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 CHAPTER FIFTEEN

SCHOOL PLANT MANAGEMENT

By
Asiegbu Emmanuel C.

Chapter objectives
On completing this chapter, the reader should be able to
i. Explain the concept school plant.
ii. Discuss school plant management showing clearly the importance of its
proper management.
iii. Outline and explain the factors that affect the character of school plant.
iv. Identify and discuss reasons that may account for poor condition of school
plant.
v. Explain the concept school plant maintenance and justify its importance.
vi. Discuss the various approaches a school head can adopt in school plant
maintenance showing the strength and weaknesses of each approach.
vii. List the major types of maintenance services that can be obtained in school
plant.
viii. Critique the school plant maintenance culture in Nigeria.

Introduction
The school plant is a vital instrument for implementing educational
programmes. School administrators have important roles to play in developing and
making it function effectively. Its effectiveness in the implementation of an
educational programme, meeting the physical needs of students and staff of a
school and in impacting on students’ academic achievement depends, however, on
its physical condition or quality. The development of adequate and functional
school plant has been one of the major problems confronting formal education
since its inception in the country. This is mainly because of lack of adequate
financial resources. Poor or lack of maintenance of the available ones is another
problem which often leads to early deterioration of the facilities, making them
grossly inadequate for the process of education.
Different types of maintenance serve different specific purposes in school
plant management. They are all necessary for keeping the school plant in as near
its original state as possible. Regardless of the nature of the maintenance
programme and the amount of care exercised in executing it, the need for
emergency maintenance may come up at any time due to unforeseen
circumstances.
In this chapter, the meaning of school plant, its importance and challenges
were discussed. The discussion also includes; school plant maintenance, type of
maintenance and school plant maintenance culture in Nigeria. Also presented is a
self assessment exercise at the end of the chapter to determine if the objectives
stated have been achieved.

Meaning and Nature of School Plant

Every town and almost every community in Nigeria has either a primary or
secondary school or both. This is as a result of increase in the demand for
education in the country brought about by democratization of education, which led
to increase in the number of both public and private schools. People recognise the
school as a place for the education of children and youth. They are commonly
characterized by school buildings and other features on the land on which the
buildings are erected. These characteristic features or physical components of
schools are regarded as “school plant”. Adeboyeje (1994), defines school plant as
the buildings, classrooms, and corridors, playgrounds and other lands… Knezevich
(1975: 562) states that the school site and the school building are part of the broad
concept known as the school plant. According to Obi (2001:95), school plant is the
space interpretation of the school curriculum which includes the site, buildings,
equipment, utilities, permanent and semi-permanent structures, like machines,
laboratory equipment, black-boards, cleaner’s tolls, safety equipments, etc. This
implies that the term ‘school plant’ is more than the school building and the piece
of land on which it is situated.
For a clearer understanding, the term ‘school plant’ means; the school
building, all materials, furniture and equipment attached and unattached to the
building, all structures and features on the school site, including paths, roads,
parking lots, playgrounds, open grounds, trees, flowers and other objects used for
implementing or supporting the implementation of an educational programme. The
term as used here, shares the same meaning as what some authors refer to as school
facilities. Encyclopedia of Education (2002), asserted that the school facility
consists of not only the physical structure and the variety of building systems, such
as mechanical, plumbing, electrical and power, telecommunications, security, and
fire suppression systems but that the facility also includes furnishings, materials
and supplies, equipment and information technology, as well as various aspects of
the building grounds, namely, athletic fields, playgrounds, areas for outdoor
learning and vehicular access and parking.
Knezevich (1975) aptly described the school plant as the space interpretation
of the curriculum. According to him, the curriculum finds its physical expression
in the construction and arrangements of the school plant. The number and types of
equipment and materials available, the sizes of learning spaces within the school
building, their relations to each other, and nature of the learning environment, all
have an influence on the methods and quality of teaching. Outside the school
buildings and other structures the size and nature of the school site determine, to a
great extent, the type of outdoor instructional and recreational activities that can
take place in a school.
The school plant is used not only to provide conducive environment for both
teaching and learning but also to ensure a safe, secure hygienic and comfortable
shelter for students, teachers and other staff as teaching, learning and other
activities of the school take place. The whole school plant and not just the school
building can thus, be conceived as an instrument in education (Hagman, 1956).
The prime reason for its existence is for the implementation of the school
programme. It is the instructional programme that determines the types and sizes of
learning spaces provided in the school plant. The equipment and instructional
materials available in the school plant determines to a large extent how students are
organised for instruction and the teaching methods adopted by teachers in the
school. The numbers and sizes of spaces for instructional and non-instructional
activities depend, of course, on the size of the school enrolment.

Management of School Plant

The term, ‘management’ has been defined in various ways by different
authors. According to Terry and Franklin (2003: 4) “Management is a specific
process consisting of the activities of planning, organizing, and controlling,
performed to determine and accomplish stated objectives with the use of human
beings and other resources.” Weihrich and Koontz (1999) define it as the process
of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals, working
together in groups, efficiently accomplish selected aims. Another definition is that
provided by home.earthlink.net/-ddstuhtman/definl.htm that “Management is the
organizational process that includes strategic planning, setting objectives,
managing resources, deploying the human and financial assets needed to achieve
objectives, and measuring results”.
A common idea in definitions of management by different authors is that
management is goal-directed. These definitions convey the idea that management
involves a series of on-going activities, individuals and groups working together,
use of resources, efficiency and effectiveness. All these ideas and terms are
applicable to the management of the school plant.
School plant management entails the making and carrying out of a series of
decisions by individuals and groups in building school plant according to need,
operating and using it effectively and efficiently and ensuring that it is in a
functional state as the educational programme is being implemented. School plant
management involves a number of on-going and related activities – determining
the need for school plants, educational programme planning, school facility or
building design, building construction, furnishing and equipping the school, school
plant operation, utilization and maintenance, and school plant modernization or
renovation if and when the need arises.
The responsibility for managing the school plant rests with the head teacher
or the school principal. The school head may not be knowledgeable in some
aspects of school plant management such as school facility design and building
construction but his/her inputs, and, in some cases, the inputs of other school staff
during decision making in these areas may be necessary as it is the principal or
head teacher and the school staff that will make use of the buildings after their
completion. It is his/her responsibility to ensure that the school plant is regularly
maintained, i.e., kept at as near its original state as possible. It is also part of his/her
management responsibilities to ensure that the school plant is open for effective
and efficient use on daily basis and that it is kept neat and tidy always.
 In his/her attempts to achieve these and other ends for which the school plant
has been built, the head teacher or principal must make use of teachers, other
school staff and students, detailing their duties and roles and coordinating their
efforts to ensure that the right things are done at the right time. Effective school
plant management ensures that school facilities are effectively used for teaching
and learning with little or no interruption.

