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EFFECTIVE
PRACTICES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF SCHOOL PLANT IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
ABSTRACT
The study
was designed to find out the effective practices in the management of school plant
in secondary schools in the South – Eastern states of Nigeria. The study
employed descriptive survey design. The sample for the study comprised six
hundred and ninety six administrative staff of school boards and four hundred
and sixty seven secondary school principals in the five South – Eastern States
of Nigeria through rand om sampling techniques. Six research questions and six
null hypotheses guided the study. An instrument of 40 items on effective
practices in the management of school plant in secondary schools was developed
and used for the field study. The face validity of the items was done by five
experts from the Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria Nsukka. Construct
validity was also carried out by the use of factor analysis involving the
Varimax rotation. Out of the forty (40) items that were subjected to factor
analysis, thirty (30) items were found to be valid. They were loaded on six
factors that addressed the variables. The surviving thirty (30) items were
subjected to internal consistency reliability estimate using Cronbach alpha
which yielded a reliability indices of 0.66, 0.76, 0.74, 0.58 and 0.73 for
clusters A, B, C, D E, and F respectively and an overall reliability estimate
of 0.90. Mean was used in answering six research questions while t-test
statistic was used to test the six null hypotheses at 0.05 level of
significance. The results of the study revealed that principals should plan for
the use of direct labour to reduce cost and plan for the economy of land as
site of new buildings. The result indicated that principals should register the
school under co-operate society through which building materials can be
procured at a cheaper rate or hire purchase rates, and organize orientation for
both staff and students on utilization of school buildings. The analysis also
revealed that principals should establish school maintenance programme and
encourage the communities to establish their own maintenance programme since
they utilize the school buildings. The result also indicated that principals
should carry out weekly inspections of school building and involves capable
technical personnel for identifying major deficiencies after the normal
activities in the school. The result of the study indicated that principals
should make rules and regulations in securing secondary school buildings in
South – Eastern state s. Based on the findings of the study, recommended, among
others, that principals should consult design experts before and during the
construction of new buildings and that principals should appoint capable
technical personnel for regular inspection of school buildings.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background
of the Study
The role of
principals in the management of secondary schools is vital for the realization
of educational goals since principal are involved in the implementation of
educational policies and programmes. One of the primary functions of secondary
school principals, according to Idoko (2005), is management and maintenance of
school plant.
School
plant, according to Agbonye (2006), is the same thing as physical facilities.
Emenalo (2007) explains that school plant is the entire scope of physical
infrastructural facilities which are provided in the school for the school for
the purpose of educating the child. Asiabaka (2008) postulates that school
plant consist of all types of buildings, areas for sports and games, landscape,
farms and gardens including trees and paths. Others include furniture and
toilet facilities, storage facilities, transportation, Information and
Communication Technology (I.C.T.), food services among others.
The above
facilities play vital role in the actualization of educational goals and objectives
by satisfying the physical and emotional needs of students and teachers of the
school. Their availability, adequacy and relevance influence efficiency and
high productivity. It has always been realized that school plant is very
important in the development of education in Nigeria.
The Federal
Republic of Nigeria (2004) in her National Policy on Education too pays
considerable attention to the importance of the provision of school plant. She
states in the document that provision and subsequent expansion will be made for
vocational equipment and other facilities. Senior secondary schools are to have
properly equipped workshops. In addition, provision for health centres in all
educational institutions to cater for the children would be made.
1
2
School plant
is very vital for the success of educational endeavour. When available and
skillfully used, they make learning more meaningful. School plant provides
experiences which stimulate self-activities on the part of the learner and
these help to concretize the ideas and save the teacher from talk and chalk
method. School plant is also essential for effective teaching and learning of
every subject. It should be noted that, for school plant to be functional, they
require proper planning, usage and maintenance for greater efficiency by the
school administrators and the Secondary Education Management Board. For this
reason, there has been a global concern for management of school plant in
secondary schools by school administrators, parents and teachers.
Achinine
(1998) points out that one of the most important functions of secondary school
administration in Nigeria is efficient management of school plant. In other
words, the achievement of set goals and objectives depends on the ability of
the school manager to make use of and maintain the physical facilities in the
school. Management, according to Peretomode (2001), is the social or
interactional process involving planning, organizing, coordinating and
controlling or leading in order to use available resources to achieve a desired
outcome in the fastest and most efficient way. Management of school plant,
according to Onwurah (2004) includes procurement and maintenance of school
facilities for effective teaching and learning.
For the
effective management of school plant in secondary schools, the school
administrator needs to ensure that the school plant is properly maintained and
utilized for the actualization of the educational goals. According to Idoko
(2005), the principal is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the
necessary facilities or materials needed for effective and efficient teaching
and learning are provided and maintained as this will prevent a repeat
occurrence of infrastructural decay. The school administrator also makes sure that,
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the general
appearance of the surrounding and condition of facilities in the school are
well kept for this serves as an indicator for judgment about the quality of
academic activities that go on in the school. Emenalor (2007) argues that, the
construction of new buildings, and additions to existing ones are not the
management of school plant, rather it involves the continuing operation and
maintenance of the school plant. Therefore, it is the duty of the school
administrator to harness all it takes to maintain the school plant as this will
contribute a lot to its lasting effect. School plant maintenance means
safeguarding and regular repair and supervision of school facilities. It
implies maintaining the environment to make sure that it is clean, beautiful
and safe for the activities that go on in the school. It is therefore a major
and sensitive aspect of school administration.
