contributions; however, educational development in some parts of the country has witnessed increased involvement of the whole communities. Some communities in Nigeria have established secondary schools through their own initiatives in the past, e.g The education zone ‘C’ in Benue  built community secondary schools in various local government and this local are Agila community secondary school Apa, Achaga community secondary school, Ikobi community secondary school, Ikobi, Adoka community secondary school Adoka and Okpiko community secondary school Alaglanu.    The Parent-Teacher Association  (P.T.A) helps in the general development of the school along with other community members, by providing the school with classrooms, dormitory blocks, staff quarters, science laboratories and equipment, electric plant generators, school  vans,  libraries,  books  and  classroom  equipment  (Oghuvbu  and  Iyeke,

2004). They get the funds for these by launching Parents Teachers Association (P.T.A) funds and by contributing individually, directly or indirectly, towards the funds.  The  Parents  Teachers  Association  (P.T.A)  also  helps  the  authority  to maintain discipline by the children at home on how to behave at school.

On  the  other  hand,  the  community needs  to  monitor  and  supervise  the schools to see to their needs, problems and progress towards the education of their children.  Bello  (2011)  believed  that open  relationship  between  the  school  and community  could  bring  about  high  opportunities  that  will  allow  community

resources  to  be  optimally  utilized  for  the  school  improvement.  Yusuf  (2000) opined that a community school relation is a strong instrument for effective school administration. Within the school system, participation involves a feeling of identification with and responsibility to the school and academic life it offers.

Administration is getting things done in order to accomplish defined objectives. Akpotowoh (2006) agree that school administration aims at using both human and material resources within the school system for the achievement of objectives. Nwankwo, in particular, defined educational administration as arrangement of the human and material resources and programmes available for education   and  carefully  using  them   systematically  for  the  achievement   of articulated   objectives.   This   involves   describing   tasks   to   be   performed   to accomplish  certain  objectives,  assigning  these  tasks  to  carefully  selected  and trained  personnel,  making  the personnel perform  efficiently by using the tools provided for them, coordinating some formal structures which permits a hierarchal allocation of responsibilities with communication flow, and contributing to the fact that  administration  involves  co-ordination  of  human  and  material  resources towards the attainment of pre-determined objectives.

The  central  purpose  of administration  in  general  is  the  coordination  of human and material resources towards the attainment of some predetermined objectives.   Okendu   (2009)   sees   administrative   effectiveness   as   a   careful, systematic  arrangement  of resources  by the principal for the  realization of the objectives of the school. For administration to be effective, there are processes that must be followed by the administrators. This is because administration is seen as a

collection of processes, dealing with various ways in which human and material resources are utilized to achieve set goals in an organization.

Secondary school administration entails working with and through teachers, non-teaching staff and students to get things done effectively. It is more concerned with the institution, its goals, policies, and execution of these policies (Ajayi & Ayodele, 2003). In school administration according to Jaiyeoba (2006), the major objective has to do with the improvement of teaching and learning and all the activities of the school. The researcher further posits that the primary purposes of the school in any society are the intellectual development of the individual child to his greatest potential, the acquisition of factual information and understanding the concepts and meanings in a number of subject areas including the languages, the arts, history, geography, science and technology.

In order to achieve the educational goals and objectives, the school has to ensure that the skills developed in these subjects can be used in practical situations. It has to be faithful to some model of what the society is or ought to be. This is necessitated by the fact that the school should always serve the interest of the society as  a whole. To  do  this effectively,  the  school has  to be  aware of the cherished societal values and norms. It has to be aware also of the generally held idea of what a good or ideal society is and should be able to offer the child an opportunity to develop his potentials as a social being. For learning experiences to be meaningful to the child in the secondary schools, they have to be related to the child’s  immediate  community  and  society.  These  can  only  be  possible  if  the barriers between  the school and  its community are broken  to make way for a

constant flow of information and ideas between the two. Developing effective two- way communication between the school and the community will be to the mutual advantage of the two parties. It implies some specific roles for the school staff and community  members.  This  interaction  can  take  various  forms  and  there  are benefits that can accrue to the child and school as well as the expected roles of the school staff and the community members in enhancing the quality of secondary education.

