ABSTRACT
In
many developing nations of the world,
Nigeria not an exception, education is regarded as one of the major
wheels for achieving notable development. Government over the years has
formulated a number of policies aimed at developing education at all levels
(primary, secondary and tertiary ). While some policies succeeded, others
failed due to poor implementation. The aforementioned fact prompted this
research work titled ‘Policy implementation and achievement of quality
education: A study of public secondary schools in Kosofe Local Government of
Lagos State’. Policies examined in this
study include; curriculum development policy, teachers’ recruitment
policy, students/teacher ratio
policy, teachers’ welfare policy, supervision/monitoring policy, among others.
Survey research design method
which involved self- designed questionnaire in collecting data from 120 participants was
used for the study . Relevant literature
were reviewed to bring out prominent issues on the subject matter
of this research work. The information
for the study was gathered through primary and secondary methods of data
collection. Frequency units and
percentages were used to analyze the
background and to answer research questions while chi-square was used for
hypothesis testing. The study revealed that educational policies were not
adequately implemented due to some factors which included inadequate fund ,
insufficient educational facilities, inadequate qualified teachers, political
instability among others, though the policies were formulated to instill
certain skills in students for individual’s sake and societal development. The study recommended that government should invest
heavily in education by providing
adequate and well equipped classrooms and laboratories in learning
environment as well as ensuring proper maintenance of equipment and facilities
in schools with regular and effective monitoring . The study also recommended
the inclusion of social and democratic values along with psychomotor
competencies in the curriculum among others.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Title Page i
Certification
ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgements
iv
Abstract
v
Table of
contents
vii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background to the study 1
1.2
Statement of the problem 8
1.3
Purpose of the study 8
1.4
Research Questions
9
1.5
Research Hypotheses 10
1.6
Significance of the study 10
1.7
Scope of the study 11
1.8
Definition of Terms 11
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction 14 2.2 The Concept of policy 16
2.3 What is implementation? 20
2.4 The
evolution of universal education in Nigeria 21
2.5.i The Universal Basic Education
(UBE)Scheme 24
2.5.ii U.B.E. Vision Statement 26
2.5.iii U.B.E Mission Statement 26
2.5.iv Objectives of Universal Basic Education 27
2.5.v Scope
2.6 Legal Framework of Educational Policies 28
2.7 Achievement of Universal Basic Education 29
2.8 Key lessons learnt on the UBE scheme’s
success 32
2.9
Framework for the implementation of Universal Basic Education 32
2.10 Antecedents
of UBE
34
2.11 Differences between UPE and UBE
35
2.12 Similarities between UPE and UBE 36
2.13 Problems of Universal Basic Education 38
2.14.i The new Education Curriculum
40
2.14.ii Implementation Strategies 42
2.14.iii
The philosophy of the new secondary school
curriculum 42
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1
Introduction 44
3.2 Research Design 44
3.3 Population of the Study 44
3.4 Sampling, Procedure and Sample size 45
3.5 Data collection instrument and
validation 45
3.6 Data collection Procedure 46
3.7 Method of data analysis 46
3.8 Limitation of the study 48
CHAPTER
FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.1 Preamble
49
4.2
Presentation of data according
to research questions 49
4.3 Test of hypotheses 66
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS,CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Introduction 70
5.2 Findings
70
5.3
Conclusion
73
5.4 Recommendation 74
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Education
is known to play a pivotal role in the development of a nation. The benefits
that education offer are almost in -exhaustive, hence individuals and the
society at large care for the provision of qualitative education in a
nation/state. For instance, education in Nigeria is an instrument per
excellence for effecting national development {FGN.2004}.Education is, thus,
expected to play a different roles in national development. This is the reason
government invests heavily in the education of its citizens. Secondary
education, a subset of the education system, is very necessary in human capital
formation. It is the supply base from which tertiary institutions draw their
major clientele (students} for admission into their different programmes. It
therefore, presupposes that the provision of qualitative education is a sine
qua non for the attainment of national educational objectives in particular and
Developmental objectives in general.
The
apparent decline in the quality of secondary education in Nigeria and the moral
decadence in the society have generated lots of concern among the generality of
Nigerians.
