IMPACT OF SCHOOL-BASED MANAGEMENT
COMMITTEES ON THE
ADMINISTRATION OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS
ABSTRACT
This study examined the impact of School-Based Management Committees on
the
Administration
of Secondary Schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria. To achieve this, ten (10)
objectives
were set to; evaluate the influence of School-Based Management Committees on
decision
making process, ascertain the influence of School-Based Management Committees
on
school-community
relationship, evaluate the influence of School-Based Management
Committees
on students‘ enrolment and retention in secondary schools in North-west zone,
Nigeria
among others. The study had ten (10) research questions and ten (10) null
hypotheses.
Relevant
related literatures were reviewed for the study. The study adopted descriptive
survey
research
design and the population of the study was 55,306, which comprised 1440
Ministry of
Education
officials, 3078 principals and 50,788 teachers in North-west Zone, Nigeria. The
sample
size of 389 was purposively drawn from the population which comprised 79
principals,
60
MOE officials and 250 teachers. Adopted questionnaire which contained 100 item
statements
with
5 likertrating scales was used as instrument for data collection. The
instrument was
validated
by experts in the field of Educational Administration and Planning and
Measurement
and
Evaluation. The reliability coefficient of the instrument was 0.87. Three
hundred and sixty
nine
(369) copies of questionnaire were returned. The data collected from the field
were
analyzed
using descriptive statistics of frequencies, percentages and mean scores to
describe the
demographic
characteristics of the respondents and answer all research questions.
Inferential
statistics
of One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test all the ten (10) null
hypotheses
at 0.05 level of significance. The four rejected hypotheses were further tested
using
HSD
Tukey post hoc test. Findings of the study revealed among others that
School-Based
Management
Committees hadinfluence on decision making process in the administration of
secondary
schools as perceived by the stakeholders and the test of null hypothesis
confirmed that
the
influence is statistically significant (P=.187).There is influence of
School-Based Management
Committees
on school-community relationship in the administration of secondary schools and
the
test of null hypothesis affirmed that the influence is statistically
significant (P=.537). The
study
concluded among others that School-Based Management Committees played
significant
role
on decision making process in the administration of secondary schools. The
implication is
that
as long as School-Based Management Committees will continue to exist in our
Secondary
schools,
sound decision regarding teaching and learning activities will be made.
Schoolcommunity relationship shall be maintained as this will bring active community
participation. It
was
recommended among others that democratic participatory decision making should
be
encouraged
in schools as this will bring sound decisions and educated people of high
integrity
with
interest of educational development should be elected as SMBC members in
schools as this
will
enhance cordial and harmonious school-community relationship.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
School effectiveness and improvement are major concerns to all education
authorities,
policy
makers, administrators and teachers seeking to reform the present education
systems. A
major
plank in the global reform process in education is the concept of
decentralization where
education
authorities devolve some responsibilities to authorities closer to schools.
School-Based
Management
Committee (SBMC) system reflects this decentralization process whereby
community
members are given responsibilities in school governance.
The
National Council on Education (NCE) in 2006 approved the establishment of
School-Based
Management Committees in primary and junior secondary schools in the country,
as
part of government‘s effort to ensure inclusive participation in the school
system. The SBMCs
are
expected to provide platforms for committees and schools to work together to
enrich school
governance
and promote improved management by education authorities, towards the
achievement
of better learning outcomes for children (SBMC Guide Book, 2011).
SBMCs
are been implemented in countries like United States of America, United
Kingdom,
Australia, Canada, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, El-Salvador, Mexico,
Nicaragua,
Kenya,
Krygyz Republic, Nepal and Paraguay (Caldwell & Hayward, 1998). The
educational
systems
of these countries were re-structured so as to establish ―self-managing‖
―self-governing‖
or
self-determining schools.
In
1988, the United Kingdom passed the legislation for the local management
schools
(Fildler
and Early, 1994) and at roughly the same time school-based management or school
site
management
was introduced in many American school systems (Cooper, 1990). Meanwhile, in
Hongkong,
in the 1970s and 1980s, student‘s performance was rugged to be far from
adequate.