The invaluable roles and contributions of education in the development of an  individual  and  the  society  cannot  be  over  emphasized.  Many  countries including Nigeria, take education as an instrument for the promotion of national development  as  well  as  effecting  desirable  social  change  (FRN,  2004).  This perhaps,  might  be  responsible   for  the  continuous  growing  concern  of  all stakeholders in education industry on changes that are likely to affect it as well as the implications such changes will have on the management and administration of education. There is therefore, the urgent need to really look into the future of our nation’s education Vis-visa the challenges ahead with a view to achieving effectiveness,  quality and relevance in the entire system by fully involving the school principals and teachers.

Principals are known as educational managers and their roles as educational managers’  ranges  from  administrative  to  professional.  Ojo  in  Ekudayo  (2010) believe   that,   school   administration   involves   managing,   administrating   the curriculum and teaching, pastoral care, discipline, assessment evaluation and examinations, resources allocation, costing and forward planning, staff appraisals

relationship with the community, use of the practical skills necessary for surviving the policies of organization such as decision-making, negotiation, bargaining, communication, conflict handling, running meetings and so on. All these tasks can be reduced to the following: planning, organizing, directing, supervising, and evaluating the school system.

The Principal is the chief executive and accounting officer who is entrusted with the responsibility of controlling the revenues accruing from the school and ensuring judicious utilization of PTA levy for quality assurance. In order to raise fund to complement the efforts of the government, the principals establish a very good rapport with the Parent Teacher Association, old student’s Association and Non-Governmental organizations for fund raising activities that will facilitate internal quality assurance in his school. Provision and Maintenance of Physical facilities: Principals must be fully concerned with the physical environment and other facilities around the school. Dilapidated buildings, leaking roofs, abandoned projects, over-grown tress and lawns, dingy and dark buildings,  have demoralizing effect  on  people,  especially the  adolescents  and  cannot  lead quality assurance output (Obidoa, 2006). The principals have the responsibilities of ensuring that, these facilities are in good shape. Even with the meager resources at their disposal, they have the responsibility of providing teachers and other instructional staff with necessary resources for effective teaching (Babayemi, 2006). Principal as a Motivator: Ajayi and Oni in Babayemi (2006) opined that a school principal must not only be trained in the act o f administration but must be well-acquainted with the  principles  that  guide  and  control  administration  processes.  As  the  chief

executive,  the principal owes it as duty to modify the attitude of the staff and motivate them in accordance with Henri Frayol’s policy of motivation to put in their  best  at  achieving  educational  goals  through  effective  teaching-learning process for internal quality assurance output. Principal as a Curriculum and Instructional Supervisor:

However, public senior secondary school is that secondary school under the maintenance of government for the benefit of her citizens. Public secondary school according to Ogbonnaya (2009) is those secondary schools owned and managed/controlled by state or federal government. Furthermore, secondary education according to FRN (2004) in her National Policy on Education is the form of education children receive after primary education and before the tertiary stage. The SSS is comprehensive with a core curriculum designed to broaden the student’s knowledge and out-look. Education at this stage has two broad aims: Preparation  for  useful  living  within  the  society  and  Preparation  for  higher education (FRN, 2004). In addition, one can define secondary school as the intermediate level between elementary school and college (University) and that usually   offers   general,   technical,   and   vocational   or   college   (University) preparatory curricula.

Statement of the Problem

The provision of administration of educational system is the responsibility of Government at all levels (Local Government, State and Federal). Nigeria as a country is faced with a lot of crises in her educational industry. These crises have been  attributed  to  inadequate  funding,  poor  and  irregular  payment  of  salaries,

students’  population  explosion,  poor  teacher’s  job  satisfaction,  poor  learning environment, and inadequate supply of educational facilities and equipment for effective teaching learning and learning. The result is the low quality and fallen standard of education in our secondary school system. The flimsy excuse of the government is that, they alone cannot take up total responsibilities of education; that  it  has  to  be  paid  for by all  and  sundry.  These  problems  have  become  a recurring decimal in the history of Nigerian education.