Government
at both the state and federal levels have rolled out series of educational
policies aimed at addressing the poor standard of education. Yet, the situation
seems to defy a solution. The yearly results of students who sit for Senior
School Certificate Examination (SSCE) are nothing to write home about as a
result of inaccessibility to quality education by majority of the students in
the secondary schools.
In
Nigeria today, quality education has almost become the exclusive preserve of
children from rich homes who can afford to pay the private school fees while
children from less privileged backgrounds could afford only public schools.
Public secondary school students in some parts of Lagos state and indeed most
of the states of the federation are taught in an environment with decayed
infrastructure, staffed with poorly paid teachers.
Quality
Education has become one of the central issues accorded priority in recent
educational reform and quality assurance is one of the mechanisms used in
achieving it.
At the broadest level, quality education can
be viewed as a set of elements that constitutes the input, process and output
of the education system which provides services that completely satisfy both
internal and external, constituencies by meeting their explicit and implicit
expectations, ((Fisher
and Grey 2005) .
Harvay
and Knight (1996) suggest that quality can be broken down into five different
but related dimensions:
1.
Quality as exceptional
(e.g high standards)
2.
Quality as consistency (e.g zero defects)
3.
Quality as fitness for
purpose (fitting customer
specifications)
4.
Quality as value for
money.
5.
Quality as transformative (an ongoing process
that includes empowerment and enhancement of the customer satisfaction).
Policy
on the other hand serves the purpose of ensuring that every official action of
an organisation has a basis or a backing.
Miller (2002), noted that a policy is a historical or contemporary
statement or series of statements which describe and/ or prescribe a course of
action. These statements are usually written but they could be oral. They may
or may not imply contractual legal obligations.
Additionally, a policy may be developed at different organisational
levels and may be binding for only that level or other levels as well.
A policy could be seen as an overall guide
that gives the general limits and direction in which an administrative action
will follow. A policy brings about a meaningful relationship between business
objectives and organisational functions as it discourages deviations from
planned courses of action. Moreover, a
policy ensures consistency of action because an organisation is governed by
approved principles.
A
policy does not have to be rigid, as there should be room for adjustment, if
necessary, after its formulation. Perhaps, this is why Odunuga
and Ajila (2000) believe that ‘’policies are not only
formulated but also programmed, communicated monitored and evaluated’’.
The
non-rigidity of policies is confirmed by Ademola (2007) describes policy making
as a process of successive approximation
to some desired objectives, in which what is desired itself continue to change
under consideration’’. In fact, a good policy is one that can be reviewed as
the need arises. Lindblom believes that a wise decision maker cannot expect a
hundred percent success of all policies. Regardless of how good a policy is,
its implementation may introduce some elements of imperfection. In education,
as in other fields of human endeavour, every official action has a backing.
This is the purpose of policy. Educational policies provide the direction for
educational activities.
Education, according to Fuller (2004)
consists of 2 components. Fuller classified these two components into
inputs and outputs. According to him, inputs consists of human and material
resources and outputs are the goals and outcome of education process. Both the
inputs and outputs form a dynamic organic whole and if one wants to investigate
and assess the educational system in order to improve the performance, effects
of one component on the other must be examined.
Instructional resources which are
educational inputs are of vital importance to the teaching of any subject in
the school curriculum. It helps in depth
understanding of the lesson by the students in such that lesson is made
attractive thereby arresting their attention and in turn motivating them to
learn better. It is also very important
to have sufficient and adequate human resources in terms of qualified teachers
for the teaching of all subjects in the school curriculum. Without the teachers
as the implementing factors, the goals of educational policies cannot be
achieved.
In order to achieve a just and
egalitarian society as spelt out in the Nigerian National Policy of Education (2004),
schools should be properly and uniformly
equipped to promote sound and effective teaching. Suitable textbooks, qualified
teachers and well equipped libraries should be provided for schools. Scarcity
of these will hinder the educational system from responding more fully to new
demand.
Education occurs in many forms for many purposes
through many institutions. Examples include early childhood education, kindergarten
through to 12th grade, two and four year colleges or universities, graduate and
professional education, adult education and job training. Therefore, education
policy can directly affect the education people engage in at all ages.