Wong
(1995) argued that this was partly due to the tightening of administrative and
financial
controls
over the schools caused by the proliferation of Education Department‘s Policies
over the
years.The
Education Department published school management initiatives in 1991 and
suggested
that
all schools should implement school-based management by 2000: Thus, schools
would
change
from the external control needed to that of decentralized authority.
The
need to inspire quality consciousness in school operators and managers for the
attainment
of total quality assurances in schools, and a turn-around in education
effectiveness
gave
birth to close concept of community participation in school management. Policy
makers
believe
that to improve education quality, it is, vital to advance from classroom
teaching level to
school
organization level and reform the structural system and management style of
school
(Abu-Duhou,
1999). This is the basis for School-Based Management Committee.
In
Nigeria, the School-Based Management Committee was set up to increase citizen
participation
in School Management. This is part of the efforts of school reform in Nigeria.
According
to Dakar Framework of Action (2000), the experience of the past decade has
underscored
the need for better governance of education system in terms of efficiency,
accountability,
transparency and flexibility, so that they can respond more effectively to the
diverse
and consciously changing needs of learners. Reform of educational management is
urgently
needed to move from highly centralized, standardized and common-driven forms of
management
to more decentralized and participatory decision-making, implementation and
monitoring
at lower levels of accountability.
Although,
observation has shown albeit erroneously, that some school managers
particularly
head teachers see the role of SBMC as a relegation of schools autonomy, whereas
SMBC
is to promote the autonomy of schools. SBMC has been, defined in different ways
by
different
writers and authors, for example Cheng (1996) sees School-Based Management
Committee
(SBMC) as tasks that are set according to the characteristics and needs of the
school
itself
and therefore school members have a much greater autonomy and responsibility
for the use
of
resources to solve problem and carry out effective education activities, for
the long- term
development
of the school. Caldwell and Spinks (1988) see school-based management as a
school
system of education to which there has been decentralized significant amount of
authority
and
responsibility to make decision related to the allocation of resources within
centrally
determined
framework of goals, policies, standard and accountabilities.
The
definitions show that in schools that practice SBMC policy, transfer of
authority
takes
place and gives schools some degree of decision making. The goals of
School-Based
Management
Committee programmes vary according to each country but they typically include:
(i)
Increasing the participation of parents and committees in schools.
(ii)
Empowering principals and teachers.
(iii)
Building local level capacity and perhaps the most importantly.
(iv)
Improving quality and efficiency of schooling, thus raising students‘
achievement
levels.
The
school belongs to the community, which forms the grassroots stakeholders in
management.
Decentralization will make it possible for the community to participate in the
decision
making of the school. Murphy and Beck (1995) noted that a central feature of
SBM is
the
SBM committee. While, the committees vary in composition and responsibilities
as most
writers
agreed that it is within the committee that school stakeholders such as head
teachers,
parents,
community members and students do participate in decision making.
The
members of the SBMC are at the same time members of the community. All of them
interact
on daily basis; therefore, indicating that both the community and the school
cannot live
in
isolation.From this one can also deduce that they influence one another. It
therefore becomes
easy
for the SBMC to be like the ―man in the middle‖ between the school and the
community. A
School-Based
Management Committee in Nigeria is a form of community involvement in school
governance,
based on regulation with elected but voluntary memberships. Certainly, the
intention
behind
school committee is to implement democratic participation in decision making.
It
is argued that people know better and are able to be more responsive to their
own
needs.
Locating authority locally seems more efficient, compared with decisions from
central
government
which often miss their targets and take a longer time to implement, people who
are
within
local school or live locally. The argument goes, will efficiently gather
information
relevant
for their own purposes; ranging from pedagogical to school infrastructural
issues. This
kind
of information is more reliable and will lead to effective decision making by
school
stakeholders
in terms of public service delivery. Undoubtedly, the School-Based Management
Committee
(SBMC) is relevant at this time of Nigerian educational development. The
functions
go
beyond resource management and its utilization as some observers view it. This
is a narrow
concept
of School-Based Management Committee (SBMC). The communities are to ensure
quality
both in educational inputs and outcomes and also quality in learning
environment for
schools.
