INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON SECONDARY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION IN EBONYI STATE

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the influence of climate change on secondary school administration in Ebonyi state. Four research questions and four null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted survey design. The population of the study was 521 principals in both public and private secondary schools in Ebonyi state. A proportionate stratified random technique was used to select 260 principals from the three educational zones in Ebonyi State. The instrument used for data collection was questionnaire.Cronbach Alpha was used to measure the internal consistency co-efficient of the instrument and co-efficient of 0.70,0.55,0.58 and 0.57 was obtained for clusters A,B,C and D respectively. The overall co-efficient of the instrument is 0.71.This result shows that the instrument is reliable. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation.t- test statistics was also used to test the four null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that; Climate change has an influence on school- community relationship, staff-personnel administration, availability of physical facilities and pupil- personnel administration to a Great Extent in secondary schools administration in Ebonyi State.the findings also revealed that there is no significant difference between the mean ratings of urban and rural principals on the extent of climate change influence on school–community relationship and staff –personnel administration in secondary school administration in Ebonyi State, there is significant  difference  between  the  mean  ratings  of  urban  and  rural principals on the extent of climate change influences in the availability of physical facilities and pupil-personnel administration in secondary schools administration in Ebonyi State. Based on the above findings, it was recommended among others that there should be synergy between all stakeholders, public and private sector to proactively tackle the challenge of climate change.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Education is  very crucial  for the  growth and  development of  the society. The development of a country depends on the quality of human resources and development of human resources depends on the quality of education (Alumode, 2005). Adams (2011) observed that unless quality and functionality are assured in the school system, education will lose out to nothing else. It is unfortunate to observe that education system today has been likened to tasteless scenario and experience.  Balogun(2012) lamented that education in Nigeria today is devoid of standard, and functionality. There is a noticeable setback in education system in the country. Ugwulashi(2012) noted that management and administration of education sector is an important area considered necessary in national development. It is obvious that education sector has not been properly managed in terms of school-community relation, staff-personnel administration, pupil-personnel administration and the availability of physical facilities and so on. A lot of factors could be responsible to this trend. Hence this work looked at the influence of climate change on secondary school administration in Ebonyi State.

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Secondary education is a level of education that is intermediate between primary and tertiary level. A child receives this education after his or her primary level. It is meant for young people that are between the ages of 11 and 18 years. It produces candidate for university and other tertiary institution (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2013). Secondary school is headed by the principal, who supervises all the activities going on in the school. He collaborates with the staff (both teaching and non-teaching) to ensure that curriculum and performance goals are met. (Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN), 2007).Secondary schools are located in both urban and rural area.

Urban is an area that has been significantly developed with adequate provision of social amenities (Hoy and Mislel, 2008).Urban has many ministries, schools and industries with a large population. It is mixed with both indigenes and visitors. Rural area on the other hand is a small community   where   there   are   few   ministries   schools,   industries   and population. The major occupants of rural areas are mainly indigenes. For the purpose of this study, location is very vital because the opinions of both urban   and   rural   principals   are   needed.   The   principal   is   the   chief administrator in secondary schools. Peretomade (2008) opined that school administration is very important in the achievement of educational goals

Administration involves using men, materials and funds in an organization to achieve objectives (Opadokun, 2007).Administration is a set of  specialized  functions  within  an  organization  or   institution  which facilitates the realization of objectives and implementation of programmes(Knezevich,2014). It is a process of planning, organizing, stimulating, coordinating, and evaluating the whole organizational activities so as to achieve stated objectives (Peretomode, 2008). The goals and policies of an organization cannot be achieved and implemented appropriately without special needs of administrative services to procure and secure resources in terms of logistics, fiscal and human resources to implement whatever policies and programmes that are outlined (Mgbodile, 2004). Administration emerged as a way of solving complexities in institution. In the  context  of  this  study,  School  administration implies  the  process  of planning, organizing, coordinating and controlling both human and material resources in order to achieve educational goals. The school administrator has some administrative tasks which must be carried out, in order to achieve quality education. The operational areas of the school administrator may include: school-community relationship, staff-personnel administration, pupil-personnel administration and physical facilities.