Examples of areas subject to
debate in education policy, specifically from the field of schools, include
school size, class size, school choice, school privatization,
teacher education and certification, teacher pay, teaching methods, curricular
content, graduation requirements, school infrastructure investment, and the
values that schools are expected to uphold and model.
According
to the National Policy on Education of Nigeria (NERDC 2004), secondary
education is the education children received after primary education before the
tertiary stage. The broad goals of secondary education shall be to prepare the
individual for useful living within the society and higher education, among
others.
Conceptual framework of
educational policy in Nigeria
The
National Policy on Education stated some principles and rules of actions
towards achieving the broad goals of secondary education in Nigeria. Such include:
Curriculum development
policy In specific term, secondary education
shall:
(a)
Provide all primary
school leavers with the opportunity for
education of higher level, irrespective of sex , social status,
religious or ethnic background.
(b)
Offer diversified
curriculum to cater for the differences in talents, opportunities and future
roles.
(c)
Provide trained manpower in the
applied science, technology and commerce at sub-professional grades;
(d
Develop and promote Nigerian
languages, art and culture in the context of world’s cultural heritage;
(e) Inspire students with a desire for self improvement and achievement of excellence;
(f)
Foster National unity with an emphasis on the
common ties that unite us in our diversities;
(g)
Raise a generation of
people who can think for themselves, respect the views and feelings of others ,respect the dignity
of labour, appreciate those values under our broad national goals and live as
good citizens;
(h)
Provide technical
knowledge and vocational skills necessary for agricultural, industrial, commercial and
economic development. To achieve the stated goals, secondary education shall be
for six years duration, given in two stages: a junior secondary school stage
and a senior secondary school stage; each shall be of three years duration.
-
Students/teacher
ratio policy
According
to the National policy of education in Nigeria, 4th edition (2004),
the Federal Government shall prescribe the minimum standards of education at
all levels. In this regard, in
pre-primary school, there shall not be more than 20 pupils to a teacher and a
helper (assistant). In the primary and secondary schools there shall not be
more than 35 and 40 pupils respectively to a class. In the technical and
vocational colleges, there shall not be more than 20 pupils for practical
work.
-
Supervision/monitoring
policy
The
policy states that the government should establish efficient inspectorate
services at federal, state and local government levels to monitor and maintain
the minimum standard at all levels of education below the tertiary level. The
inspectorate service is to operate as autonomous body supervised by the
Minister of Education/ Commissioner for Education as may be appropriate. The
goal is to set ,maintain and improve standard in all aspects of the school
system. It is to ensure uniform standard and quality control of instructional
activities in a school through regular inspection and continuous supervision
.It obtains information on problems and difficulties of teachers and
institutions and offers practical solution to them. The bodies are to encourage
dissemination of information on innovation and progressive educational
principles and practices in the school system through publications, workshops,
meetings, seminars, and conferences.
-
Teachers’
qualification policy
The minimum qualification to teach in junior
secondary school shall be National Certificate of Education (N C E). For senior secondary school the minimum
qualification shall be Bachelor of Education (B Ed). Each subject shall be taught
by qualified teacher in the specific field concerned. Such teacher must
also register with the National Union
of Teachers (NUT).
-
Promotion
policy
Promotion
shall be based on performance as recommended by the supervisory bodies at the
State and Local Government levels every 3 year. The entry level for NCE is GL 07, while that of B.Ed is GL 08 with
the appropriate remuneration.
-
Teacher’s
welfare policy
These are all the motivational and incentive
packages geared towards encouraging maximum performance of the teachers. These
include compensation and allowances, over-time bonus, leave bonus, on-the-job
training, seminars, awards, recognition of commitment and long service e.t.c.
1.2 Statement of
the Problem
Achievement
of quality education is traceable to proper implementation of the formulated
educational policies. It is quite unfortunate that educational policies and
goal attainment seem to be irreconcilable in Nigeria. Over the years, the gap between educational
policies and goal attainment due to inadequate implementation of these policies
has become a great concern to many observers. Educational policies are
initiatives mostly by governments, to determine the direction of an educational
system, the gap that often exists between policy formulation and implementation
in relation to quality of secondary education necessitated this study.