Importance of School Plant

Drawing inference from the work of Ejieh (2010:9), the importance of school
plant, will be discussed in three fold; it’s relationship with the members of the local
community, it’s impact in the implementation of academic programmes, and it’s
influence on students and their academic performance as well as to teachers,

 Relationship with the Local Community Members

In some communities in Nigeria, especially the rural ones, the school plant
may represent the most costly public investment in the neighbourhood which
must be protected from destruction, vandalism or theft. This is usually the case
if the community members had contributed in one way or the other in setting
up the school buildings or done any type of work on the school grounds or
surroundings. In some of the communities, the school may be the only public
establishment close to the people and which signifies ‘government presence’ in
the area, and some of them may even be given employment there especially as
non-teaching staff.
The school plant in both urban and rural areas of the country is a structure
through which many parents hope to realize their dreams and educational
aspirations for their children. To them the school presents a window of
opportunity to both the rich and the poor. A well-designed and attractive school
 plant is often a source of pride to the local citizens and generates goodwill for
public education among them. According to Young, Green, and Roehrich-
Patrick (2003), the quality of school facilities influences citizen’s perception of
schools, which in turn, influences their support for public education.
The school plant serves a number of important purposes for members of the
community in both rural and urban areas of the country. It often serves as a
venue for different social functions like civic reception of important visitors
and dignitaries, wedding receptions, community or town meetings and other
occasions and functions that require the gathering of a large number of people.
It is often used as a venue for some non-formal education programmes like
adult or mass literacy programmes and also serves as study centres for some
university and colleges of education with regards to their part time
programmes.

 Impact on the Implementation of the Academic Programme

Whether or not the school building is adequately planned to accommodate
the educational programme, it affects the life and activities that go on within it.
Hagman (1956) describes the life that goes on within a school building vividly.
…it may permit and encourage freedom, activity, group study habits,
development of a sense of the beautiful and other aspects of a well-rounded
educational programme. Within its walls and on the grounds around it, it may
be developing good learning situations for all children. It may by its
appearance, arrangement, structure, or size inhibit fine educational
experiences.
This is in agreement with Nwagwu (1978) who observed that the quality of
education that a child receives is directly related to the availability or lack
thereof of physical facilities and the overall atmosphere in which learning takes
 place. The location, size and nature of the school plant affect the types and
number of curricular and co-curricular activities that can take place in and
outside it. A school built on a small site, for instance, may not have enough
space for playgrounds and recreational facilities. The same thing can be said
about a school plant in a difficult terrain like a swampy place. The physical and
health education aspect, as well as the outdoor learning exercises of the
educational programme can hardly be adequately implemented in schools built
on such sites.

 Influence on Learners and Teachers

The school plant is of special significance to learners. For instance, for
children who are just entering the school for the first time, “the school building
needs to be interesting and inviting”, (Cramer & Domian, 1960). This is
necessary, according to these authors, because the impressions of those first
years may have an impact on the attitude of the child towards school. Fagbulu
(1972) is of the opinion that a child’s sense of belonging to a school is
strengthened if its physical plant is sound, functional and pleasing to the eye.
From the foregoing, we can infer that the nature and look of a school plant,
especially the buildings, seem to be one of the important factors that influence
children’s attitude towards attending school and, perhaps towards education as
a whole. It follows then, that, any amount of money spent on beautifying
school buildings, especially those at the primary level of education, is money
well spent. When teachers work in well-equipped and well-furnished school
plants with good air quality, rich natural lighting and under suitable thermal
and acoustic conditions, their levels of motivation and stability on the job
increase. The physical plant is so important in education that if it does not meet
certain standards or if its quality or condition deteriorates, it may have some
 negative consequences on the teaching and learning process, as well as on the
personal life of staff and students.
Some studies have established that the physical conditions under which
teachers work have direct positive and negative effects on their morale, sense
of personal safety, feelings of effectiveness in the classroom and the general
learning environment (American Federation of Teachers, 1997). Poor
ventilation in schools, accumulation of dust and growth of mould in ceilings
and walls can lead to respiratory infections, headaches, and sleepiness among
students and staff (Environmental Protection Agency, 2000). Poor air quality
has been linked to student absenteeism, often due to asthma and other
respiratory diseases (American Lung Association, 2002).

Factors that Affect the Character of the School Plant

It is important to note that there are a number of factors that can possibly
affect what a school plant or a school building looks like, its size, its location, the
relationships of instructional and non-instructional spaces, its state of repairs after
construction, and so forth. Attempt has been made to discuss some of the major
factors that affect the decisions on whether to have a new school plant or building
and decisions on its development. They include:

1. Cultural Values
Educational programmes in different countries of the world are planned and
implemented according to some cultural and religious values held highly in
their societies. Our societal values of democracy and the attendant widening of
access to education at almost every level of the educational system are likely to
influence the provision and organization of education for children and youth in
future. A community’s value for the education of its children and youth is often
 indicated by the amount of care it exercises over its school plant. Such
communities often respond to the maintenance needs of their schools and
always ensure that it is in a functional state. Where one of the values of a
community is cooperation, for instance, group work is encouraged and this
necessitates the provision of large classrooms for different types of activities.
Religious beliefs and values often inform the building of separate
educational institutions especially at the secondary school level for boys and
girls. The rigid demarcation of girls’ and boys’ hostel areas in some co-
educational boarding schools, with very high walls and no link whatsoever
between the two areas, is based on religious and moral values of a community
or society.

2. Developments in Educational Practices

No educational system is an island unto itself. Educational architects,
administrators and professionals in the building industry often incorporate their
ideas of what they consider attractive and affordable designs from the
educational systems of other countries in their attempts at solving some of the
educational problems of their own countries. In fact, it is a good practice for
educational planners and architects to be in constant search for the best
practices in facility design and explore ways of adapting or incorporating them
into their own approaches to school building design as the need arises.
Developments in the use of instructional media also have their effects on the
appearance and structure of school buildings. Some new instructional materials
may require special rooms with special visual and acoustic environments for
correct usage. They may also require special spaces or facilities and conditions
for storage. All these have their impact on the internal structures of the
buildings.
3. Social and Economic Factors
One of the reasons for establishing schools is to cater for the social and
economic needs or life of the society. Educators, educational planners,
architects, other relevant professionals and local citizens are expected to take
note of major developments and trends in the social and economic life of the
society or communities in which they operate. It is these developments that
indicate what they need to do about education and the type of school plant or
school buildings which they will set up or modify.
The current demand for technicians and technologists, scientists and skilled
researchers in Nigeria; the tendency for almost every school leaver to aspire to
enter the university; the preference of university education to polytechnic and
other forms of tertiary education by school leavers are some of the social and
economic developments in the country which should guide decisions on the
development of education and the appropriate school plants. Others include;
the rising unemployment rate, youth restiveness and the call or need for the
street children and almajiris to go to school.
It does not suffice to design and construct facilities that address the present
developments. Since it is not possible due to constraints like finance to set up
new school buildings or modify existing ones as soon as changes occur, there is
the need to look far into the future, predict the consequences of future
developments in the social and economic life of the society and draw their
implications for school plant development. The anticipated future state of the
economy, for instance, will determine how much money can be invested in
education, the design of the school buildings including the aesthetics, the
attendant aesthetic features and the period for the take-off of construction
work.
4. Population and School Enrolment
Before a school plant is built or an existing one expanded, there must be a
need for it. The number of children and youth to be catered for is a key factor
influencing this need. This number at any point in time depends on the rate of
population increase in a society. Presently, the population of Nigeria is
estimated at over 140 million with a growth rate of about three percent per
annum and there are no indications that this rate will decrease in the near
future. The implication is that the present pressure for additional classrooms is
bound to continue or even increase in future.
Increases in school enrolments at any level of the education system
necessitate new school buildings or expansion of existing ones. The size of
school enrolment in each case will reflect the numbers and sizes of the
classrooms while the types and sizes of the furniture and some equipment will
reflect the ages of the pupils or students.

5. Developments in the Building Industry

Some developments in the building industry have some impact on the design
and construction of some educational facilities. New building materials appear
in the market from time to time. Some of them which may be found very useful
for constructing or renovating school plants include new types of bricks, fancy
blocks, floor and wall tiles of various types and sizes, electrical fittings and
lighting systems, roofing sheets of various types, shapes and sizes and so on.
The use of these materials, if they are affordable, may not only change the
look of old school plants, but may also convey certain advantages. Some of
these advantages are prolonging the useful life of the school plant, reducing
noise in the buildings, improving the ventilation, ensuring better control of
 light, reducing the cost of maintenance and improving the aesthetic beauty of
the school buildings and other structures.

