AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PROBLEMS OF SECONDARY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION:
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background to the Study
The pride of every educational system depends mostly on the good quality of its products (Erinle, 2003). The quality however depends on the standard of administration (supervision and discipline) which both the teachers and students enjoy. Therefore, if this statement is acceptable to us in education enterprise, it could be said that, the present standard of our educational system and the products which it produces could be said to be the bye-products of its system.
Further to the above, it was also observed that until the problems of supervision of instruction and effective discipline are looked unto and solved, no meaningful responsible citizens, who will be able to help or assist the society in which he/she finds him/herself, probably, this is the undisputed reason why previous researchers in educational administration like (Erinle, 2003) (Ijaduola, 2004) in their various comments on the conditions of education in Nigeria said:
“primary schools have virtually decayed secondary schools are congested, both Colleges of Education and Polytechnics exist under their old shadows, while Universities and research centres are the worst”.
Hence the above contention actually describes the prevailing conditions and situations in our educational institutions.
However, many factors have been identified as being responsible for the above circumstances in our schools today in which both supervision of instructions and effective discipline are taking the lead other factors are either poor or inadequate funding, absence of better learning conditions, inadequate supply of both qualified and experienced teachers as well as over population of students in classes.
Therefore, if both supervision of instruction and discipline are regarded as an important integral part of school administration, which the secondary school administrator (i.e. the principal) should undertake, then, the supervision of instruction and discipline towards raising both the standard /quality of learning and upgrade the tone of the school should however be greatly improved upon by giving adequate attention.
It is necessary to state it clearly from the onset that no matter the level and professional capability of a school administrator is, if such school could not produce useful and responsible citizens to the society, such school is bound to face negative criticisms and attacks from all angles. It then follows that, before any school could be said to receive the blessings and support of the society, the quality of what the students receive in such schools should be good-enough to prove its worth.
Finally, it is therefore to belief of this researcher to make sure that, problems of supervision of instructions and effective enforcement of better discipline as it affects secondary schools in Remo North Local Government will be the main focus of her research works.
1.2. Statement of the Problem
Specifically, this work is intended mainly to investigate the problems of supervision of instructions and effective enforcement of discipline in secondary schools in Remo North Local Government Area of Ogun State which arises as a result of the inability of the agencies saddled with the responsibility of administering the schools.
Further to this, the type of supervision, problems which would be looked into will include the inability of the principals of the secondary schools to supervise instructions effectively and the factors militating against their functions. Also, the role of the individual teacher in the process of supervision of instructions is generally low and inadequate, thus not – encouraging and why this is so?
However, since it is only in the atmosphere of peace and orderliness that effective supervision of instructions could take place, the study will therefore include other disciplinary problems of the schools which include students disregard to the school authorities as well as students disregard to the school rules and regulations.
1.3. Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of this research work is to critically examine the problems of secondary school administration in Remo North Local Government of Ogun State specifically; the problems shall include adequate supervision of instruction and effective enforcement of good discipline in the entire school system.
Apart from the above, the extent to which the school administrators (i.e. the principals and staff) conceive and perceive these administrative problems will be fully examined. Also, the efforts of both the teachers and principals in solving the highlighted administrative problems will be reforce be the major focus of the study.
1.4. Assumptions
From the above highlighted problems of the study, the following assumptions were carefully formulated to pilot the research work. They are:
i. That, the more the problem of supervision of instruction exist in secondary schools, the less the achievement of the school goals will be.
ii. That, the more the problem of indiscipline in secondary schools persists, the more difficult, it is to produce responsible citizens towards realizing the aspiration of the schools.
iii. That, the more, the problem of indiscipline persists in our secondary schools, the less the tone of the school will be.
1.5. Aims and Objectives of the Study
The main aim of this research work is to investigate into the various factors militating against effective secondary schools administration in Remo-North Local Government Area of Ogun State with the sole aim of finding necessary solutions to the problems in attempt to improve the quality of service delivery.
However, in specific terms, the above major aims could be broken down into the following objectives which include:
(a) To find out factors responsible for ineffective supervision of instructions.
(b) To find out what actually contribute to the problems of effective discipline in secondary schools.
(c) To find out the contributions of both the teachers and non-teaching staff to the administrative problems in secondary schools.
(d) To find out solutions to such problems through recommendations or suggestions towards better service delivery in secondary schools.
1.6. Research Hypotheses
Based on the stated assumptions of the study, the following hypotheses were postulated to guide the study. They include:
i. There would be no significant differences between effective supervision and administration of the school.
ii. There would be no significant differences between adequate school discipline and administration of the school.
1.7. Research Questions
The following research questions have been developed from both the research assumptions and hypotheses to guide the study. They include:
i. Does the principal have time to supervise his/her teachers regularly?
ii. Does the principal make use of his/her teachers during supervision of instruction processes?
iii. What is the attitude of the teachers towards effective supervision of instructions?
iv. Do the principal and teachers cooperate in all issues relating to the effective discipline in the schools?
v. What is the general effect of the absence of effective discipline on the process of supervision of instruction in the secondary schools investigated?
1.8. Area of the Study
As the individual, the government, the general public and indeed, all the education practitioners and stakeholders are aware of the various difficulties militating against the effective development of education at all levels especially at the secondary school level.
Therefore, the area of the concentration of this researcher is to carefully investigate the various problems of secondary school administration in Remo North Local Government Area of Ogun State with the aim of finding necessary and required remedies to them for effective service delivery.
Also, the area of study is located in the Northern part of the present day Remo division of Ogun State. On the area’s socio-economic characteristics, the people in the area of study share common languages, food, dressing, values, attitudes and traditions. They practice agriculture while some of its people also involve themselves in small scale business.
1.9. Operational Definition of Terms
The following terms shall be carefully looked into with the aim of knowing their meanings as they are used in the study. They include:
Secondary School: The second stage/level in any formal education which comes up after primary education and before tertiary education in the current Nigeria educational system. This educational level is run for six years.
Administration: To govern, to direct, to control, or to coordinate.
Supervision: Watching over something to see that, it is done well or to monitor programme or activity to ensure that it is carried out as expected.
Instruction: Teaching a course of study.
Discipline: Orderliness or doing the right thing at the right time without being force to it or an atmosphere of peace and order.