However,
most secondary schools in Nigeria and South – East in particular are in a state
of disrepair. The state of physical facilities in secondary schools is in a
deplorable condition. Bamide (2002) asserts that, there are broken, decayed and
battered facilities in our schools which may not be as a result of old age but
simply out of neglect. This statement is in agreement with Emenalo (2007), who
maintains that, the poor condition of some school plant especially school
buildings in secondary schools today is not as a result of old age per say but
out of neglect. Today, it is a common phenomenon in secondary schools to see
dilapidated buildings, broken chairs etc.
Most public
secondary schools in the South-East look like abandoned construction site.
There is hardly a public secondary school in the area that does not have
blown-off building, just as most of them cannot boast of well-equipped
laboratories. The classrooms are full of pot-holes due to licking roofs, just
as most of the classrooms do not have doors and windows. In some of the schools
the teachers stay under the tree in place of staff room because what is called
staff room does not differ from a waste store. In most of the schools the
sports fields are thorough fare because the official thorough fares are
impassable due to
4
damage by
erosion. The situation neither motivates the teacher nor the students and this
affects the teaching and learning process adversely.
Commenting
on the state of physical facilities in secondary school in the South-East
state, Achinine (1998) points out that Federal Government needs to give
attention to schools in South-East because of the destructive effects of the
Nigerian civil war. She observed that most of the buildings repaired after the
wars are due for further renovation due to aging of the structures. However,
Onyejemezie (2002) comments that, both the State and Federal Government through
various schemes like Petroleum Trust Fund [PTF] and Education Trust Fund [ETF]
have invested to ensure the improvement of the quantity and quality of physical
plant in the schools and pleaded that more should be done to save these schools
from the state of disrepair. The few existing ones appear not to be receiving
due attention from school administrators hence their poor state. The school
administrators appear to lack the necessary skills to pay due attention to
school plant. Their attention most often appear to be on financial management
from where they could put some money into their pocket through embezzlement and
other illegal means like illegal levies, increasing external examination fees,
awarding inflated contracts, among others.
Asiabaka
(2008) maintains that, an aspect of school management that is generally over
looked is facilities management. She argues that, when new buildings are
constructed and taken over by the appropriate authorities, practically, no
attention is paid to the management of such buildings, several school buildings
that are over thirty years old have never undergone renovation or any form of
modernization in spite of the changes in the educational system. It is
pertinent to note that, school plant management is an issue that concerns all
levels of educational system. Some of these facilities according to Etuk (2007)
are architecturally obsolete and therefore cannot contribute to functional
education and maintaining the new buildings, renovating and modernizing the old
ones require considerable
5
expertise
and commitment of human and material resources which the secondary school
administrators cannot cope due to poor funding of schools by the government.
Ukeje cited
in Agbonye (2006) asserts that, the responsibilities of Secondary Education
Management Boards include direct control and management of post primary schools
on all matters of policy, theories and practice of education. The foregoing
shows that, the administrative staffs of Secondary Education Management Boards
as stakeholders in school direct the principals of secondary schools towards
effective management of school plant. The question is how knowledgeable are
administrative staff of Secondary Education Management Board on facilities
maintenance planning so as to properly direct the principals? This question is
answered by Bamide (2002) who reported that, some managers and teachers who constantly
use school facilities lack knowledge of facilities maintenance planning as this
maintenance is haphazardly addressed in our secondary schools. Repairs take
place in most cases only when problems arise due to total breakdown of existing
facilities. The facility maintenance plan as listed by Asiabaka (2008) – pre
ventive, routine, emergency repairs and predictive maintenance have been
adopted by some school administrators for several years, yet school plant decay
has been on the increase and no effective practices have been generally adopted
in the management of school plant in secondary schools. This therefore
underscores the need to investigate into effective practices in the management
of school plant in secondary schools in South-East Nigeria.
Statement of
the Problem
School plant
constitutes important resources for the implementation of educational programme
in Nigeria. Its place in the teaching process cannot be over emphasized, for
instance, classroom constitute a common ground for sharing learning experiences
and for trying out research findings. Play grounds are places for recreation
and sports while
6
instructional
materials such as teaching aids generally, are facilitators of the teaching
learning process.
