INFLUENCE OF GOVERNMENT RETURN OF MISSION SCHOOLS ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SENIOR SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATIONS

ABSTRACT

Prior to independence in Nigeria, individuals, corporate bodies, religious group and government jointly and severally had input in the area of education. But with the dawn of military ascendancy and the corridors of power take-over of mission school was unleashed on the educational sector. Several years have gone by and we are trying to pick-up our broken pieces. This work is an attempt to look into eects of government return of mission schools in Enugu State as a way of helping to chart a new course in the area of education. The problems encountered by the government ownership before the return of mission schools were outlined and the various solutions to each of the problems were provided to ensure that the standard of education in the mission schools was improved upon. The study was conducted in three mission secondary schools in Enugu State with the population being 120, comprising of the principals, teachers and the students in the mission schools. The preferred statistical tool adopted for the data collection was questionnaire which was administered to the respondents and was later collected for analysis and observations. The mean score method was used in computing the data collected. From the analysis of the data collected, it shows that the return of school to mission owners has helped to stem the tides of examination malpractice, reduce indiscipline and also expose the students to religious activities. Hence, the study was concluded with the agreement that the return of mission schools to Enugu State on the students’ academic performance in senior school certificate examination has brought more positive changes in the educational system.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

Expressed briefly and clearly, school could be viewed as an institution or an educational platform dedicated to teaching and learning. To this eect, schools are veritable instrument at the disposal of the society entrusted with the arduous task of transmitting, broadening and preserving the whole gourmet or deposit of existing body of knowledge. This deposit of knowledge includes socio-cultural gains, traditions, political, economic and scientific achievements. The schools help the society to transmit these deposits from generation to another. In eect, the progress or retrogression of any given society is directly proportional to the quality of its educational endeavors. It follows then that any valuable and holistic assessment of educational achievement within a given society must of necessity begin with the assessment of the dynamics of the quality of the educational super structure and inter-play of events. Mission schools from the dawn of European appearance of the Nigerian educational horizon have proved to be a force to be reckoned with. Mission schools have shown her conviction in general education and formation of man.

According to Ome (2012), the church through the school participates in the dialogue of culture with her own positive contribution to the cause of the total formation of man. Furthermore, he noted that the absence of the catholic school would be a great loss for civilization and for the natural and supernatural destiny of man. Our schools in general and education at the secondary school level in particular are important to the extent that they produce or prepare citizens to be responsible and capable of being functionally integrated or assimilated into the productivity chain of the society. Schools have proved to be a double-edged sword. It can be an agent of transformation and change when managed eectively. If it is hijacked and mismanaged, it could become an agent of chaos, instability and destruction. The outcome of school products is hence dependent on management of various factors. The discomfort and instability palpable within the Nigerian society speaks volume about the dwindling fortunes in our educational sector.

The fallout arising from the publication of 2012/2013 WAEC, GCE and NECO results which shows a 90% failure in English Language and Mathematics is but an eye opener. Accordingly, parents, religious groups, government and other stake holders are of the opinion that we must know where the evil rain started to encounter us before we will know where and how it will stop. The point of convergence of the crisis, many maintain that it lies with the government take-over of schools from the mission in 1975. 1.2 Statement of the problem The question that begs for an urgent answer is when and where did it all begin? Where lies the point of prevarication? How and when did we arrive at this present quagmire? The answer from all indication is not farfetched. The trajectory of our educational down-turn is to be located squarely in the politics that emasculated education sector soon aer attainment of independence. Just few years into the story and euphoria of independence, Nigeria was engulfed in a bitter civil conflagration. It is crystal clear that education was one of its causalities. Indeed she was hardly hit. Put dierently, there is no gain saying the fact that the Nigerian-Biafran civil war consumed much of the nation’s educational superstructures that were still at infant stage. The greatest part of the civil destruction of lives and properties were recorded in the Eastern Nigeria. Reason being that the East was the amphitheatre of the war that lasted for more than 36 months. Secondary education suered terribly as a result of this civil altercation. Schools were converted into barracks with chairs and reading desks used as firewood.

The military take-over of mission schools did not help matters in our educational down turn. In fact, that action was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Education in Nigeria in general and secondary education in particular has defied all remedies and is yet to recover ever since from the military salvo. The embers of arguments are yet to pitter out. It is maintained in many quarter that the then military government under General Gowon whose formal training is to cock and shoot guns with not properly articulated quest for unity, attitudinal change, character modification, new orientation and national cohesion dabbled into an area not trained for. Arguments adduced for government take-over of mission schools are indeed lame and jaundiced. The aims which the government set out to achieve have remained a pipe dream. In fact government have swallowed the pestle and have been sleeping standing ever since. Though in its entire entirety, government take-over of schools may not be totally bad. Many schools of thoughts are convinced that it was vindictively and ill conceived, maliciously packaged and delivered to perpetually punish some pre-conceived enemies. The hasty and haphazard manner through which some mission schools are being returned still leaves more to be desired. We may not yet sing our “nunc dimities” in Enugu state with the return of mission schools. It is the concern of this project to see or x-ray the performance in external examinations by some of these government returned schools.