School-community relation can be described as the degree of understanding and goodwill achieved between the school and the community (Igwe,2009). An African proverb states that “it takes a village to raise a child.”Igwe(2009)noted that building and sustaining a community relationship is important to the well-being and culture of the school. The meaningfulness of effective school administration much relies on good school-community relation that  fosters  smooth organization of  activities necessary to instill the right academic values and culture in the students, staff and the community it serves. Obasi and Oluwuo (2008) observed that neither the school nor the community can afford to remain self-satisfying without the assistance of the other as each constitutes a fundamental and indispensable catchments resource to the other. Thus there should be school- community synergy so as to ensure harmonious relationship that leads to good  administrative process  and  attainment  of  quality  education  in  the schools.

Meanwhile, staff- personnel administration is concerned with the manpower or human resources management in an organization. In the school environment, staff-personnel administration forms an important responsibility of the school administrators in the achievement of educational goals (Peretomode, 2008).The rate at which the administrator knows the

need of the staff in the school and catered for them will determine the success of the school (Peretomode,2008). The principal is expected to be sensitive towards the needs and aspiration of his staff, both teaching and non teaching staff. The staff-relationship administration cannot be overlooked in the achievement of quality education.

On the other hand, Pupil-personnel administration entails the activities and services, apart from the normal classroom instructions, rendered to the students by the administrators (Peretomode, 2008). Mgbodile(2004)opined that   pupil-personnel  administration  involves   guiding   and   supervising students in whatever they do so that the school objectives will be achieved. Oyewole(2006) posited that pupil-personnel administration is an indispensible task that must be employed by the school administrators to ensure effective school administration. To maintain good pupils-personnel administration, the school head should see that the pupils are at the center of the educational process. Pupils-personnel administration in this study, therefore,  means the  activities of  directing, organizing and teaching the pupils in such a way as to ensure the attainment of the desired objective of secondary school education.

The school physical facilities include all material resources that are needed to impact formal education. It may include; land, building, furniture,

laboratory, library, vehicular access, electricity and information technology. The successful conduct of educational programmes and activities depends mainly  upon  the  availability of  proper  physical  facilities  in  the  school (Megee, 2008).The availability of required facilities in schools enhances student’s academic performance. When learning materials are provided, learning activities proceed at a very fast speed (Fiberesima, 2012).There are a lot of factors that affect the achievement of administrative goals, which climate change seems to be one of them.

The word Climate has been defined in many ways by authors. Climate is regarded as measure of the average pattern or variation in temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, precipitation, atmospheric particles and other meteorological variables in a given region over long periods of time  (Ugwuja,  2011).  Watkins  (2007)  defined  climate  as  the  average weather condition in a certain place over a period of time. On the other hand, climate could be described as the atmosphere of the workplace, including a complex, mixture of norms, values, expectations, policies and procedures that influence individual and group patterns of behavior (Ekpo, 2009). Climate in this sense is referred as social climate. In this context, a look would be taken on physical climate. For the purpose of this study, climate

can be described as the weather condition of a place over a long period of time.

Climate change is described as the changes in the earth’s weather which includes changes in temperature, wind patterns and rainfall. It is an increase in the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere that is caused by the increase of particular gases especially carbon dioxide (Olhoff and Schaer,

2010). Climate change is also refers to a statistically significant variation in either the mean state of the climate or in its variability, persisting for an extended period of time (IPCC, 2007).1gwe (2012) refers climate change as the  slow and  gradual increase in  the  earth’s temperature as  a  result of increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Chakrebortry, (2008) affirmed that climate change refers to any change in the parameter used in measuring the element of climate temperature; precipitation or wind lasting for a period not less one decade. Climate change has also been explained as a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years (Chukwuma,

2007). In the context of this study, climate change is seen as any distinct change in atmospheric weather condition lasting for a long period of time as result  of  natural  and  human activities.  Climate  change  is  all  about  the dynamic  nature  of  climate.  The   major  changes  occur  in  the  earth

temperature, rainfall, snow or wind patterns, which take place over a long period of time.

Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have noted that climate patterns play a fundamental role in shaping natural ecosystems and human economics and cultures that depend on them. It has been observed that the climate we have come to expect is not what it used to be because the past is no longer a reliable predictor of the future. Allison (2010) stressed that climate is rapidly changing with descriptive impacts and that change is progressing faster than any seen in the last 2000 years and this invariably affects education system.

Climate change is one of the most important environmental issues facing the world. It has threatened to undo the objective of National Policy of Education towards quality assurances in the school (Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN, 2007). The issue of climate change is gaining wide spread apprehension and is taking center stage in every human endeavor in the world today. As a result this, several seminars, workshops and other public discussions have been held and are still being held on how to combat this dangerous  menace;  it’s  devastating effects  are  not  felt  in  schools  only. Ugwuja (2011) noted that it also has some negative influence on human

health, agriculture, industry, education and other fields of activities in which man is involved.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has revealed that a change in climate is as a result of the activities of man in the environment. This means that the situation can be changed if human beings transform their ways of  living to  be  more sustainable and  friendly to the environment. Change in climate can lead to change in temperature, rainfall, air pressure, humidity, sunshine and wind speed (Christensen and Trauep, 2009). It has been observed that there has been a rise in climate change. The evidence include rise in sea level, global temperature, warming oceans, shrinking ice sheets, declining arctic sea ice, glacial retrial, extreme events and ocean acidification  (Nielsen  and  Reenberg,  2010).  According  to  the  United Nations’ authoritative intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC,

2007); the main cause of climate change is the burning of fossil fuels, a process necessarily accompanied by release of the greenhouse gas, (carbon dioxide).

The greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature on earth as certain gases  in  the  atmosphere trap  energy.  The  increase  in  greenhouse gases caused by human activity is often cited as one of the major causes of global warming. These green gases reabsorb heat reflected from the earth surface,

thus trapping the heat in our atmosphere. This natural process is essential for life on earth because it plays an important role in regulating the earth’s temperature (Rens,Edgar and Judith, 2007). The IPCC(2007)identified seven main greenhouse gases. They are; Carbondioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4) Nitrons Oxide (N20), Hydrofluoric Carbons (HFCS) Perfluoro Carbons (PFCS), Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and Water vapour.

The ability of the atmosphere to capture and recycle energy emitted

by the Earth is the defining characteristic of the greenhouse effect. In this process thermal radiation from a planetary surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is re-radiated in all directions. Thus it is the greenhouse effect that contributes to warming of the Earth. That means if it were not for greenhouse gases trapping heat in the atmosphere, the Earth would be a very cold place. (Rens et al, 2007). The consensus among the world’s  leading climate scientists  is  that  there  is  no  doubt  that climate system is warming and that it is extremely likely that emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities are the dominant cause (United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change (IPCC, 2007). Meanwhile, there are a number of natural factors responsible for climate change. Some of the more prominent ones are continental drift, volcanoes, ocean currents, the earth’s stiff, comets and meteorites.

Climate change phenomenon has serious deleterious consequences on the earth in the form of significant variations in regional climates, recurrent droughts, excessive heat waves, windstorms and floods (Ekpoh and Ekpoh,

2011). There are noticeable consequences of climate change in the country such as intense thunderstorms, widespread flood and incessant droughts. These noticeable consequences of climate change has made the achievement of education goals very difficult (Ugwuja, 2011). Every day, we watch our television; we see how thousands of people suffer as a result of drought, flooding,  erosion  and  earthquake.  Many  people  have  been  rendered homeless by these environmental hazards. Some of the buildings that flooding and erosion have destroyed are school buildings. In Ebonyi state for instance, there has been series of flooding which affected both social and

economic activities of the state. On June 21st  2013, flood occurred at Hope

High School and Salt Lake Hotel. (Okutu, 2014).

