Extent of community participation in the management of secondary education through school based management committee in Awka south local government area Anambra state

Abstract: The study examined the extent of community participation in the management of secondary education through school based management committee in Awka South Local Government Area Anambra State. Four research questions were used as a guide and descriptive survey design was adopted, the population comprised of 12,646 respondents of all members of school based management committee which includes: principals and Parent Teacher Association (PTA) of the 18 public secondary schools in the area of study out of which a sample of 200 respondents was selected using simple random sampling. Instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire of 28 items designed with a four- scale response options. The arithmetic mean was used for data analysis. The finding of the study indicated that there are powers of the school committee as perceived by the members on current structures of the school committee because the school committee exercises great power and authority; the process of decision-making in the school committee is satisfactory, the school committee can take decisions on their own concerning the management of the school, the school committee develop programmes on their own that enhances effective learning, they empower school administrators and teachers, they increase the participation of parents and communities in school and they provide equity and equality in access to basic education. The study recommended that education board should organize seminars whereby those involve in the management of secondary schools will be educated on the knowledge of SBMC and government should adequately fund schools, provide resources, create workshops and seminars in order to solve the problems hampering the implementation of school based management policies.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Content                                                                                                 

TITLE PAGE

APPROVAL PAGE

CERTIFICATION

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION                                                     

Background to the Study

Statement of the Problem

Purpose of the Study

Significance of the Study

Scope of the Study

Research Questions

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE             

Conceptual Framework                                                                            

Community participation

School based management

Theoretical Framework                                                                             

System Theory by Von Bertalanffy

Theoretical Studies                                                                          

Types of School based management

Empirical Studies                                                                                      

Review on Community Participation in the Management of Schools

Review on Manner in Which Communities Participates in the

Management of Schools

Review on Challenges and Problems Hampering the Implementation

of School Based Management Committee

Summary of Related Literature                                                      

CHAPTER THREE: METHOD                                                   

Research Design

Area of the Study

Population of the Study

Sample and Sampling Techniques

Instrument for Data Collection

Validation of the Instrument

Reliability of Data Instrument

Method of Data Collection

Method of Data Analysis

CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA   

Research Questions

Summary of Findings

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION OF RESULTS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMEDATION                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Discussion of Results

Conclusion

Implications of the Study

Recommendations

Limitations of the Study

Suggestions for Further Research

REFERENCES

APPENDIXES                                                                                 

LIST OF TABLES

Table                                                                                                      Page

1        Mean scores of the responses on the power and authority

of the school committee as perceived by the members of

the SBMC on current structures of the school committee.                         33

2. Mean response of respondents on the manner school-

community has participated in management of secondary

school                                                                                               34

3. Mean responses of respondents on what ways there

been improvements in student achievement resulting

from community participation                                                          36

4. Mean response on challenges and problems hampering the

implementation of School based management policy and

ways to seek remedial strategies                                                       37

An Overview of Extent of community participation in the management of secondary education through school based management committee in Awka south local government area Anambra state

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background to the study

Extent in this study means low far the members of the community have been contributing in the affairs of public secondary school administration through school based management committee for effective teaching and learning. In this study also, community participation in school administration is the involvement of the community to achieve educational goals and objectives. Education at secondary school level is defined by Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004), as the form of education children receive after primary education and before the tertiary stage. The broad aims of secondary education as stated in the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004) include preparation for useful living within the society and preparation for higher education. In the policy document, it is stated that government welcomes the participation of voluntary agencies and communities in the establishment and management of secondary schools. This is because the provision of education has become very expansive not to be left for the government alone. The school and community are two inspirable entities which are mutually dependent on one another.

In Nigeria and indeed in many other African countries, the typical image of a community is that of a medium sized rural village with a close-knit group of inhabitants, largely, self contained with everybody knowing and standing in accepted relationship with one another Amujiri, (2000). Nwangwu, (2007), observed that a school does not exist in isolation. It exists in social setting, in other words, it is an integral part of the community in which it is situated. This therefore means that the community as well as the general public in one way or the other owns and supports the school. He further stated that as a result of this support, these people deserve to be informed on regular basis on the progress and activities of the school. Both the school and the community have tremendous influence on the character and behavior of the youths. The school as well as the community should understand and appreciate the need for mutual co-existence. There is, therefore, absolute need to create opportunities and forum where views on school policies, programmes, and activities are discussed and such forum can be seen as school based management committee.

School Based Management Committees involves the decentralization of authority from the government to the school level (Caldwell, 2005). In the words of Malen et al. (1990), “School-based management are formal alteration of governance structures, a form of decentralization that identifies the individual school as the primary unit of improvement and relies on the redistribution of decision-making authority as the primary means through which improvement are stimulated and sustained.”

SMBC was first practiced in Hong Kong, In Hong Kong; the government focused its education policy on improving the quality of education and proposed a comprehensive change of public sector school reform in financial and management strategies and procedures of the administration in 1989. In 1991, the Education and Manpower Branch and the Education Department published the policy document named The School Management Initiative (SMI): Setting the Framework for Quality in Hong Kong Schools (Education and Manpower Branch and the Education Department [EMB&ED], 1991) for setting out the reform of the school system. The SMI document supports Hong Kong’s school restructuring with a school effectiveness model, that is, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the school management and to achieve better quality of education in all the systems. The Hong Kong’s SMI is equivalent to the United Kingdom’s local management of schools, school-based management in the United States and Nigeria and the self-managing school in Australia.