6. The Educational Programme

The aims and objectives of the educational programme will determine the
types of teaching and learning activities that will take place, the types, sizes
and relationships of learning and non-learning spaces in the school. It is the
nature of the educational programme offered at an institution that makes the
difference between the characters of a primary school plant and that of a
secondary school. The curriculum offered in a secondary school, for instance,
will determine the types of learning spaces to be included in a school plant.
The internal structures of buildings in schools where lecture method of
teaching prevail will be different from those in which practical work and
experimentation are emphasized. If a school offers science subjects, there will
be laboratories for the study of those subjects. If agricultural science is in the
curriculum of a school, a place will be set aside on the school grounds for a
school farm or garden.

Needs and Challenges of School Plant in Nigeria.

In spite of all the efforts made by the early Christian Missions, the former
Regional Governments and the various state and federal governments of Nigeria,
the shortage of classrooms and school buildings have continued to be a major
problem confronting the educational system of the country. One of the major
problems leading to this state of affairs is the dwindling financial allocations to the
education sector. The amount of money specifically voted for capital projects in
education by different state and federal governments are not enough to meet the
demand for new school plants and the expansion of the existing ones. The
consequence of this is the overcrowding of available classrooms in our primary
and secondary schools. The ugly situation is further exacerbated by the steadily
increasing rate of population growth in the country leading to increasing number of
pupils of school age and the increasing pressure on the school system.
The need for more school plants also arises because of the prevailing attitude
to school plant maintenance among educational administrators and school staff.
As already stated, there are usually no provisions for school maintenance in state
and federal annual budgets for education. Rather, it is usual to occasionally hear of
allocations for rehabilitating school buildings and classrooms. This type of
allocation is usually made when it is obvious that many school buildings are in a
dilapidated or unusable state. Lack of regular maintenance services by the Ministry
of Education and lack of necessary care by school staff and pupils contribute in no
small measure to the rapid deterioration of the buildings. Other common problems
which lead to poor conditions of some school buildings have been identified by
Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN) (2009:8) as follows:
 Inadequate foundations that soon result in cracked walls
 Very poor floor slabs and consequently weak and damaged screeds
 Poor quality timber roof trusses (not seasoned and not termite treated)
 Poor quality sandcrete blocks in the walls with many having holes
 Roof sheets of inadequate gauge and poorly fixed
 Poor quality timber ceilings
 Poor quality window and door frames and shutters
 Poor quality furniture
 Poor and often no maintenance
These and other problems tend to render some of the buildings unusable from
time to time and eventually reduce their life spans, thus, increasing the need for
school buildings and classrooms.In addition to the problems that contribute to the
shortage of school buildings and classrooms, there is also the problem of lack of
records or reliable statistics to help determine the extent of the need for school
plants. As Ehiametalor (2001) rightly observes, it is certainly not an overstatement
or an exaggeration to state that very little information exist about school facilities
in Nigeria. At Federal, State and Local government levels, there were no records
on school plants. There may be some statistical records on the number of schools,
number of teachers and students or pupils by age, sex and the like in the State and
Federal Ministries of Education and even in individual schools but there are
usually no records or statistics on the number and status of different school
facilities in the Ministry to help determine the extent of the need for different
school facilities.
The present state of school plants and present practices in school plant
management in Nigeria poses a number of challenges for the Federal and State
governments, educational administrators, school heads, school staff and other stake
holders in education. Meeting the school facility needs of schools throughout the
federation in quantitative and qualitative terms is a real challenge to state and
federal governments and educational administrators. Meeting the quantitative
needs is essential for reducing the classroom sizes in most primary and secondary
schools in most states. In some of the states, it is common to find secondary school
classrooms meant for 30 or 35 students being occupied by 80 or more students.
Meaningful learning can hardly take place in such overcrowded classrooms.
Providing sufficient shelter for pupils and teachers is one aspect of the problem.
The other and perhaps the more important aspect is to make the buildings and the
classrooms accommodate the educational programme. Some modern approaches to
teaching require the use of new equipment in appropriately designed learning
spaces and often specialised storage facilities. The challenge, in fact, is to provide
school plants in which form is dictated by function and which, at the same time,
provide sufficient and comfortable accommodation for school children and staff.
School plants provide efficient services if properly maintained and operated. It
therefore behoves school administrators and school heads to ensure that the school
plants are regularly and adequately maintained. School plants are very expensive to
construct and regular maintenance is necessary not only to protect the public
investment in them but also to extend their life spans. Well maintained schools are
bound to attract and hold their students and in addition, communicate neatness and
good sanitation to children.
Among the challenges of school plant management to school administrators is
the building of the capacity of school heads and staff in the areas of school plant
planning, design and construction. Being the end users of the facility, school heads
and staff need to know the activities and procedures involved in school plant
development and should be involved in the decision making processes especially in
the area of educational specifications. Presently, and as has been observed by
ESSPIN (2009: 9), …there is very limited involvement of communities in the
planning, implementation and maintenance of school buildings. There is the need
to involve the members of communities in such activities as the school plant also
belongs to them and is important to them in many ways as we have already noted.
Adopting or embracing good practices in school plant development is one of the
most important challenges to educational administrators and other stake holders in
education. This involves making use of relevant professionals at the right time and
at the right stages of the decision making process, involving the end users and local
community members in decision making and in some relevant activities, and
following the procedures that have been seen to yield good results. It is by so doing
that the highest value for money invested in school plant development can be
realized and the school plant made to truly serve or accommodate the educational
programme.

School Plant Maintenance

You will recall that school plant management has to do with those services
or activities concerned with keeping the physical plant open and ready for use as
well as its effective utilization in a conducive manner. Maintenance which is an
aspect of school plant management on the other hand connotes the idea that either
something is wrong, is about to go wrong or at least, is not what it should be in
respect of a school building, furniture, equipment, or school ground and that
something should be done to restore it to the normal condition. According to
American Association of School Administrators (1965), maintenance involves
those activities which are concerned with keeping grounds, buildings and
equipment at their original condition of completeness and efficiency, either
through repairs or by replacements. It involves repairs and replacements in order to
ensure that the physical plant, equipment, grounds, and service facilities are
continuously useable.
The essence of facility maintenance is to keep the plant functioning
uninterruptedly in as near its original condition as possible. It seems obvious that
the cost of doing this depends mainly on the initial planning and construction of
the facility. The use of good quality building materials and competent
workmanship during the construction stage most often attracts low maintenance
costs.
As already established, the school plant is a costly investment in education
by the society. It takes a lot of time, material resources and efforts to set up one. It
is obvious that one of the important purposes of maintenance is to protect this
investment. Another purpose is to protect the educational value of the plant. The
educational value of the facility refers to its appearance, usefulness in housing the
educational programme, and the learning atmosphere that it creates. Maintenance
of school facilities, the delivery of effective and responsive services by school staff
to students, community members and other people and agencies, and enhancing the
school’s culture and image are also purposes of school facility maintenance.