This can only be effective if we have learners who are of good quality. In some
parts of
the
world where the School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) is effectively used,
it is
used
to promote self-budgeting reforms, school-based curriculum development,
school-based
staff
development and school-based students‘ counseling.
1.2
Statement of the Problem
Nigeria has set in motion key reform measures and strategies to turn
around the education
system
to meet the set goals and targets in line with the national needs and her
commitment to
global
frameworks such as Education For All (EFA), Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
and
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It has evolved the Community Accountability
and
Transparency
Initiative (CATI) to address the need for due process and selfless commitment
to
service
and national development with inclusive education. Nigeria faces some
challenges of
managing
access as a fundamental right of all to at least basic education, as well as
ensuring the
delivery
of quality education to a wide range of diverse group with specific or special
needs.
Nigeria
has placed the right emphasis on creating learner friendly needs based flexible
and
functional curricula, enhancing guidance and counseling in schools, continuous
assessment
and
monitoring of learning achievements, a reformed and empowered inspectorate
system and
public
private partnerships for the sustainability of the gains of the current
initiative and
innovative
prolonged regime of poor quality public education that has been consistently
linked to
the
strings of failure by Nigeria to attain its full development potentials
directly linked to this is
the
evident of failure of schools to provide basic opportunities for learning due
to the poor state
of
infrastructure in schools, especially the public ones. Buildings and facilities
are inadequate,
teaching
standards are low, teachers receive inadequate training and have little
motivation to
improve
on their jobs, increase in enrolment of students and low retention rates in our
schools.
In
addition, bad decisions in our schools, minimal participation of community
members,
increase
in enrolment and low retention rates, lack of training and retraining of
teachers,
inadequate
school facilities, recruitment of unqualified teachers, inadequate health and
welfare facilities,
insufficient games and recreational facilities, lack of maintenance of
discipline and
absence
of extra-curricular activities in secondary schools.
Policy
making in secondary schools involves the participation and involvement of
teachers,
students and members of the community in decision making process especially on
issues
that concern each of the level, (Edem, 2004). This means that effective
administration
requires
rational decision making which leads to the selection of the best way to reach
anticipated
goals. The ability to make rational decision has been limited by law or
inadequate
knowledge
of school negative role played by emotions, power, bias, politics, personal
attitude
and
job requirements and often results in bad decisions in the school, (Nwachukwu,
2006). Noncompliance to the decisions agreed by law especially with regards to
the interest of the members
of
the school leads to conflict and misunderstanding among members of staff as
well as students
in
the school, negligence and non-participation of members of School. Based
Management
Committees
and Parent-Teachers Association with regards to the planning decisions for
management
of schools also affect some decisions that are made in schools.
There
are wide gaps in School Community Relation that need to be bridged in Nigerian
educational
system as a whole.The community sees schools properties as public properties,
therefore,
have little or no interest on them. Sharma (1992) asserted that School
Community
Relation
is appropriate only when there is a two-way school community relationship in
which the
latter
participates to a large degree in schools.
On
the issue of increase in enrolment of students and low retention rates in our
secondary
schools,
in 1996, 21 Million children were of school age, out of which 14.1 million were
enrolled
while
6.9 million were not enrolled (Animalu, 2000). In 1997, although there was an
increase in
the
enrolment figure, the problem of having school age children out of school was
still
experienced
in that year, 15.5 million children were enrolled in schools as against their
total
population
of 19.5 million.This clearly indicates that 4 million school age children were
not in
school
(Azare, 2000)
Staff
development in education globally remains very low inspite of successive
effects of
Federal
Governments to address the issue of fall in standard. Rosser (2011) stated that
most
people
in their working places do not understand the environment in which they work,
the job
they
do and had to do it better. The balance between the process of production and
welfare of the
society
is not achieved. There are no frequent meetings between superiors and
sub-ordinates, no
respect
and consideration for their fellow human beings, inadequate mastery of the
management
of
human materials, financial resources of the institution and inability to
harmonize all the
compliment
towards attainment of the set goals and objectives (Adesina, 1981;Ayanniyi,
1999
and
Zubaida, 2009).
