CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1Â Â BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Education remains the most important instrument for academic progress, social mobilization, political survival, and effective national development in any country; it is Nigeria’s largest enterprise/industry, which is why the government continues to make funds, school facilities, instructional materials, teaching personnel, and a conducive learning environment available. In line with Archibong, O.S (2013), the state government has continuously encouraged secondary education by adopting a social demand approach to planning the education sector by subsidizing the SSCE fee in the state since 2012, in line with the belief that quality education does not just happen by chance but can be achieved through continuous improvement efforts by stakeholders in the education enterprise. Education, according to Ehindero, Aladejana, and Jegede (2009), is “a process of critical, analytical, and ongoing re-assessment, readjustment, and rediscovery of self, society, and culture in the whole contexts of life and living.” Education should help people who consume it to develop marketable skills in order to find work, to learn to think, and to make informed decisions based on moral principles as a component of life. It includes more than simply knowledge orientation or occupational training; it also includes personal development. Education, on the other hand, is a process of imparting information, skills, competence, or desirable characteristics of conduct or character, particularly through a formal course of study, institution, or training (Akpa, V.O 2002). Education continues throughout one’s life, developing and widening one’s view with expected advantages to the individual and society as a whole. Individual improvement in education results in better knowledge, skills, and capabilities, which are the foundations of development. As a result, a society’s progress is determined by its educational attainment. “The success of a nation rests not on the quantity of its income nor the strength of its defense,” Martin Luther King Jr. is cited as saying by Akpa, V.O (2002). It comprises of the quantity of cultured inhabitants, as well as the enlightenment and character of its men and women.” Humans mobilize and exploit natural resources in order to build a market. As a result, every society’s economic progress starts with men’s minds, not with products, via education, organization, and discipline (Udoh Ameh and Akpa Charles, 2001). All other resources remain untapped potentials without education, making it an unquestionable instrument for national growth.
Education stakeholders have recently raised their worry over pupils’ low performance in the SSCE. Some people accused school officials (principals) and instructors, while others blamed kids and their parents. Whoever is to blame, the reality remains that the academic accomplishment of pupils is linked to the school and its management structure. (Muiz, Olaleye, 2013). Sule Manire (2013) observed that school supervision (internal or external) has become a veritable tool for assessing teachers’ work performance in response to criticism of educational quality and as a measure of progress on the obvious decreasing trend in educational accomplishment. School administration has a unique position in the educational system, and it is imperative that it be given special attention. In today’s Nigeria, effective administration is defined as the process of improving teachers’ professional growth, curriculum, and teaching techniques in the classroom through democratic interactions between the teacher and the supervisor (Okendu, Anobi, 2012). According to Nakpodia Akpodia (2006), instructional supervision in the modern era focuses on the improvement of the teaching-learning situation to the benefit of both the teachers and the students. Effective administration, according to the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN, 2006), provides opportunities for teachers to be groomed through critical study of instructional processes and classroom interactions in order to carry out their teaching tasks in accordance with professional codes of conduct. If schools are not sufficiently monitored, it will have negative consequences on students’ output, and educational goals may not be met; as a result, numerous instructional supervisory strategies should be used to guarantee that instructors give quality and quantity service.
The supply of physical facilities, classroom size, effective school disciplinary rules, administrative assistance, and effective leadership are all elements that influence students’ test performance. This is supported by research from Botswana, Nigeria, and Papua New Guinea (Muli F.N, 2005). Good administration offers the essential leadership, clarity of direction, and incentives for students’ successful performance. Human resources are the most significant resources in any business, according to Okumbe G.U. (1998), and therefore the success of the organization is totally dependent on how successfully its people are handled. This implies that a continual effort is required to accomplish integration, in which all members are active and collaborate with a shared aim of attaining the organization’s objectives. It’s critical to think of school administration as a social activity. In a social system, there are two types of phenomena: independent and interacting. The institution, its functions, and expectations that are in accordance with the system’s aims make up the first class. The persons who occupy the system, with their personalities and dispositions, make up the second class (Okumbe Jumbo, 1998). A school is made up of the principal, teachers, non-teaching personnel, and students who work together to achieve defined objectives. Effective administrative and efficient management abilities are necessary to keep a school organization together (Farrant S.O, 1997). Effective school management has been extensively cited as a feature that distinguishes achievers from non-achievers. Visionary leadership that inspires and persuades rather than orders people towards similar objectives will result in dramatic improvements in the workplace. Principals, according to Bukar, Ibi, and Abdullahi (2015), are actively engaged in influencing the actions of students and schools toward goal formulation and goal accomplishment. In light of the foregoing, the study examined administrative effectiveness of secondary school on student academic achievements.
1.2Â Â Â Â STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Education is a solid investment that is intended to boost individual and societal economic progress. It is common knowledge that education is a powerful component in social mobility, implying that education may impact a person’s future economic standing in society (Ugochi Amana, 2011). Unfortunately, this vital industry is plagued by a slew of issues. The awful performance of students in the SSCE is one of the most prominent issue areas that highlights the sector’s low performance. Given the resources available, the poor performance in WAEC and NECO has been a cause of concern for parents and other stakeholders in the educational sector. Parents and the government spend a lot of money on education for their children, but they don’t get a return on their investment. Despite the state government’s financial engagement in the industry, Imo state participates in the education sector’s dilemma. The public is becoming more concerned about the attainment of secondary education goals, as shown by a persistent fall in instructors’ instructional task performance and students’ academic success, indicating a lack of quality assurance in secondary schools (Adeniji A.O, 2002). Students’ performance in the SSCE administered by WAEC and NECO in previous years has shown a significant failure rate of 72, 74, 74, and 75 percent in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 (Ugochi Amana, 2011). Given the massive investment in education in Imo state, this pattern of student failure and a symptom of poor job performance by instructors is unacceptable to important stakeholders in the education system. Ugochi’s Mmanma (2011) found that only 6 schools were rated good, 28 schools were rated fair, 65 schools were rated poor, and 3 were rated very poor out of 102 secondary schools selected across the Federation for evaluation using the quality assurance instrument for Basic and Secondary Education in Nigeria. None of the schools received an exceptional rating in the leadership, administration, and management category, with 13 receiving a good rating, 51 receiving a decent rating, and 37 receiving a very bad rating. Therefore the study will look into impact of administrative effectiveness of secondary school on student academic achievements.