As a result of the flood, Hope High International School was closed down temporarily by the school management. Parents who brought their children to school on that day were seen going back home with them. The flood which occurred after a heavy rainfall also affected both residential and commercial buildings. It was later discovered that the flood was caused by the overflowing of Iyiudele and Iyiokwu Rivers in Ebonyi State after the

heavy rainfall (Okutu, 2014). There were also reports of flooding in other states in Nigeria in 2012. The places affected were; Abia, Imo, Bayelsa, Anambra,  Lagos  Edo,Delta,  Kogi  Rivers  Benue  Niger  Nassarawa  and Jigawa. It displaced many people in these areas and ravaged many lives and properties. It was caused by heavy rainfall combined with rising water levels that occurred between July and October, 2012. (FGN Report, 2013).

Change in climate causes the weather to become more extreme and cause droughts, violent storms and heavy rain. This is why some of our school buildings and other physical facilities are destroyed by floods and winds. Thus this seems to affect educational system (IPCC, 2007).The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has also noted that climate change affects children in many ways, their wellbeing and care, and their ability to participate in good quality education. During the period of excessive heat and heavy rainfall, students find it difficult to attend school. In certain areas where drought parched, grounds are unable to absorb rain; floods make road inaccessible, preventing students from reaching schools (Rens ,et al, 2007).When there is excessive heat and heavy rainfall, students find it difficult to come out and participate in the school activities. In a case like this, the pupils-personnel relationship would be affected.

The damages caused by climate change have resulted to poverty in many homes and this has made it very difficult for parents to provide school fees, uniform, shoes and books for their children. Flooding and drought have made some parents to migrate to other places to look for work. As they move, they have to withdraw their children from the school to their new places (Rens et al, 2007).The community in a situation like this will find it difficult to meet up with the school demands and this will invariably affect the  school- community relationship. The  staff-personnel relation  is  also affected by climate change. It has been observed that during excessive heat and heavy rainfall, the turn up of staff to their duties is always very poor. In a situation like this, the principal may be forced to issue queries to the defaulted and this will distort the relationship between the principal and the staff. Lane et al (2006) observed that poor attitude to work makes staff- personnel administration ineffective.

Given this background, the aim of the present study is to examine the influence of climate change on secondary school administration in Ebonyi State.

Statement of the Problem

A cursory look at the education system in Ebonyi state shows that there is a serious setback in the system. The achievement of educational goals  has  been a  mirage  in  our  various  secondary schools  and  climate change seems to be one of the contributing factors to this ugly scenario. There had been noticeable setbacks in the standards of infrastructure, teaching and learning, leadership and curriculum content. There seems to be poor community-relationship, poor staff-personnel relationship, lack of pupils-personnel relation, poor instructional supervision and lack of physical facilities. All these problems could be attributed to continuous rise in climate change. There had been series of reports of flooding and erosion in some parts of the state. A lot of properties and even lives have been destroyed. This has rendered many people homeless and many have migrated to other places so as to make ends meet. Some of the affected areas are school buildings, individual lives and offices. In 2012, it was reported that Ebonyi state was among the 14 states affected by the flood with at least three people confirmed dead and thousands of others displaced. The former state governor, Martin Elechi, during one of his speeches noted that the 2012 flood disaster in Ebonyi State displaced about 332,938 people in different parts of the state. He also said that effect of flooding, drought, gully erosion

and other natural disasters in the state has been so devastating and had caused the loss of property estimated at several billions of naira, including cash crops and other agricultural products. In 2013, some schools were ravage by flood. Hope High International School was among them. The school was temporarily closed down by the school management.

Based on the above mentioned problems, this study want look at the influence of climate change on secondary school administration in Ebonyi State.

Purpose of the Study

This study aimed at exploring the influence of climate change on secondary school administration in Ebonyi State. This study was specifically designed to;

1) determine  the  extent  climate  change  influences school-community relationship in secondary schools in Ebonyi State.

2) find   out   the   extent   climate   change   influences   staff-personnel administration in secondary schools administration in Ebonyi state.