The
research was to assess the policies mentioned above, examine their
implementation as well as their effect on students’ performances. The study
would further examine some strategies that can be adopted to ensure better
policy implementation in order to achieve good quality in secondary
education.
1.3 Purpose of the study
The
major purpose of this study was to assess the effects of policy implementation
on the provision of quality education. Specifically, the study set out to:
1.
To examine the extent
the provided policies has be implemented.
2.
To investigate the
implementation of teachers’ welfare policy (e.g remuneration, overtime allowance,
compensation and appreciation packages) influenced job satisfaction.
3.
To examine if there is
was any significant relationship between curriculum implementation and
students’ performance.
4.
To examine whether the
implementation of secondary school policies ensured the achievement of the
stated goal of useful living within the society and higher education.
1.4 Research questions
The following
research questions guided in conducting the investigation:
1
To what extent the provided policies were implemented.
2
Whether the implementation of
teachers’ welfare policy (e.g
remuneration, overtime allowance, compensation and appreciation
packages) influenced job satisfaction.
3 Whether
there was any significant relationship between curriculum implementation and
students’ performance.
4
Whether the implementation of secondary school policies ensured the
achievement of the stated goal of useful living within the society and
higher education.
1.5 Research
hypotheses
The
following null hypotheses were formulated to give direction to the study:
Ho1: There
is no significant relationship between curriculum implementation and students’
performance.
Ho2: There
is no significant relationship between teachers’ welfare and job satisfaction.
Ho3: There is no significant
relationship between class size and teacher’s performance.
1.6
Significance of the study
The
findings of this study would hopefully increase our general knowledge of the
effect of policy implementation on the achievement of quality education.
The findings would as well, contribute to
information that can be used in organizing seminars and workshop for school
inspectors and supervisors on the improvement of educational policy
implementation. It would also be relevant for the on- the -job training of
teachers and school heads or principals on the importance of school policy implementation which would
subsequently help to achieve an effective school system.
The
findings could also be used by policy formulation and implementation department
of the Ministry of Education and other policy making organs of government,
especially on measures to adopt in resolving the identified problems hampering
the implementation of educational policies in secondary education. The findings
of this study would therefore reveal the
best ways or measures to be taken in order to improve the quality of secondary
education in Nigeria, through proper educational policy implementation.
1.7 Scope of the study
The
study focused on policy implementation and quality education in secondary
schools and it covered some selected junior and senior secondary schools in
Kosofe Local Government Area of Educational District 11, Lagos State.
1.8 Definition of terms
Policy: Policy generally, is explicit or implicit
(written or unwritten) statement that guides future thinking, initiatives and
actions of managers .Policies are meant
to provide necessary information that will help managers to know what they can and cannot do when making decisions.
Educational Policy:
This is a general statement, containing principles, regulations and rules,
governing decisions about secondary education.
Policy implementation: This has to do with practical involvement of
all human and material resources needed for the attainment of the stated
secondary education goals.
Quality:
It is the standard of secondary education in one environment when compared with
that of another environment .
Academic
performance: This is how well or
how bad a student did in an examination that involves reading and studying in
the Nigerian secondary education sub sector. It has to do with the cognitive,
affective and psycho motor domain of learning.
Teacher’s performance: These are work related activities expected of
a Teacher in secondary school and how well these activities are executed. It involves the level of productivity of the
teacher in the secondary school organisation.
Secondary school: Secondary education is a sub-set of the
Nigerian educational system. It is the six (6) year programme received by
children after primary education and before the tertiary stage. It is grouped
into junior (first 3 years) and senior (last 3 years) secondary schools.
Monitoring: This has to do with watching and checking of
secondary education programmes and activities in order to ensure that
everything is done safely and correctly in the system.
Supervision:
Supervision has to do with all efforts of designated secondary school officials
towards providing leadership to teachers and other educational workers in the
improvement of instruction.
Students/teacher ratio: This refers to the number of students
expected to be in a class under the instruction of a teacher as incorporated
the secondary education policy. In secondary schools, there shall not be more than 40 pupils
to a teacher.
Universal Basic Education:
This is a nine-year school programme
comprising Primary Education (of six year duration) and Junior Secondary
Education(the first segment of 3-3 structure),which are intended to be free and
compulsory.
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