Instructional
facilities provided to schools are inadequate and the insufficient
instructional
facilities provided are not well maintained. Appearance and general condition
of
school
facilities are the striking basis upon which many parents and friends of any
educational
institution
make the initial judgment about the quality of what goes on in the boarding
schools.
Africa
in general and Nigeria in particular are characterized by low maintenance
culture,
especially
in respect of government owned properties.
Health
and welfare facilities provided to schools are inadequate, even the ones
provided
are
from School Based Management Committees or Parents-Teachers Association members
or
by
Non-Governmental Organizations or philanthropists. Nigeria‘s vision 2020 is an
articulation
of
the long term intent to launch Nigeria into a path of sustained social,
integration and economic
development
for the progress and accelerate the emergence of a truly prosperous and united
Nigeria.The
vision aims at improving the standard of living of the citizens and placing
Nigeria
among
the ―top 20‖ economies and highest level of healthy living in the world. It is
well known
fact
that the federal government has adopted a new development paradigm over the
years
(Abdullahi,
2009).
Games
and recreational facilities are inadequate in our schools. Games and
recreational
facilities
apart from developing skills also develop a good learning, socio-psychological
as well
as
mental environment through relation. The importance of level of resources
committed to the
development
and provision of recreational facilities must not exceed their values in
facilitating
the
overall goal of the educational institution.
There
are notable instances of indiscipline in our schools like drug abuse,
examination
malpractice,
lawlessness, violence, bullying and cultism (Kwasau, 2006). Indiscipline in
schools
is
attributed on large school size. It is very difficult to control a school that
is over populated, this
can
lead to students‘ misbehavior (Haller, 1992). Failure of the school curriculum
to meet the
moral
aspiration of the society in which it is found, lack of good moral training by
parents, lack
of
good leadership in the society. Injustice/corruption in the society and
unrealistic rules are
some
of the many causes of indiscipline in many African secondary schools (Yaroson,
2004).
Extra-curricular
activities, apart from normal school activities there are extra-curricular
activities
that need to be performed at school from time to time. But unfortunately most
of our
schools
do not consider these activities as advantageous and important to students.
These
activities
include quiz club, jet club, drama club, press club, cultural club. These
extra-curricular
activities
increase unity among students, create flat form for competition among students,
create
sense
of team work and sharing of ideas among students and also increase interaction
among
teachers
and students, among teachers and students through clubs and societies
programmes.
All
SBMCs are useful therefore, would have influence in secondary schools
administration, it is
the
direction of the influence that warrant this study.
1.3
Objectives of the Study
This study was set to achieve the following objectives:
1.
evaluate the influence of School-Based Management Committees on decision making
process
in secondary schools in North-west zone, Nigeria;
2.
ascertain the influence of School-Based Management Committees on
school-community
relationship
in secondary schools in North-west zone, Nigeria;
3.
evaluate the influence of School-Based Management Committees on students‘
enrolment
and
retention in secondary schools in North-west zone, Nigeria;
4.
determine the influence of School-Based Management Committees on staff
development
programmes
in secondary schools in North-west zone, Nigeria;
5.
determine the influence of School-Based Management Committees on provision and
management
of instructional facilities in secondary schools in North-west zone, Nigeria;
6.
find out the influence of School-Based Management Committees on staffing
situation in
secondary
schools in North-west zone, Nigeria;
7.
ascertain the influence of School-Based Management Committees on provision of
health
and
welfare facilities in secondary schools in North-west zone, Nigeria;
8.
ascertain the influence of School-Based Management Committees on provision of
games
and
recreational facilities in secondary schools in North-west zone, Nigeria;
9.
evaluate the influence of school-based management committees on maintenance of
discipline
in secondary schools in North-west zone, Nigeria; and
10.
evaluate the influence of School-Based Management Committees on
extra-curricular
activities
in secondary schools in North-west zone, Nigeria;
1.4
Research Questions
The study asked the following research questions:
1.
What is the influence of School-Based Management Committees on decision making
process
in secondary schools in North-west zone, Nigeria?
2.
In what ways does School-Based Management Committees influence school community
relationship
in secondary schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria?
3.
