A Comparative Analysis of Internal Efficiency in Public and Private Secondary Schools in Kwara State.
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Date
2012
Authors
Gobir, B. G
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Abstract
This study was motivated by the poor quality of products of secondary schools in Kwara State. The State is categorized as one of the 22 Educationally Less Developed States (ELDSs) in Nigeria. The school leavers often manifest poor communication skills. Records show that students from secondary schools in Kwara State consistently perform poorly in external examinations such as the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE). Some research findings indicate that private secondary school students are often more capable of obtaining results with 5 credits and above, including Mathematics and English Language. This is the requirement for entry into higher institutions of learning such as universities, colleges of education and polytechnics. Failure of schools to achieve this target amounts to inefficiency. The main purpose of this study, therefore, was to assess the internal efficiency of public and private secondary schools in Kwara State. It assessed the rates at which schools in Kwara State were able to turn out quality products with the resources available to them. The time frame was the period between 2007 - 2009 academic sessions. A descriptive survey research design was employed in the study which was also comparative because it involved two categories of schools. The population for the research comprised all the 237 public senior secondary schools and all the 90 government - approved private secondary schools in Kwara State. The Proportionate Stratified Random Sampling technique (PSRST) was used based on proprietorship of the schools. The study sample consisted of 52 public and 20 private secondary schools. One principal, ten teachers and ten students from each school participated in the study. Three sets of questionnaires were designed, namely (1) Principals’ Evaluation of Schools’ Internal Efficiency Questionnaire (PESIEQ), (2) Teachers’ Evaluation of Schools’ Internal Efficiency Questionnaire (TESIEQ), and (3) Students’ Evaluation of Schools’ Internal Efficiency Questionnaire (SESIEQ). The instruments were validated and the reliability coefficient of 0.85 was obtained. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation method was used to test the hypotheses. The t-test was employed to test the difference in the performance of students in WASSCE, and the differences between the private and the public schools in terms of the seven variables of the study. Correlation Matrix was used to illustrate the inter-relatedness of the variables. Multiple Regression Stepwise technique was also employed to identify the best predictors of internal efficiency. All the seven independent variables (principals’ quality, teachers’ quality, physical and material resources, supervision mechanisms, discipline process, academic learning time, and parental involvement) were positively and significantly correlated with students’ academic performance, except parental involvement that was not correlated with academic performance in the public schools. Physical and material resources, principals’ quality and discipline process were identified as the best predictors of internal efficiency. The study also found that the private schools’ emphasis was on process variables such as supervision mechanisms, discipline process and academic learning time; while public schools emphasized input variables, namely principals’ quality and teachers’ quality. Private schools performed better academically than the public schools. The average students’ performance in WASSCE was 39.16% in the private schools and 3.76% in the public schools, even though the latter had more experienced and more qualified principals and teachers. Also statistically, private schools were more efficient than public schools. Based on the results of the research, it was recommended that entry requirement into teacher education institutions be raised while the programmes should be greatly enhanced by raising the CGPA to compete favourably with other faculties. The Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria should assess and license principals and teachers as done in the United States of America. Teacher training programmes should last for five years. The WASSCE results should be analyzed and league tables published in order to identify and provide prompt intervention to weak schools, while the best ones should be rewarded. The long term solution to the problem of lack of quality teachers and principals is to improve the conditions of service in the teaching profession. The main significance of the findings is that an increase in the independent variables will result in an increase in students’ academic performance. Therefore, maximum attention should be on principals’ quality, teachers’ quality, physical and material resources, supervision mechanisms, discipline process, academic learning time, and parental involvement.
Description
A Thesis Submitted to University of Lagos School of Postgraduate Studies Phd Thesis and Dissertation,456pp.
Keywords
Secondary Education , Public Secondary Schools , Private Secondary Schools , Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Social sciences::Education
Citation
Gobir, B. G (2012), A Comparative Analysis of Internal Efficiency in Public and Private Secondary Schools in Kwara State. A Thesis Submitted to University of Lagos School of Postgraduate Studies Phd Thesis and Dissertation, 214pp.