THE ROLE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL INSPECTION IN RAISING SCHOOL STANDARDS IN OGUN STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

School inspection (SI) is widely regarded as a critical source of competitive advantage in the ever changing environment of the education sector (Wanzare, 2002; Klaber, Mellon & Melville, 2010). According to educational management scholars (e.g., Ehren & Visscher, 2008; Ololube, 2013; Onasanya, 2008; West-Burnham, 1994), school inspection is the most important determinant of teachers productivities and teacher education performance. The sudden increase in school enrolment coupled with the attendant increased complexity of the school management and organization of the Nigeria’s educational system (6-3-3-4 or 9-3-4) has without doubt necessitate a greater attention in school inspection. This is more so because it plays a unique role in educational systems around the world. Equally, as enrollment in our educational systems in Africa in general and Nigeria in particular increase on a daily bases, the available human and material resources may become overstretched. The situation becomes even more fear-provoking when teachers and teacher education programs globally are been transformed towards yielding better outcomes, as a result, adequate planning of SI is needed to address these issues. We recognize that SI is a complex process to handle; the complexity of SI, their constraints, possibility, and other complications also makes it a necessity. The insuicient human and material resources in schools may well be wasted if their utilization is not properly supervised (Ololube, 2013). The inspectorate wing of the Ministry of Education exercises a major role as a Supervising agency of Government. According to Oyedeji (2008), the Ministry of Education pays regular visits to schools in order to identify challenges of each school; where new schools are established inspectors may render an advisory visit in order to give necessary advice. The Ministry may also conduct full inspection of schools; in this exercise, the buildings, furniture, equipment, sanitation, water, lighting, library facilities, students and sta records are inspected, teachers‟ lesson plans and audio visual aids are also checked, also records such as attendance register, log book, visitors‟ book, cash book, ledgers, scheme of work, lessons notes, minutes of meetings by Board of Governors and Parents Teachers‟ Associations are also examined.

Visits to the classrooms, library and laboratories are conducted to assess the general atmosphere of the school to ensure they are in line with the educational objectives. It will be very difficult to attain the standard that is set if inspection is irregular or not undertaken at all. Therefore, regular inspection would help raise the quality of education in Nigerian schools. According to Harris (1996), much of the work of the inspectors from the ministry of education deals with professional management of teachers, pinpointing challenges in schools, proposing solutions and helping teachers so that standard of education will be improved. To achieve the foregoing objectives, inspectors in Nigeria should possess the required training so that they can help guide teachers to improve the curriculum implementation in the schools. The inspectors or supervisors from the Ministry communicate policies to teachers and receive feedback on the adequacy of resources implemented from the teachers. They also monitor the development within the system; more so, when measurable expansion is embarked upon within the system. The inspectorate service intimates the government on factors militating against government’s high expenditure in education. The Inspectorate personnel from the Ministry of Education also provide professional 4 advice on challenges encountered by teachers in the schools as informed by the teachers themselves. They ensure that uniform and high standard of education are maintained in the schools. For the purpose of supervision, the Ministry of Education makes use of career inspectors and honorary inspectors. They conduct full inspections and routine checks or pastoral visits. While a full inspection is supported by complete reports after inspection; on the other hand, pastoral visits may be carried out only for the purpose of guiding and advising the school administration and staff Oyedeji (2008). In line with the above, the inspectors also perform the roles of supervision of the implementation of the national policy on education in the schools. Inspection is a process which strikes to stimulate the schools towards greater achievement of productivity. Part of the roles of those engaged in inspection for the purpose of stimulating schools towards greater effectiveness or productivity includes classrooms observation, lesson preparedness to raise the standard of education, through encouraging professional growth and development of teachers by giving them advice and furthermore, organizing inservice-training to ensure professional growth and development of teachers.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The performances in most Nigerian secondary schools have been declining over the years. In Ogun state for example, there have been poor academic results in both West African Senior School Certificates Examination (WASSCE) and National Examination Council NECO) for the year 2018. The free education system is consuming a lot of resources yet, the standard is still unimpressive. Thou the primary objective of inspection is to raise the standard of the schools. It aims at critically examining and evaluating the school as a place for teaching learning endeavor. Because of its emphasis on monitoring and evaluation of academic performance and development of schools, Inspection is always conducted with the aim of maintaining and improving the quality of learning of students. It intends to improve all factors that aect teaching and learning in school systems. (F.E Arong; M, A Ogbada/Canadian social science 2010), in the case of Nigeria otherwise is the case school standard and quality is becoming low day by day, it is however against this problem that research therefore conducts a research on the role of secondary school inspection in raising school standards in Ogun state.