Approaches to School Plant Maintenance

There are basically three approaches to school plant maintenance that can be
considered by school administrators, namely; the local system maintenance
programme, the contracted maintenance programme, and a combination of these
(Candoli, Hack, Ray & Stollar, 1973).
The first approach involves each education authority operating its own
system of maintenance. This system, according to Candoli et al prevents delays
associated with the bidding and negotiation processes and saves some overhead
costs which are charged by those performing the maintenance function. This
approach reduces time delays associated with contracts. It also makes it possible
for administrators to make more efficient use of personnel in terms of scheduling
peak-load and peak-time operations. Local system employees often provide higher
standards of workmanship than the contractor working for a profit.
The problem with this approach, however, is that many maintenance
functions require specialized type of procedure which may be too expensive for a
local school system. Another problem is that certain types of maintenance are
associated with the use of very specialized equipment or tools in combination with
much specialised requirements in terms of physical structure or materials which are
not associated with local school maintenance programme. In considering local-
versus-contract services, it should be noted that while time may be saved at the bid
phase of work by having local people perform the work, some costs related to
equipment, depreciation of maintenance buildings, sick leave pay, etc., are not
considered.
The second approach entails contracting out the maintenance work when due
instead of employing staff that can be doing so. This is the approach that is widely
adopted by most state educational systems in the country. This is usually the case
especially when there is a natural disaster affecting a school building, and an
emergency maintenance becomes inevitable. The problem with this approach is
that it is often costly and the contractor who must make his/her monetary gains
may not offer a high quality work.

Components of School Plant Maintenance

There is no single way of organizing for planned maintenance that will be
suitable for every school system because educational systems differ in many
respects. They differ with respect to geographical expanse, size of population,
population density, wealth, etc. Regardless of the form of organization, however,
there are some essential components of any maintenance programme. Some of
these are discussed below.
1. A Maintenance Budget: The successful operation of a maintenance
programme depends primarily on the availability of funds. It is in regard to
this aspect that Nigerian school systems fall short of expectation. The poor
condition of most of our school buildings and equipment can be traced to the
fact that no provision is usually made in federal and state budgets for the
maintenance of school plants.
A good estimate of the annual provision for school maintenance can be
obtained by keeping a detailed record of maintenance costs over a period of
years followed up with systematic inspections. An average cost can be
arrived at and form part of the basis for annual budget estimates. It should be
 noted that the rate of deterioration of the equipment increases with age. An
alternative approach is to set aside a fixed percentage of the annual budget
for education for maintenance purposes.
2. Study of Needs: As already mentioned above, whether maintenance
personnel will be employed in a school system or not should be determined
by whether or not there is need for them. This can only be determined by an
objective study of the maintenance needs of the school system which seeks
answers to the following questions: What are the common maintenance
problems encountered by schools in this Education Zone? What types of
skilled labour are required to handle such problems? Which of the skilled
labourers can be fully engaged throughout the year within the limits of the
available funds and which of them are needed only occasionally to perform
some maintenance jobs? Depending on the amount and types of maintenance
problems encountered by the schools in the zone, the study should be able to
reveal the skilled and semi-skilled workers to employ full time and the types
to be hired whenever their services are needed. The major problem with
employing full-time maintenance staff lies with retaining them especially if
their salaries are not attractive enough to them.
3. On–the-job Training: It may not be possible to attract sufficient number of
skilled workers to take up maintenance jobs in schools. It may not be
possible to retain the employed ones probably because of low salaries and
low job satisfaction. In such circumstances it may pay off to hire both skilled
and untrained workers in a particular trade or craft, e.g. carpentry, plumbing,
etc. so that the untrained ones will be apprenticed to the skilled ones. The
apprentices, after an adequate period of learning under the skilled craftsmen
should be encouraged to take the appropriate trade examinations and the
successful ones should be regraded and given pay increases.
 In situations where there may be no master craftsman to learn from, it should
be possible for the person in charge of the programme to organize relevant
on-the-job training for the unskilled employees. Inviting suitable resource
persons to some regular one- or two-day workshops organized for unskilled
workers in the Education Zone in different trades is one of the ways of
accomplishing this. The success of this approach depends on the quality of
supervision of the work of the employees, the ability of the supervisor to
detect their skill needs, and the competence of the resource people invited to
the short training programmes or workshops.
4. Assignment of Responsibility: There must be someone in charge of every
maintenance programme. Whoever is the head of the programme must be
responsible to an appropriate official in either the Zonal Education Office or
the Ministry of Education depending on which body is in charge of the
overall programme. For effectiveness of the programme, the overall
responsibility should rest on the Zonal Education offices as they are closer to
the schools.
The person in charge must work with some people whose number will be
determined by the maintenance needs of the schools in the zone and the size
of the budget. In big school systems where maintenance personnel can be
employed on full-time basis, their number and type will be determined by
the size of the budget and types of common maintenance problems in the
schools in the Education Zone. Where the school number is too small to
justify the employment of even one full-time maintenance worker, provision
should be made on a regular basis for money to hire the services of
contractors. In such a situation, the person in charge will be dealing with the
contractors as the needs arise.
5. Identifying Maintenance Problems: One of the major duties of the
maintenance staff including their supervisor is the detection of plant
maintenance problems. Performing this duty well requires a systematic plan
for inspecting the school plants in the zone. The first step in developing such
a plan is a systematic survey of the existing school plants. Such a survey is
technical in nature and will require the services of architects and engineers.
The results of this survey should provide the basis for developing an
effective maintenance schedule and a checklist for regular inspections. Each
building in each school will require an individualised checklist because of
the differences in their ages, structure, design, and service systems.Three
major problems deserve attention in any programme of inspection. They are:
i. Those elements on which the safety of the occupants of the
building depend: The items in this category include fire extinguisher,
fire alarms, emergency doors and exit lights. Special attention should
be paid to these items by preparing a separate checklist with which
they could be inspected on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.
ii. Moving parts of mechanical equipment: All moving parts of
mechanical equipment need to be greased or oiled from time to time.
The manufacturers’ manuals accompanying the machines or vehicles
should provide adequate instructions for this purpose and should be
thoroughly studied and preserved.
iii. Surfaces that are exposed to weather: Surfaces that are exposed to
moisture should be regularly inspected and must, as much as possible,
be protected from the effects of weather elements.
A well organized inspection report provides a good basis for planning
and scheduling maintenance work. Following the inspection report, an
order of priority for all repair works should be scheduled with the
 highest priority given to the items that affect the safety, health and
security of the occupants. Next in the order of priority are those items
which, if left unattended, will shorten the life of the building or lead to
more extensive repairs.
6. Purchasing Procedure: Meeting the maintenance needs of the school plants
in an Education zone may require a lot of material resources. An effective
purchasing system is an essential component of a good maintenance
programme. Informed decisions about which items to purchase in bulk and
which ones to purchase only when the need for them arises can only be
made after a thorough study of the maintenance needs of the school system.
The objective of establishing a purchase system is to obtain the proper
amount and quality of materials at the lowest possible cost and to make them
available at the right place at the right time. If it becomes necessary to
purchase large quantities of some particular items, considerable thought
should be given to the warehousing and security of the items. The costs of
warehousing and employing a store keeper and retaining his/her services
should be viewed against the size of the budget available for maintenance
services every year.