What is the influence of School-Based Management Committees on students‘
enrolment
and
retention in secondary schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria?
4.
To what extent does School-Based Management Committees influence staff
development
programmes
in secondary schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria?
5.
What is the influence of School-Based Management Committees on provision and
management
of instructional facilities in secondary schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria?
6.
To what extent does School-Based Management Committees influence staffing
situation
in
secondary schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria?
7.
What is the influence of School-Based Management Committees on provision of
health
and
welfare facilities in secondary schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria?
8.
In what ways does School-Based Management Committees influence provision of
games
and
recreational facilities in secondary schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria?
9.
What is the influence of school-based management committees on maintenance of
discipline
in secondary schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria?
10.
To what extent does School-Based Management Committees influence
extra-curricular
activities
in secondary schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria?
1.5
Research Hypotheses
The study formulated the following hypotheses:
H01: There is no
significant difference in the opinions of Ministry of Education
officials,
principals and teachers on the influence of School-Based Management
Committees
on decision making process in secondary schools in North-west
Zone,
Nigeria;
H02: There is no
significant difference in the opinions of respondents on the influence
of
School-Based Management Committees on school-community relationship in
secondary
schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria;
H03: There is no
significant difference in the opinions of respondents on the influence
of
School-Based Management Committees on students‘ enrolment and retention
in
secondary schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria;
H04: There is no
significant difference in the opinions of respondents on the influence
of
School-Based Management Committees on staff development programmes in
secondary
schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria;
H05: There is no
significant difference in the opinions of respondents on the influence
of
School-Based Management Committees on provision and management of
instructional
facilities in secondary schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria;
H06: There is no
significant difference in the opinions of respondents on the influence
of
School-Based Management Committees on staffing situation in secondary
schools
in North-west Zone, Nigeria;
H07: There is no
significant difference in the opinions of respondents on the influence
of
School-Based Management Committees on provision of health and welfare
facilities
in secondary schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria;
H08: There is no
significant difference in the opinions of respondents on the influence
of
School-Based Management Committees on provision of games and
recreational
facilities in secondary schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria;
H09: There is no
significant difference in the opinions of respondents on the influence
of
school-based management committees on maintenance of discipline in
secondary
schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria; and
H010: There is no
significant difference in the opinions of respondents on theinfluence
of
School-Based Management Committees on extra-curricular activities in
secondary
schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria.
1.6
Basic Assumptions
The study was on the assumptions that School Based Management Committees
would:
1.
enhance the decision making process in management of secondary schools in North
West;
2.
bring cordial school-community relationship in secondary schools in North-west
Zone,
Nigeria;
3.
help to increase enrolment and retention of students in secondary schools in
North-west
Zone,
Nigeria;
4.
contribute in training and re-training of teachers in Secondary schools in
North-west
Zone,
Nigeria; contribute on provision and management of instructional facilities
in secondary schools
in North-west Zone,
Nigeria;
6. contribute to
recruitment of teachers and improve learning outcomes in secondary
schools in North-west
Zone, Nigeria;
7. provide health and
welfare facilities to promote students health in secondary schools in
North-west Geographical
Zone, Nigeria;
8. provide games and
recreational facilities todevelop students‘ potentials in secondary
schools in North-west
Zone, Nigeria;
9. maintain discipline
to help in minimizing indiscipline and promote discipline in
secondary schools in
North-west Zone, Nigeria; and
10. promoteteam work
and bring cooperation among students in secondary schools in Northwest Zone,
Nigeria.
1.7 Significance of the
Study
School-Based Management
Committeesare very important as they help to make schools
improve their
performance. Those to benefit from this study are; government, non-governmental
organizations, principals,
educational administrators and planners, curriculum specialist,
teachers, parents and
students.Thus, it is considered worthwhile to study the influence of
SchoolBased Management Committees in the administration of secondary schools in
North-west Zone,
Nigeria.
The significance of
this study lies on the fact that School-Based Management
Committees build and
strengthen partnership between various organizations, that increase voice
and demand for better
education service delivery and enhances active community participation in
schools. School-Based
Management Committeesare significant in the sense that they provide
legal framework
involving stakeholders in planning, monitoring and evaluation of education at
the school level.