Unfortunately   most   school   principals   do   not   allow   communities   to participate in the administration of their schools because of selfishness, poor public image making and rustic behaviour as they seem to be out of tune with changes. The home therefore, provides the foundation on which the school builds, but some parents believe that as soon as the child starts to go to school, they can hand over their training to the teachers. For many years, budgets of education have been under enormous pressure as a result of declining budgetary allocation and increase in enrolment,  the effect of this on education administration  is better imagined. Inspite of the efforts of different donor countries in providing assistance for education; the system still lacks the necessary fund, human and material resources to implement the various programmes. It is against this background that this study sought to examine other sources of supporting secondary school administration by appraising level of community participation in the administration of public secondary schools in Education Zone ‘C’Benue State.

Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of the study is to appraise the community participation in the administration of public secondary schools in Education Zone “C” of Benue State.

Specifically, the study seeks to:

1.  determine   the   extent   of   community   participation   in   funding   public secondary schools in Education Zone “C” of Benue State.

2.  ascertain   the  extent  of  community  participation   in  the  provision   of infrastructural facilities in Education Zone “C” of Benue State.

3.  determine the problems militating against community participation in the administration of public secondary schools.

4.  identify  the  strategies  for  motivating  community  members  for  effective school administration.

Significance of the Study

Theoretically, this study anchored its significance on contingency theory of management.  This theory advances to prescribe which management  strategy or procedure will yield the best results in a specific situation such as teaching and learning.  Thus, the contingency theory is based on the premises that situations dictate managerial actions and that; there is no single best way of solving problems in situations. This is true since secondary school is a structure with interdependent parts, each having a supra system which constitutes its environment and having the ultimate goal of developing the individual’s mental capacity and character building for  higher  education  and  useful  living  within  the  society.  For  the  survival  of

secondary education, there is need to involve the community members in its administration since the community helps in the provision of land, funds, security, physical facilities and materials for effectiveness and efficiency in the school administration.

Practically, this study will be of a great significance to the following:  the secondary school principals, teachers, students, community and the government. To the principals, the findings will help them improve their relationship with the community. The principals as well through the findings of this study will learn about the development, problems, purposes, programs and the needs of the schools where the community could participate for effective school administration. On the part of teachers, the findings of this study will equally help them improve on the classroom  attendance,  competency in content and  pedagogy,  relationships  with students, principals and the community as well.

Furthermore, the findings of the study will bring new awareness to community members to know that their active participation in the administration of secondary schools is important and thereby learn to give more of their time for the effectiveness and efficiency in the achievement of educational goals and objectives. Finally, the findings of this study will provide information to the state government on the extent to which communities are involved in the development of the state through their effective participation in the administration of secondary schools.

Scope of the Study

The study is delimited  to all the public secondary schools in Education Zone “C” of Benue State. Education Zone “C” of Benue State consists of Nine Local Government Areas, these include: Ado, Agatu, Apa, Otukpo, Ohimini, Ogbadibo, Obi, Oju and Okpokwu Local Government Areas. The study will focus on the appraisal of community participation in the administration of public secondary schools in the area of funding, provision  of infrastructural facilities, problems militating against community participation and strategies for motivating community members for effective school administration and the ways public secondary schools administration  could be enhanced in Education Zone “C” of Benue State.

Research Questions

The following research questions will guide the study.

1.  To what extent do  communities  participate in funding  public secondary schools in Education Zone “C” of Benue State?

2.  To   what   extent   do   communities   participate   in   the   provision   of infrastructural facilities in Education Zone “C” of Benue State?

3.  What are the problems militating against community participation  in the administration of public secondary schools?

4.  What are the strategies for motivating community members for effective school administration?

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses are formulated to guide the study and will be tested at 0.05 level of significance.

H01: There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of rural teachers and urban teachers on the participation of communities in the funding of public secondary schools in Education Zone “C” of Benue State.

HO2: There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of rural teachers and urban  teachers on the strategies  for integrating  community members  for effective school administration.

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