Types of Maintenance Services

Effectiveness and efficiency of a maintenance programme are achieved if the
maintenance of the school plant is scheduled instead of only responding to
emergencies. This means planning the programme in such a way that some
maintenance services are performed on a regular basis, some periodically and
others as the need arises. Based on this, some writers distinguish five types of
maintenance services in some programmmes –preventive, periodic, replacement,
emergency, and improvement maintenance. Other writers, however, recognize only
four types of maintenance arguing that there is much overlap between
improvement maintenance and the other types of maintenance. The four common
types to be discussed includes:
a. Preventive Maintenance: This type of maintenance, as the name implies, is
the service rendered on school buildings, equipment and furniture in order to
prevent malfunctioning, or early deterioration of equipment/buildings, so as
to maximise their useful life. Candoli (1988) defines this type of
maintenance as that programme for servicing machines, systems and
structures devised to prevent a breakdown of the system or one of its
components. Preventive maintenance protects buildings, grounds, furniture
and equipment in order to avoid expensive maintenance. As already pointed
out, preventive maintenance is often carried out by custodial staff. Their
performance of this task may be enhanced by on-the-job training. Preventive
maintenance is rarely practised in Nigerian public schools most of which do
not even have the custodial staff to render such services. Absence of any
type of maintenance programme and school inspection schedule in schools
also hinders the rendering of maintenance services.
b. Replacement Maintenance: This type of maintenance involves removing
and replacing an equipment or parts of it when due. Some machine and
vehicle parts and some plumbing fixtures, for instance, need to be replaced
before they become so bad that the item breaks down. It is poor practice to
wait until an item of equipment or machine becomes completely unusable
before replacing it. Regular replacement of an item of equipment or some of
its parts prevents occasional embarrassment. It also prevents unbudgeted
expenses during the school year.
c. Periodic Maintenance: This is the type of work done on regular intervals of
time – yearly or biennially or more. It is the type of work most often done on
 contract basis at predetermined times. It is the type of work associated with
the servicing of office, laboratory, and other equipment in the school
periodically. This type of maintenance also includes such work as painting
and repair of leaking roofs which can be scheduled to take place periodically
as buildings continue to age.
d. Emergency Maintenance: No matter how well a maintenance programme
is planned and adhered to, there will always be some unforeseen or
unexpected emergencies. This type of maintenance is the work done when a
system, an equipment, especially one that is frequently in use, unexpectedly
breaks down. It is also the type of work done when a part of a building
collapses because of a natural disaster and other reasons. This type of
maintenance is the most common in Nigerian schools. Some of the
emergency maintenance works could, perhaps, have been avoided if there
were operational maintenance programmes in the school systems. In cases of
emergency, the first concern should be with the safety and health of the
occupants of the facility involved. They need to be promptly evacuated and
settled elsewhere. All school staff and students should be given adequate
instructions on what to do and what not to do in emergency situations and
when emergency repairs are being done in the school.

School Plant Maintenance Culture in Nigeria

Based on the observations of most writers on school plant maintenance in
the country, the current maintenance culture in almost all the Nigerian public
schools can best be described as negative. Recent comments and observations on
this issue may be instructive. Ehiametalor (2001), for instance, observes that
billions of naira have been spent on the construction of school buildings, purchase
of equipment, machinery and furniture to enhance teaching and learning but very
little thought has ever been given to its maintenance. According to him, school
facilities are considered to have a perpetual life span, irrespective of the vagaries of
weather, and natural disaster. The Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria
(ESSPIN, 2009) makes this observation on the condition of the existing school
buildings, even where buildings have been constructed to an acceptable standard…
there has been a severe lack of maintenance which has resulted in many buildings
being in a state of disrepair and thus having a reduced lifespan.
This neglect of school plant maintenance by educational administrators and
policy makers is also applicable to the school plant administrators, school staff and
students to some extent. There has been no conscious effort by either the
educational administrators or school staff to start any building improvement
programme nor has it been heard that any group of staff and students have been
sensitised to the need for maintaining school plants. In most schools in the country
there are no known standards in regard to school plant operation and maintenance.
There are a few if any icons and observed rituals in the schools to reinforce or
sustain a good maintenance culture. As noted earlier in this chapter, a typical
classroom in our public school is not well cared for, while some walls of the school
buildings may be defaced with graffiti. All these are indications of negative school
maintenance culture.
A real challenge to educational administrators and school heads, school staff
and students is to change from a negative school maintenance culture to a positive
one. In other words, the existing maintenance culture in our public schools needs to
be reshaped in order to make our school plants function more efficiently and
effectively and also have extended lifespan.

Transforming School Plant Maintenance Culture in the Country.

 The task involved in transforming the existing poor or negative school plant
maintenance culture in our public schools is a daunting one. Initiating and
developing positive school maintenance culture in the schools requires the
cooperation and joint efforts of school administrators, educational policy makers,
school staff and students as well as other stakeholders in education. The onus for
transforming the current negative maintenance culture or, in other words,
promoting a positive or healthy one, rests mainly with the head teachers. Any
meaningful attempt at changing it to a positive one should start with the head
teachers’ understanding the maintenance culture in their schools and deciding
which aspects of it that need to be changed and which ones to retain. By studying
and understanding the present culture, and being convinced that there is a need for
change they should be able to take appropriate actions.
Some of the actions that can be taken by a school head to initiate and promote
positive maintenance culture in his/her school include, but are not limited to the
following:
 Establishing a school maintenance programme together with his school staff
and the students.
 Assigning the responsibility for the care of school flower hedges, school
grounds, lawns and other structures in the school to specific classes, under
the supervision of either the class captains or their class teachers. In order to
develop a caring culture, the students should have something to take care of.
 Making regular inspection of the school buildings and other structures with
the Vice-principals to ascertain the conditions of the facilities, recording
their observations and taking measures to report any identified fault
promptly to the Ministry of Education. By so doing, school members will
know that he/she shows concern for the facilities.
  Occasionally walking in the classrooms to ensure that they have been swept
and kept tidy.
 Consistently applying appropriate sanctions against student behaviours that
show lack of care for school property and school buildings, such as defacing
the walls with graffiti, carelessly breaking window or door glass panes and
dropping litter on the school lawns and corridors of school buildings.
 Instituting prizes and trophies to be competed for among students for
keeping classrooms, workshops and other school structures neat and tidy.
 Ensuring that some songs that emphasize the care for school facilities are
composed and taught to the children.
 Using mottos, slogans, symbols and banners to sensitise the students, staff
and visitors to the care for lawns, the need to preserve the beauty of the
school, etc.
 Rewarding and celebrating behaviours that are consistent with keeping the
compound in good order. If, for instance, a student draws the attention of the
school head or a school teacher to places that need attention in a school
building, his/ her effort should be acknowledged and the attention of the
other students drawn to it.
 Promptly reporting any damage to the school buildings and structures to the
appropriate quarters and following it up if need be. Soliciting the assistance
of the local community members may pay off well as attention by the
Ministry of Education may be late in coming.

Regardless of the efforts of the school heads, staff, and students, in caring for
school plants, there is a limit to the types of maintenance work they can do on any
school plant. They will not be able to carry out real maintenance work in the
school for lack of relevant skills and funds. The efforts of the school heads will
only be meaningful if the State and Federal governments can formulate appropriate
policies on school plant maintenance in our public schools. The policies should
provide for a certain amount of money or a certain percentage of the budget for
education to be set aside for purposes of school maintenance and operation. Until
the governments are ready and able to employ competent maintenance crew in our
school systems, it is being suggested that school inspectors be made to observe and
report meaningfully on the conditions of the facilities in which teaching and
learning take place. Such reports should be followed up with prompt action from
the Ministry of Education, Zonal or Local Education Offices.

