AN EXAMINATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION IN COMMUNITY SECONDARY SCHOOLS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

In Nigeria, education is a "par excellence" tool for achieving national development. Non-governmental organizations, communities, and individuals have actively participated, as has government intervention (NPE, 1998). A school is, in some ways, a small community of staff and students with its own set of rules and regulations, while also being an integral part of a much larger community with its own set of thinking, individuals, and social organizations that influence thought and action. In other words, the school does not exist in and of itself. It is a social institution, an agency through which desirable social needs can be met, and thus a means to an end rather than an end in and of itself. According to Akubue (1997), a school's existence and lifeblood are derived from the community in which it is located, which frequently supports it with materials and human resources. Thus, effective administration is required to channel human and material resources toward the achievement of the educational goal.

Administration, as a concept, refers to any formal endeavor aimed at achieving predetermined goals through the use of human, material, and financial resources. Administration is a discipline concerned with enabling the achievement of goals through the methodical use of available human and material resources. According to Idoko (2005), one of the primary responsibilities of secondary school principals is the administration and maintenance of school facilities. Secondary school administration has been chastised for failing to manage teachers effectively in order to develop competent individuals capable of demonstrating competence in the workplace and in life (Benson, 2005). According to Omoregie (2005), school administration is the organization of human and material resources and programs available to education in order to achieve educational goals. It claims that school administration entails the systematic application of available human and material resources to the implementation of educational programs within the framework of educational policies in order to achieve educational goals.

According to Ndimbo (2013), the role of principals in secondary school administration is critical for the achievement of educational goals because principals are involved in the execution of educational policies and programs. As a result, school administration has a much broader scope than education itself (Kabunga & Iramba, 2011). This is due to school administration's desire to achieve educational objectives, the most important of which is student academic performance. The disclosure of test results, on the other hand, has sent shock waves through the community and educational stakeholders that have been lethal. Olomi et al. (2019) urged school administrators to take charge of the agenda by reforming their institutions to fulfill their original valued function. Uko (2015) examined the function of school principals in his study and came up with the following idea: it is related to how skilled and creative a principal is, which contributes to overall academic success. According to Uko, competent school administration is critical in the maintenance, utilization, and sustainability of facilities because it improves effective productivity by instructors and overall student performance.

1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Secondary education standards in Nigeria have been dwindling for some period, which can be attributed to a number of factors. Among these are instructors' inability or unwillingness to educate correctly, poor teaching methodologies, poor learning environment, inadequately trained teachers, and ineffective administration. According to Lumpkin (2013), school administrators have been accused of focusing less on empowering teachers and more on disempowering them through their condescending attitude and poor leadership skills , which demoralizes and lowers their job performance. To back this up, Ndimbo (2013) claims that many secondary school teachers in Nigeria poorly educate and monitor their students' learning due to a lack of management skills, resulting in poor performance. This has resulted in widespread student failure in secondary schools. Inept school leaders are to blame; low teacher morale and performance are all indicators of principal maladministration, which has failed to supervise instruction. In his study, Wedgwood (2007) revealed that teachers have been accused of paying less attention to procedural knowledge in conceptual teaching, which leads to memorizing of facts rather than concept formulation due to unsupervised teaching techniques by school management, resulting in poor academic achievement by students in external examination, rendering the majority of students unfit to continue their study at a higher level (MOEVT, 2010).

Owing to fact that bad school administration by school leaders has the potential to impact student achievement and, at its worst, is a reflection of many aspects of the teaching and learning process, it becomes imperative for the researchers  to examine school administration in community secondary schools.

1.3     OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The broad objective of this study is to examine school administration in community secondary schools. Specifically the study intends to ;

i.          To find out how competent  are principal and head teachers are in secondary school

ii.        Investigate factors contributing to poor administration of seceondary school by school principal.

iii.      Analyze the effect of school management on academic performance of students.

iv.      Proffer strategies which can be adopted to improve community school administration.

1.4     RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research is guided by the following questions constructed in line with the research objective

i.          How competent  are principal and head teachers  in secondary school?

ii.        What are the factors contributing to poor school administration of secondary?

iii.      Analyze the effect of school management on academic performance of students.

iv.      What strategies can be adopted to improve community school administration?

1.5   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The outcome  of the study will be relevant to school school administrators, teachers and ministry of education. The study will highlight  how poor administration can  leads to poor academic performance  hence the need for school principal to improve their leadership study towards meeting educational goals. Also exploration on how student’s involvement in learning process, teacher motivation and involvement in managerial activities that contributes to academic performance will be revealed. To the government, the result of the study will offer a framework on strategies which they can adopt to improve community school administration. Findings in this study are expected to add salt to existing literature on the subject matter and stimulate further research on the problem.

1.6    SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of this study borders on school administration in community secondary schools. The study will further discuss how competent  are principal and head teachers are in community secondary school. It will investigate factors contributing to poor administration of secondary school by  principal and analyze the effect of school management on academic performance of students. The study is how delimited to selected secondary school in Nsit Ubom Local Government in Akwaibom State.

1.7 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Like in every human endeavour, the researchers encountered slight constraints while carrying out the study. The significant constraint was the scanty literature on the subject owing that it is a new discourse thus the researcher incurred more financial expenses and much time was required in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited choice of sample size covering only selected  community secondary  schools in Nsit Ubom Local Government in Akwaibom State. Thus findings of this study cannot be used for generalization for other secondary school schools in other  states within Nigeria. Additionally, the researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work will impede maximum devotion to the research. Howbeit, despite the constraint  encountered during the  research, all factors were downplayed in other to give the best and make the research successful.

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