Despite the
above importance of these physical facilities, evidence abound which seems to
suggest that there are ineffectiveness in the management of school plant in
secondary schools particularly in South –Eastern st ates of Nigeria. The school
administrators appear to pay less attention to school plant management as one
of the task areas of school administration. It appears that principals do not motivate
teachers and students adequately because they appear to treat the provision of
infrastructural facilities like conducive classrooms, comfortable staff rooms,
libraries, laboratories and workshop with levity. This affects the productivity
of the teachers and the achievement of the students. These ineffectiveness
according to Idoko (2005) are in the form of washed off paints, falling ceiling
and roof tops that have suffered from heavy rainfall. Noticeable also are
cracked dilapidated decaying walls, sagging roofs, broken doors, windows and
bushy surroundings as common phenomena in secondary schools in South- Eastern
states. Most schools have no doors or window shutters to protect students
against hash whether conditions. The classrooms are overcrowded which do not
allow for personal attention of students by the teachers. Some secondary
schools have no laboratories and even the schools that have are not provided
with the relevant materials and equipment for learning activities that the
students can be engaged in. In the light of the above, the problem of the study
stated in question form is therefore as follows: What are the effective
practices in the management of school plant in secondary schools in south-east
states Nigeria?
Purpose of
the Study
The general
purpose of this study is to investigate the effective practices in the
management of school plant in secondary schools in South-Eastern states of
Nigeria. Specifically, the study sought to:
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1. Identify the effective
practices for the planning of school buildings in secondary schools in
South-East states.
2. Find out effective practices
in the procurement of secondary school building materials in South-Eastern
states.
3. Find out the effective
practices through which school buildings are utilized in secondary schools in
South-Eastern states.
4. Identify the effective
methods of maintaining secondary school buildings in South-Eastern states.
5. Find out effective inspection
practices for secondary school buildings in South-Eastern states.
6. Identify effective ways
through which school principals could enforce rules and regulations for
securing school buildings in secondary schools in South-Eastern states.
Significance
of the Study
The
importance of effective management of school plant cannot be overemphasized.
Effective management of school plant has a direct bearing on the development
process not only in school but on the whole economy in the state.
Well-articulated goals of secondary education in Nigeria cannot be achieved
without effective planning, procurement, utilization, and management of school
plant. The findings of this study will be useful to educational administrators,
Secondary Education Management Board, teachers, students, principals of
secondary schools and the community.
When there
are effective practices for the planning of secondary school buildings, it will
lead to the optimum use of available resources which will reduce cost and will
result in effective use of land spaces. On the other hand, such effective
planning whether it is long or short term planning will enhance effective
performance of principals and their teachers and
8
community
will have some of their resources plowed into other important development
ventures.
In the same
vein, the findings on effective practices in the procurement of building
materials will be of immense benefit to the teachers, students and P.T.A as
such will reduce cost and save the parents the ordeal of regular contribution.
The teachers and students will benefit because, these materials will be
procured based on the actual needs at reduced cost, cost effectiveness thus,
leaving the school with resources for instructional materials etc.
The findings
of the study based on utilization of school buildings will benefit principals
as it will x-ray their skills, expose areas they are not doing well so that
in-service training could be organized to help them acquire more skills in
school building. This will ensure that school buildings are utilized optimally
for the purpose they are meant for.
The outcome
of the study based on maintenance of school buildings will benefit the
principal, students, parents and the community at large. Regular maintenance
will benefit principal as it will prevent decay and the dilapidation of these
buildings, speak volumes about the principal’s management skills, students will
be happy learning in a good environment, teachers work environment will be
improved and they will be motivated to do more while the community will utilize
the resources that would have been used to erect new buildings to other
development needs of the community.
This work
will also benefit Management Boards as it affects inspection of school
buildings. The findings will serve as a yardstick with which State Education
Management Board (SEMB) can categorize and know the skills of the principals
that are overseeing the affairs of the secondary schools in South-East states.
Principals that are not doing well in this aspect will see the need and reason
from the findings of this work to regularly inspect their school buildings, and
this will prolong the life of these buildings, thus, leading to effective
teaching and learning in these schools.
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More
importantly, establishing ways through which principals could make rules and
regulations for securing school buildings will benefit principals, teachers,
students, communities and school boards as that will increase the efficiency
and effectiveness of principals as their skills will be enhanced, teachers,
students and communities will be properly guided as they will know their
limitations, boundaries, make effective use of these buildings and become law
abiding citizens. The school boards will benefit as these rules and regulations
could be adopted and disseminated to all schools to serve as a policy to secure
the use of school buildings.
Scope of the
Study
The study is
delimited to effective practices in the management of secondary school
buildings in South-Eastern states. The content area is restricted to the
following: planning of secondary school buildings, procurement of building
materials, utilization of secondary school buildings, maintenance of secondary
school buildings, inspection of secondary school buildings and making of rules
and regulations based on school buildings. The study focuses on public
secondary schools in South-Eastern states.
Research
Questions
The
following research questions guided the study:
1. What are the effective
practices in the planning of secondary school buildings in South-Eastern
States?
2. What are the effective
practices in the procurement of secondary school building materials in
South-Eastern States?
3. What are the effective
practices principals should apply in the utilization of secondary school
buildings in South-Eastern States?
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4. What are the effective
practices principals should use in maintaining secondary school buildings in
South-East states?
5. What are the effective
practices principal should use in inspecting secondary school buildings in
South East States?
6. What enforcement strategies
should principals apply to secure secondary school buildings in South-Eastern
states?
Hypotheses
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