Review Questions
1. Explain the term school plant?
2. Carefully explain the term school plant management and adjudge reasons
why school heads should pay attention to the task of school plant
management.
3. Using specific examples, discuss the ways the school plant can affect the
implementation of an educational programme.
4. Identify and explain any four factors that can affect the appearance and
internal structure of school buildings.
5. What six reasons in your opinion can account for the failure of the
government to meet the needs of school plant in Nigerian schools and
suggest remedies?
6. Explain the term school plant maintenance and justify the expense of funds
on this activity.
7. Critique the use of contract work for the maintenance of school plant.
 8. Outline and explain the four essential components of a good school plant
maintenance programme.
9. Distinguish between periodic maintenance and replacement maintenance,
showing the merits and demerits of each.
10.Discuss the concept of school plant maintenance culture, showing the role of
teachers and school heads in promoting this culture.
11.Discuss the state of school plant maintenance culture in Nigeria, making
recommendations on its positive growth.
12.Outline five reasons to justify the use of preventive maintenance of school
plant in Nigerian schools.

References

Adeboyeje, S. (1994). Some aspects of school management. Ibadan: Board

Publications

American Federation of Teachers (1997). Poor physical plant affects student

achievement, discipline. American Teacher, Nov. 1997.

American Lung Association (2002). Asthma in children: Fact sheet, New York.
Available at http.//www.lungusa.org/asthma/ascpedfac99.html

Candoli, I.C. (1988). School business administration: a planning approach (2nd

ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon Inc.
Candoli, I.C; Hack, D; Ray, F & Stollar, B. (1973). Educational facilities:
Planning, modernization and management. Boston: Allyn and Bacon Inc.

Cramer, R. V. & Domian, O.E. (1960). Administration and supervision in the

elementary school. New York: Harper & Row.

Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN) (2009) Nigeria: School

building standards. ESSPIN Document No. 032.

Ehiametalor, E.T. (2001). Facilities planning and management’. In N.A. Nwagwu,

E.T. Ehiametalor, M.A. Ogunu, & M. Nwadiani (eds.). Current issues in
educational management in Nigeria, Benin City: National Association for
Educational Administration and Planning.

Ejieh, M.U.C (2010). School plant management (EDA 713). Lagos: National Open
University of Nigeria

Encyclopedia of Education (2002). Farmington Hills, (Ed.). Gale Group Inc.

Environmental Protection Agency (2000). Indoor air quality and student

performance. Washington, D.C.: (402-f-00-009).

Fagbulu, A.M. (1972). Administrative practice for teachers. Ibadan: Evans

Brothers.

Hagman, H. L. (1956). Administration of elementary schools. New York: McGraw

Hill Book Company, p.306.
Home.earthlink.net/-ddstuhtman/definl.htm Retrieved January 21st, 2013.

Knezevich, S.K. (1975). Administration of public education (3rd ed). New York:
Harper and Row Publishers.

Kowalski, T.J. (2001). Planning and managing school facilities. Portland, OR:
ABC- CLIO Inc.

Nwagwu, N.A. (1978). Primary school administration. Lagos: Macmillan

Publishers.

Obi, Emenike (2001). Practicum in school organization. Enugu: Computer Edge

Publishers

Terry, G.R. and Franklin, S.G. (2003). Principles of management. Kamataka,

India: AITBS Publishers, p.4.

Weihrich, H. and Koontz, H. (1993). Management: A global perspective. New

York: McGraw-Hill, p. 4.

Young, E.; Green, H.A.; Roehrich-Patrick (2003). Do K-12 school facilities affect
educational outcomes? Tennessee advisory commission on intergovernmental
relations: Staff information report.
 CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION

By

Isah Emmanuel A. (Ph.D)

Department of Educational Management, Faculty of Education
University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
emmanisah2005@yahoo.com

Chapter Objectives
At the end of the chapter the reader should be able to
1. Define the concept of curriculum
2. Itemize and discuss the phases of curriculum development.
3. List and explain the three major types of curriculum

4. Carefully explain the following showing their import in curriculum planning

(a) Pedagogy (b) Content (c) classroom management
(d) professionalism
5. Discuss the following curriculum models illustrating your answer
diagrammatically
(a) Tyler’s Curriculum Model (b) Tabais Curriculum Model
6. Discuss the impediments to effective development and implementation of
curriculum in Nigeria.
Introduction
Curriculum serves as the driving force in educational venture. The importance of
the curriculum is evident as it is often the driving force in any economic
development. Every profession is often interested in the content of its curriculum
as it stands to dictate every other thing. With this importance, educators and the
world in general need updated information on curriculum development as well as
its implementation. Noting that there are several curriculum challenges, this paper
examined the concept of curriculum and curriculum implementation. It further
investigated the challenges in curriculum implementation especially in a plural
society like Nigeria and some other countries of sub Saharan Africa. Finally, the
study recommended strategies to facilitate curriculum development and
implementation.

Overview of the Curriculum Concept

Curriculum has always been an issue. This is so because several educational
programmes have evolved out of inability of nations to understand the cause of
their developmental challenges. Countries with good educational technocrats have
often preferred to look inwards. In Nigeria for example, after independence,
Nigerian’s complained and decried the theoretical curriculum in education
bequeathed to the country after independence. Such cry resulted in the process that
led to the development and adoption of the National Policy on Education of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) (2004). The previous educational system
consisted of 6-5-2-3 system while the new one adopted in 1981 was 6-3-3-4 though
it has been modified into 9-3-4 system of education.
Squaires (1987), described curriculum as ‘what is taught … ought to be
taught … is at the heart of the educational enterprize’. Taylor and Richards (1985),
further posited that ‘it is the means through which education is transacted. Without
curriculum, education has no vehicle, nothing through which it can transmit
messages, convey meanings and exemplify values.
Moronkola, Akinsola and Abe (2000), explained that curriculum is derived
from a latin word ‘Curere’ which means to run a race but now redefined as and
commonly used as to ‘work schedule’ or ‘particular body of courses’. Other
commonly used terminologies of the concept are; unit, syllabus, scheme of work,
lesson notes and lesson plan. Again, Brent (1978), argues that the concept of
curriculum can be traced to Plato’s exposure to transcendental reality in which
Plato related several theories among them being the theory of forms, knowledge,
recognition, relational argument, pragmatist theory of knowledge etc . In the
argument of Brent (1978), it was explained that Plato’s theory of knowledge
yielded criteria for determining the validity of both a Process and a curriculum as
educational. It further went to explain that an educational process to which
curriculum is related can be termed ‘dialectical’ in essence, a slowly dawning
vision.
Another key scholar in curriculum Hawes (1979) posited that curriculum is
contextual. Curriculum is contextual in that it must find a place among competing
variables (micro and macro) variables. The indices involved in this context
include; politics, economy, social system and the professions. Also included in the
context are material and immaterial issues such as history and administration.
From the forgoing it is clear that the issue of curriculum cannot be discussed in
isolation of so many things.
Figure 1: Curriculum Overview

Curriculum do not just emerge. Curriculums are often prepared to meet

needs. In the meeting of needs, some issues are to be considered especially by
educational planners and administrators. Once a need is nationally identified, the
next thing is to prepare the content of what the curriculum for the need will be.
This leads to the next section - Curriculum development.
Curriculum Development Process