In 1991, SMI was introduced in Hong Kong as a voluntary scheme opting in by schools to increase membership by persuasion rather than by legislative coercion. The first cohort of 21 schools (aided secondary) joined the scheme in 1991. In 1992, 13 secondary schools (10 government and 3 aided) joined it. The participating schools increased sharply to 93 (70 primary and 23 secondary) in 1993 by the influx of schools from the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and Po Leung Kuk. In 1994, more than 100 schools participated out of a total of approximately 1250 schools. By 1997, only a minority of schools (under one-quarter) had chosen formal membership, an outcome regarded as somewhat disappointing. It is worth recognising that though many schools had chosen not to become formal members of the SMI scheme, they were, in fact, implementing policies consistent with the SMI strategy. Yet, Wong (1995) noted that the tightening of administrative and financial controls over the schools had been the Education Department’s own doing caused by the proliferation of its policies over the years. The net outcome was the stretching of its own resources and the stifling of school initiatives.

In Nigeria, the National Policy on Education, Section 12 (104b) (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004) allows close participation and involvement of the communities, at the local level, in the administration and management of their schools. Since the community has legitimate mandate in education, it behooves on the traditional institutions to mobilize and coordinate their subjects to integrate their skills and wealth of experience into the school programme in order to maximize their contributions in their expertise and best practice through periodic monitoring, reviewing, evaluating and given constructive advice on key functions in curriculum delivery, critical infrastructure, capacity building, instructional materials / equipment, staff and students welfare, management and support mechanisms, and school-community relationship. This is another dimension of transparency, accountability and commitment that will ensure quality service delivery and attainment of the overall goal of education in schools. The relationship between the school and the community is indeed a symbiotic one, since the function of one complements the other. The school thrives on effective interrelationships within it and with its relevant publics. The school requires a lot of human, materials, physical facilities and financial resources for building the capacity of the education system to be able to deliver high quality and relevant curriculum to learners of all ages.

Consequently, the School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) is recognized as a viable tool for promoting effective community participation, commitment, transparency, accountability, supportive services and best practices in school planning, management, monitoring and evaluation of performance of school administrators, teachers and learners to ensure quality service delivery and learning outcomes. In a bid to ensure effective participation of local communities in the management of affairs of schools, the National Council on Education (NCE) in 2006 approved the establishment of SBMCs in all primary and secondary schools in Nigeria, as part of government strategy to re-structure the school administrative process and ensure inclusive participation of stakeholders in the school management at the community level. The SBMC is made up of 12 to 19 people in each school. This is expected to be achieved through the involvement of meaningful, close, strong and goal-oriented partnership between the school authority and other relevant stakeholders (Parent-Teachers Association (PTA), Old Students Association, Communities, Traditional Institution, Civil Society Organizations, Faith-Based Organizations, Ministries, and other professional and social institutions). This synergy is necessary because a virile and responsive school-community relationship is a building block for a sustainable quality education (Ayeni, 2010; Aggarwal, 1981; Balogun et al, 1981; Universal Basic Education Commission, 2011).

• Statement of the Problem                                                   

The federal government of Nigeria has recently introduced SBMC in every primary and secondary schools in Nigeria (Helen poulse; 2009).this reflects a trend in international development for devolved school management and increased parental / community participation in school management. This is a starting point for improving the quality of national education and student achievements. The success or failure of secondary schools depends to a large extent, on the level of relationship the schools maintain with their neighboring communities. This makes it demanding on SBMCs to identify key areas of school community relationship and improve on them to promote and improve on the existing school community relationship.

In Anambra State, the relationship between schools and community seems to be very poor. Most of the people n Anambra State do not know what happens in the schools and some do not care to know. This has constituted a serious problem for SBMCs in their effort to bring communities into schools and vice versa. In the other side, the SBMCs are observed not to be playing their roles appropriately in improving and promoting good school community relationship, which will in turn bring the schools and the communities together.

All these point to the fact that government can no longer bear the burden alone. The community is expected to participate actively in the administration of secondary schools but what remains uncertain is the extent of its involvement. This forms the problem of the study, which focuses on the extent of community participation in the management of secondary education through school based management committee in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State.”

• Purpose of the Study                      

The main purpose of this study is to determine the extent of community participation in the management of secondary education through school based management committee in Awka south L.G.A of Anambra state. The specific objectives were to:

1. Identify the power of the school committee as perceived by the members on current structures of the school committee.
2. Examine the various ways to which the community participates in the management of secondary schools.
3. Identify what ways have there been any improvements in student achievements resulting from community participation through the implementation of SBM.
4. Determine the challenges and problems hampering the implementation of SBM and seek remedial strategies.

• Significance of the Study

The findings of this work will be of interest to the Government, Community, Teachers, students, ministry of Education, and all stakeholders in Education.  It will help the government to initiate policies that will help create some level of interdependence of governments, community participation, school administration, old student’s participation in school activities and teacher classroom behavior, and, in most cases, parental attitudes. Putting SBMC into practice will ensure a system of mutual dependence. It will help the government through the ministry of Education to involve all the school stakeholders in the business of the school and education in general.

• Scope of the Study

The study focused on school management board committees (SMBC) of public secondary schools in Awka South Local Government Area in Anambra State.

• Research questions

1. What are the powers of the school committee as perceived by the members on current structures of the school committee?
2. In what manner has the school community participates in the management of secondary schools?
3. In what ways have there been any improvements in student achievement resulting from community participation?
4. What are the challenges and problems hampering the implementation of School based management policy and ways to seek remedial strategies?

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