WELCOME TO KENTERPRO:
INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL-BASED MANAGEMENT COMMITTEES ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN PANKSHIN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

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). 

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, 2019). 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. 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 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, School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) is also seen 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 (2018) 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: increasing the participation of parents and committees in schools, empowering principals and teachers, building local level capacity and perhaps the most importantly and 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. 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. 

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.  

It is in line with the above discussion that this study seeks to examine influence of school-based management committee on the administration of secondary schools in Pankshin Local Government Area.

• Statement of the Problem

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. 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.

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.

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. 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.

It is in line with the above discussions that this study seeks to examine the influence of school-based management committees on the administration of secondary schools in Pankshin Local Government Area of Plateau State.   

1.3 Purpose 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 Pankshin LGA;
2. ascertain the influence of School-Based Management Committees on school-community relationship in secondary schools in Pankshin LGA;
3. determine the influence of School-Based Management Committees on provision and management of instructional facilities in secondary schools in Pankshin LGA;
4. evaluate the influence of School-Based Management Committees on maintenance of discipline in secondary schools in Pankshin LGA.

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 Pankshin LGA?
2. In what ways does School-Based Management Committees influence school community relationship in secondary schools in Pankshin LGA?
3. What is the influence of School-Based Management Committees on provision and management of instructional facilities in secondary schools in Pankshin LGA?
4. What is the influence of School-Based Management Committees on maintenance of discipline in secondary schools in Pankshin LGA?

1.5. Significance of the Study 

The benefits of this study cannot be overemphasized. It will be beneficial to the government, principals, school administrators, teachers, students and future researchers.

The findings of this research will help government in formulating new educational policies and also it may provide new developmental strategies which will enhances attainment of school vision and educational goals for learning effectiveness. The non-governmental organization will also benefit from this research in the sense that it will help them to plan the grants allocation to secondary schools in Pankshin LGA. 

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 administrators or 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 education development. 

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.

In addition, parents will also benefit from the work, involvement of parents in the school based management committees brings alot of development and educational effectiveness to school parents abilities to perform different functions, save problems and achieve objectives through the developed skills, findings from the study will make community members know that they can serve as managers in the school management 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 material for them. 

1.6. Scope of the Study 

This study titled Influence of School-Based Management Committees on the Administration of Secondary Schools in Pankshin covers all the Secondary Schools in Pankshin LGA. This study was also delimited to the extent to which school based management committee influence decision making process, school community relationship, provision and management of instructional facilities and maintenance of discipline in Pankshin Local Government Area.

1.7 Theoretical Framework

The theory that can be applied to the research on the “Influence of School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs) on the Administration of Secondary Schools” is the theory of participatory management in education. Participatory management is the practice of empowering members of a group, such as employees of a company or citizens of a community, to participate in organizational decision making. This practice grew out of the human relations movement in the 1920s, and is based on some of the principles discovered by scholars doing research in management and organization studies, most notably the Hawthorne Experiments that led to the Hawthorne effect. In the 1990s, participatory management was revived in a different form through advocacy of organizational learning practices, particularly by clients and students of Peter Senge.

In the context of the present research, the theory of participatory management suggests that when SBMCs are actively engaged in the administration of secondary schools, it can positively impact several aspects. First, SBMCs can contribute to more transparent and accountable decision-making processes, ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently and effectively. They can also foster a sense of ownership and commitment among stakeholders, leading to a more conducive learning environment. Additionally, SBMCs can help bridge the gap between the school and the community, promoting a stronger partnership between educators and parents, which can have a positive impact on students’ academic performance and well-being.

Furthermore, the theory of participatory management can guide the research by providing a framework to assess the extent of SBMC influence on various administrative aspects, such as financial management, curriculum development, infrastructure maintenance, and teacher recruitment. By examining how SBMCs are involved in decision-making and whether their involvement aligns with the principles of participatory management, the research can evaluate the effectiveness of SBMCs in enhancing the administration of secondary schools. This theory can serve as a lens through which the impact of SBMCs on school administration is analyzed and understood, helping policymakers and educators make informed decisions to improve the educational system.

1.8 Operational Definitions of Terms

School Based Management Committee: Is a committee which comprises members who work towards school improvement.

Administration: Running the affairs of a school towards goal attainment 

Decision Making Process: Taking choice that leads to improvement and goal attainment in schools.

Discipline: Good behaviour among students and staff

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