PROBLEM
IDENTIFICATION

NEEDS
EVALUATION & ASSESSMENT
FEEDBACK

IMPLEMETATION
GOALS DEFINITION

EDUCATIONAL
STRATEGIES

Figure 2: First stage in Curriculum Development

The curriculum development process can be broken into 2 phases. The first
phase involves the six (6) stages itemized in Figure 2. The second phase in
curriculum development has to do with the design. Before drafting the design, the
problem to be addressed in a curriculum must be identified. Taking an example
from the Nigerian National Policy on Education, it was observed that the education
bequeathed by the colonial masters was too theoretical and such the nation needed
a practical oriented curriculum that will enhance self reliance. The second stage
was that all needs were assessed. There were national needs. The needs were
categorized into various forms for example in the economy, Nigeria was not
independent at all though independent politically. Nigerian’s needed an education
for emancipation hence practical courses were introduced into the policy that
culminated into the production of new curriculum.
Another example is the case in Eastern Africa that consists of several
countries. Majority of the countries in Eastern Africa find it difficult to express in
the English language why? The national need has been identified to show that they
are not interested in another culture whipping away their indigenous culture. To
them the whipping away of their culture begins from the language hence the policy
insists that the indigenous language must be the official language of
communication in schools up to the end of secondary education. The indigenous
language all over East Africa is Swahili. To attain these, there should be goals set.
A look at the Nigerian National Policy on Education FRN, (2004), the Nigerian
educational objectives and philosophy are well and clearly spelt out. To attain
these objectives, the processes are well laid out. They are clearly visible. The
responsibility of everyone towards attaining those goals are well entrenched in the
document. In Nigeria for example, we have different types of secondary schools.
There is the public or private secondary schools which are either Senior or Junior
secondary schools, then we have Comprehensive school, Grammar schools,
Community Secondary Schools etc. Each of these schools are expected to play
their parts in the broad spectrum of the national policy, objectives and goals of
education.
 After defining the goals, the next stage is to define the implementation
strategies. Implementation strategies involve describing all the methods with which
what has been penned down will be attained. It involves the description of what is,
who is where and who is responsible for anything and the definition of time lines
for such activity. In Nigeria, the Ministry of Education at the Federal, State and
Local government levels is statutorily empowered to carry out such functions. The
Ministry of Education apart from over-seeing the functionality of education is
responsible for allocation of scarce resources, recruitment of personnel and
distribution of responsibilities. In Nigeria for example, the curriculum process after
needs identification goes to the National Council of Education (NCE). The
National Council comprises a selection of people from all works of life and
professions who assess what has been brought down to them. This initial
assessment will determine whether the need will proceed further. If the need passes
through the NCE, then it progresses to the next stage. There are several smaller
bodies charged with the responsibility of break down. In Nigeria, we have the
Center for Adaptation of Secondary Schools Curriculum (CESSAC), there is the
National Mathematical Centre along with several other smaller group that will take
into cognizance what the NCE has done. It is important to note that these processes
take years.
A final stage in curriculum development process is the evaluation stage. At
this stage, it is sought to be found out if the objectives and goals/philosophies
initially spelt out were attained. If they were not attained, why? A feed back
system is usually plugged into the system to raise an alarm. In the Nigerian
context, after 32 years of implementing the National Policy on Education, there has
been no documented evaluation but its deficiencies are clearly seen. In the case of
East Africa, we are yet to see a dissatisfaction among the operators and recipients
of the type of education practiced over there.
 Curriculum Design

Figure 3: Curriculum design

Curriculum Planning
Igwe and Rufai (2012), maintain that in the build up to the development of a
curriculum is the first aspect known as the curriculum design. The design of a
curriculum must of necessity involve curriculum planning, curriculum content,
methods etc. The design of a curriculum begins from its plan. A plan involves the
complete identification of needs, resources to meet the needs inclusive in the
process and in most cases implementation and evaluation. In the process of
planning a curriculum, the following must be available. There must of necessity be
a NEED. After the need, there must be goals that the need is directed at and
consequently objectives. When the objectives are known, then a philosophy must
be formulated and thereafter, we can say that a scope has been created. When these
are in place, the curriculum design process has began to take shape.
In planning a curriculum, the curriculum planner must ask him/herself
several questions. What are the intentions of this educational system? We need to
take an example from the experience of the secondary education level in Nigeria
where for sometime; educational administrators and planners have wondered if
Nigeria has an educational curriculum at the secondary school level? The answer is
both yes and no why? To an outsider, there are documents for teaching etc but how
comprehensive? Have they been subjected evaluations since their use if so where
are the reports? Who is the agency in charge of curriculum development? In recent
years, parents and teachers who ought to be part of curriculum planning have been
left out of the process with the result that new educational curriculum are
introduced at will. In the planning of a good curriculum, the relevant bodies and
agencies must be involved. It must require consultation and advocacy. A good
curriculum design must go through a trial test or else its implementation will be
faulty.
Several scholars including Osokoya (2003), have given reasons why the
Nigerian policy on 6-3-3-4 system of education failed to achieve its objective. It is
evident that presently, the educational system is under intense criticism after
operation for nearly 35 years. Though the nation needed a better educational
system, the planning process was incomplete. Moreover, the plan was eventually
implemented by politicians and suffered several summersaults. What is the effect
of the errors in that educational system which was so well designed? In the modern
educational discuss in Nigeria, the following were identified; absence of key
personnel to run the educational programmes introduced (integrated subjects like
social studies, integrated science), introductory technology, vocational subjects
(carpentry, electrical works, home economics, sewing) etc. Again, several
equipment that had no buildings to enclose them were bought that rotted and
wasted till today especially welding and carpentry machines. While the paper
produced in terms of subject and content were considered adequate, the ancillary
provisions for a good system were absent which boiled down to the fact that the
planners of that educational system and by extension that curriculum did not finish
their task. The foregoing takes us to the warnings on curriculum design by Tyler
(1950), represented by Igwe and Rufai (2012) on curriculum design. The
description warned thus;
A curriculum must be designed to operate effectively in a society where a
number of constraints are present, and with human beings who have purposes,
preferences and dynamic mechanisms in operations… an initial early step…is to
examine and analyze significant conditions that influence the construction and
operation of a curriculum. The study observed that most curricula will not meet
the needs of the society or community they intend to serve. The design and process
of curriculum implementation is cumbersome that a mistake is quite expensive and
difficult to rectify. There are several issues to a wrong curriculum design. First, the
financial resources deployed therein become a waste. Secondly, the objective and
philosophies of such designs are unmet. Such failures often result in stunted
development of most national economies especially economies of developing
countries and countries of sub Saharan Africa.
What therefore are the indices of a good curriculum plan? A good
curriculum must have a well identified need. In identifying a need the curriculum
planner must be devoid of self and selfishness. In most countries of sub Saharan
Africa, needs are usually those of political parties who hold power. Needs appear
micro instead of being macro. Needs are seen in terms of winning political
followers knowing that education is a highly demanded commodity. In Nigeria
today, the current graduate unemployment is not a product of a one day policy but
a product of several years of combinations of poor curriculum planning, policy
planning and improper coordination of policies.