3) ascertain  the  extent  climate  change  influences  the  availability  of physical facilities in secondary schools in Ebonyi State.

4) examine   the   extent   climate   change   influences   pupil-personnel administration in secondary schools in Ebonyi State.

Significance of the Study

This study has both theoretical and practical significance. The theoretical aspect is based on the theory of “Ice Age”. It was propounded by Jean Louis Agassiz in 1837.He was the first scientist that proposed that the earth has been subject to a past ice age. Agassiz noted the ice age was the period when giant glaciers were extended down from the North Pole to cover  Europe  and   much  of  North  America.  At  this  period,  global temperature was relatively cool and large areas of the earth were covered by continental ice sheet and alpine glaciers.

Agassiz postulated that the gradual increase in the earth’s temperature is as a result of increase in a greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Agassiz also stated that the greenhouse gas level fell at the start of ice ages and rise during the retreat of the ice sheets. Agassiz noted that the increase in greenhouse gases is as result of increase in human activities such as burning fossil fuel. This shows that if not because of variation in climate as a result of some human activities, the earth would have been very cool. The concept of this theory can be a guide to the school administrators, government and the entire society on how to proffer a lasting solution to climate change issues as it affects secondary school administration in Ebonyi State. The theory exposed the fact that if people should reduce some activities such as

burning of fossil fuel and burning of carbons, there will be decrease in the continuous rise in climate change.

Practically, the society, school administrators, students, researchers, Federal, State and Local Government are to benefit from the findings of this study. The members of the society will benefit immensely from the study because the climate change menace affects everybody in the society. It will enlighten them on the causes, effects and necessary measures that need to be taken in order to solve the problem through sensitization.

To the students, the findings of this study will be a compass through which they will be exposed to the knowledge of climate change. They will begin to appreciate the fact that if we are to have a better climate in future, they will equally have a role to play. Consequently, it will create room for achievement of administrative goals in the schools.

The findings of this study will equally be very useful to the school administrators. It will help them to map out strategies on how to address the challenges of climate change. As they adopt and implement some measures suggested in this study, it will help them to achieve educational goals in our various secondary schools. They will begin to see the need to liaise with the members of the community, staff and students to tackle the issue of climate change as it affects school administration.

Government at Federal, State and Local Government level will benefit from the findings of this study. It would be an eye opener to the government on how to proffer lasting solutions to the problem of climate change in our educational sector and even other sectors through conduction of seminars on climate change issues .Government will also begin to plan on how to rescue the affected areas by replacing some of damaged facilities in the schools.

Finally, this study will also be very useful to researchers. It will serve as a reference material for further studies to future researchers on this topic or on a similar topic.

Scope of the Study

This study focuses on the influence of climate change on secondary school administration in Ebonyi State. It x-rays how climate change affects the  school administrative goals  such as  school- community relationship, staff-personnel relationship, availability of physical facilities and pupils- personnel relationship  in secondary schools  in  Ebonyi State.  The  target population is secondary schools principals in Ebonyi State.

Research Questions

The following research questions were used to guide the study.

1) To  what  extent  does  climate  change  influence  school-community relationship in secondary schools in Ebonyi State?

2) To   what   extent   does   climate   change   influence   staff-personnel administration in Secondary schools in Ebonyi state?

3) To what extent does climate change influence the availability of physical facilities in secondary school in Ebonyi state?

4) To   what   extent   does   climate   change   influence   pupil-personnel administration in secondary schools in Ebonyi state?

Hypotheses

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

HO1: There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of urban and rural principals on the extent of climate change influence on school- community relationship in secondary schools in Ebonyi State.

HO2: There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of urban and rural principals on the extent of climate change influence on staff-

personnel administration in secondary school administration in Ebonyi

State.

HO3: There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of urban and rural principals on the extent of climate change influence on availability of physical facilities in secondary schools in Ebonyi State.

HO4: There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of urban and rural principals on the extent climate change influence on pupil- personnel administration in secondary schools in Ebonyi State.

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