The findings of this
thesis will help government in formulating new educational policies
and also it may provide
new developmental strategies which will enhances attainment of school
vision andeducational
goals for learning effectiveness. The non-governmental organization will
also benefit from this
thesis in the sense that it will help them to plan the grants allocation to
secondary schools in
North-West Zone, Nigeria.
This study will be of
immense benefit to principals in establishing proper communication
channels, strengthening
the sense of belonging among and teachers and building up a
collaborative school
culture developing a set of rational, a fair and impartial policies to handle
complaints from staff
as well as people from the community, it will also help principals to
formulate a teacher
professional development policies that looks at teacher needs, the direction
of school development
and the learning interest of the students.
Also, school
administratorsor managers are responsible for monitoring the development
and effectiveness of
the school curriculum. This study will help curriculum specialist and give
them a good
understanding of the present position and the future development of the school
curriculum. Also,
school managers will have a good understanding of the school itself as well as
the trend of
educationdevelopment.
This study will also be
of great significant to teachers as it promotes quality education,
school should adopt a
model of teaching and learning and a management framework that suit the
needs of the students
and the community with the inclusion of teachers into school based
management committees,
the school develops its own characteristics, establishes its culture and
identity, seeks
self-improvement and pursues excellence. Also, it will enhance the creative
participation in the
day to day activity of the school. It holds individual
schoolmanagementaccountable
for students‘ enrolment, retention and successful completion.
In addition, parents
will also benefitfrom the work, involvement of parents in the school
based management
committees bringsalot of development and educational effectiveness to
school parents
abilities to perform differentfunctions, save problems and achieveobjectives
through the developed
skills, findings from the study will make community members know that
they can serve as
managers in the schoolmanagement committees and participate in decision
making of the school.
Equally, future researchers in the related field of study will find this study
relevant as the findings
from the study will serve as a reference materials for them.
1.8 Scope of the Study
This study titled
―Influence of School-Based Management Committees on the
Administration of
Secondary Schools in North-west Zone, Nigeria‖ covers all the Secondary
Schools in North-west
Zone, Nigeria, which comprises of seven (7) States; Kebbi, Sokoto,
Zamfara, Katsina,
Kaduna, Kano and Jigawa. The respondents of this study were M.O.E
officials, principals
and teachers.
The population of this
study was fifty five thousand three hundred and six (55,306) which
comprised one thousand
four hundred and fourty (1440) MOE officials, three thousand and
seventy eight (3078)
principals and fifty thousand seven hundred and eighty eight (50788)
teachers. The sampleof
this study was three hundred and eighty nine. Sixty (60) MOE officials,
seventy nine (79)
principals and two hundred and fifty (250) teachers in secondary schools in
North West Zone,
Nigeria.
This study was also
delimited to the extent to which school based management
committee influence
decision making process, school community relationship, enrolment and
retention of students,
staff development programmes, provision and management of instructional
facilities, provision
of games and recreational facilities, maintenance of discipline and
extracurricular
activities in secondary schools in North West Zone, Nigeria.
1.9 Operational
Definitions of Terms
School
Based Management Committee: Is
a committee which comprises 17 members who
work towards school
improvement.
Administration: running the affairs of a school towards
goal
attainment
Extra-Curricular
Activities: These are
other programmes in schools apart from
teaching and learning
Decision Making
Process: Takingchoice
that leads to improvement and goal
attainment in schools.
Discipline good behaviour among students and staff
Games and Recreational
Facilities Materials
needed for sport and leisure
Health and Welfare
Facilities facilities
in school that improve the students and
staff wellbeing
Instructional
Facilities Materials
for teaching and learning
Secondary School: Level of school after primary Education
School-Community
Relationship: Collaboration
between school and community for
better teaching and
learning in schools
Students’ Enrolment and
Retention: Number of
students admitted and stays in schools
Staff Development
Programme: Capacity
building of staff via seminars, workshops
and in-service
training.
Staffing Situation: Recruitment, selection and placement of
staff
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