Types of Curriculum
There are different types of curriculum but principally, the following types
will be considered in this study:
1. Learner centered curriculum
2. Teacher centered curriculum
3. Subject centered curriculum

Learner Centered Curriculum

The learner centered curriculum is that type in which the learner centers as
the object of attraction and in such a curriculum; several items will be built in. A
major aspect that must be considered in developing a learner centered curriculum
is the instruction method. The instruction method is important because once the
learner fails to grasp what is intended, the goal of such a curriculum has failed. In
essence, a learner centered curriculum inter-loops with teacher preparation. In a
learner centered curriculum, the goals, objectives and philosophies of the
educational enterprise must be borne in mind by the curriculum planner. The goals
serve as the ultimate end of the plan. In the Nigerian National Policy on Education,
the goals, objectives and philosophy of education are clearly spelt out (FRN,
2004). These goals are clearly written in the preamble of the document. It is
expected of the curriculum planner to digest these goals and objectives. Other
things that must be known about the learner to effect good comprehension are the
learners mental age and his chronological age. Both of these enable the learner to
cope with what he is taught. Though in modern psychology, chronological age has
often been played down as there are evidences of children with low chronological
ages but high intelligence quotient, but the occurrence is quite few hence
psychologists argue that the chronological age cannot be done away with.
The issue of age in the development of curriculum can still be found in FRN
(2004). The document posits that the age for attending pre nursery is 3 years while
primary education begins at 6 years and post primary is to commence at 11+ years.
Most tertiary institutions accept entry age of 17 years (UTME, 2012). It can be
seen that in the preparation of a curriculum, the age factor is important.
Another very important consideration while planning or developing a learner
centered curriculum is the instructional materials to be used by both teacher and
students. Over the years, the quantity and quality of instructional materials have
kept changing in content, context and quality. Such changes have been occasioned
by changes in Information communication Technology (ICT), globalization.
Determinants of Instructional Materials (IM) include; the nature of the subject
(science, arts, abstract) etc. Another determinant is cost of IM, ability to handle
complex IM by course teachers and tutors. The issue of IM is so over bearing on
learner’s ability to comprehend that it is highly necessary that it is included in the
curriculum.
Again, it must be noted that the quantity of IM required, varies with levels
and age of education. Take an example, at the nursery level, much attention is not
paid to text books why? The comprehension level of the kids has not got to the
level of textbooks. Any nursery child that handles a text book only looks for the
pictures in that book. How then will a curriculum planner include textbooks in the
content of the nursery school? At that level, children require pictures, workbooks
especially. It is expected that a curriculum developer must have been well armed
with such facts before embarking on the programme.
Teacher Centered Curriculum
The teacher centered curriculum is that which has the teacher as the centre of
attraction. It is necessary here to point out that over time, teacher centered
curriculum has given way to learner centered curriculum, but in a recent study,
Omolewa (2009), explained that despite all researches in the education sector, no
alternative has been found to the teacher hence in any curriculum design, the
teacher stands out distinct and must be taken into consideration. What are the
factors to be considered in the teacher centered curriculum? Pedagogy, content,
classroom management, students, training, professionalism etc

Pedagogy
Pedagogy refers to teaching skills in the education enterprise. Not all who
stand before students in the class are skilled in the art of imparting educational
values. It can be argued that in most teaching service commissions, people without
teaching qualifications are made to impart knowledge which is forbidden in
developed economies. In the works of Osokoya (2003), a major challenge faced by
the 6-3-3-4 educational system was the absence and insufficiency of trained
education personnel. In Nigeria today, the problem still abounds despite the large
number of teacher training institutions. Several times, the National Assembly and
others associated with law and policy making have set various bench mark dates
that failed to change the qualification of teachers for example, the National Policy
on Education (FRN, 1981), stated explicitly that the least teaching qualification in
Nigeria from 1982 will be Nigerian Certificate in Education (N.C.E) but till date,
some states employ unqualified teachers to teach in schools. Another case in point
is the recent cry by the National University Commission (NUC), decrying the
shortage of doctorate degree (Ph.D) holders as teachers in the universities and
required lecturers to update their status before 2010 but additional 12 federal
universities have been created between 2012 and 2013 worsening the already
lecturer short market.
A teacher centered curriculum must look into the availability of teachers
who are competent and can be sourced for the curriculum it is designing. Where it
is impossible to source, then there must be a plan to produce but massively too. In
the study of Akangbou (1985), the shortage of teachers for the Federal Military
Government (FMG) initiated Universal Primary Education (UPE) of 1976, resulted
in the evolution of crash teacher training programmes while the Unity Party of
Nigeria (UPN) initiated free education programme of 1979 resulted in the
proliferation of Advance Teachers Colleges (ATC)s and Colleges of Education
(COE) most admitting students with lower qualifications. Any programme must
take into consideration, teachers.

Content
A teacher centered curriculum must be content driven. What is content? It is
the fundamental knowledge that is expected to be inculcated into students. It will
become a mockery of curriculum planning, development and implementation when
teachers who are expected to be curriculum drivers do not have a mastery of the
content of the subjects which they are to teach. In recent years, there has been
much controversy over who awards teacher certificates. A school of thought argues
that teachers must be certificated in education since basically they are to teach
hence every teacher must be awarded a Bachelors of Education (B.Ed) degree from
the Faculty of Education. However, other teachers are of the opinion that there is
no need awarding a special certificate for education teachers rather every body
should study content. However, as educators, we all know that no man is born a
teacher. Every one acquire basic skills for teaching hence this study aligns with the
fact that anyone who must teach must be certified with a certificate and license as
is done in advance countries.
Teacher education content must be designed for the classroom. No one
should be allowed to ‘gate crash’ into the teaching profession. The curriculum
designers must be so content driven that it will be clear to the gate crashers and
their mentors that they will not be able to fit into the system.
A good curriculum designer should be able to design the content in line with
the level of the learner. The pre-service teacher must be well prepared for these. A
teacher should have been exposed to severe practicals before leaving school.
Another important aspect to be considered when designing a teacher centered
curriculum is availability of teacher resources. What are teacher resources? They
are those special skills which a teacher relies on in time of need and challenges.
Apart from skills (pedagogy), the teacher requires physical school resources to be
able to excel. However, in most curriculum plans in Africa, these resources are
scarcely included in planning. As far as most curriculum designers are concerned,
as soon as the needs are identified most planners go ahead to design syllabus etc.

Classroom Management
Classroom management is another significant aspect of curriculum
development and implementation. Good curriculum development must put into
consideration the indices of good classroom management. What are these indices?
They include; the subject and nature of the subject. Again, it should involve the
prescribed pupil/teacher ratio for the subject. Others are the availability of requisite
infrastructure and its utilization. The type of subjects in schools varies from the
arts, science, technology to natural science. Arogundade (2009), posited that good
classroom management should of necessity involve the structure of the classroom.
This means that the way the school’s classrooms are constructed is of essence. In
today’s education sector, planners have come up with designs expected of schools
but most times, these are not carried out while implementing. Schools are often
designed to facilitate entry and exit as well as security reasons.
Another important factor is the knowledge of the learners by the teachers.
Good class room management should allow teachers ample opportunities to know
their students, interests and abilities. Again there must be a good supply of
instructional materials and adoption of appropriate teaching methodology. Most
curriculum designs in Nigeria lack many of these qualities for example, there were
times when some programmes were introduced before the basic texts required for
such programmes were written. In other cases, programmes would have taken off
for quite some time before teachers, instructors, lecturers and guides are scouted
for such programmes. As at today, some subjects introduced in 1981 still lack
teachers in many states of the Federation for example; introductory technology,
vocational education etc.

Professionalism
In the preparation of a curriculum, professionalism is designed within if
standards and quality are to be maintained. In the design of a technology based
curriculum, it will be absurd to find an expert in theatre arts instructing would be
pilots on how to fly an aircraft. To maintain standard and ethics of any society,
professionalism must be built into the curriculum. In essence, at every stage of the
curriculum design, instructions must be embedded on who handles what and how
he/she does it. Further to this, the principles of professional development of
teachers needed for any aspect of the curriculum must be noted.

Principles of Curriculum Design and Development

The principles often adopted in curriculum design and development include;
  Activation of previous knowledge
 Demonstration
 Applications
 Activation of developed curriculum into real world experience

To effectively design a curriculum in the process of curriculum

development, there must of necessity be an activation of the learner and the
teacher’s previous knowledge. In this regard for the teacher, emphasis is on
acquisition of knowledge in the form of content which is gotten during training.
Such knowledge places the teacher or guide above the student he or she is to teach
in scope. Without the activation of previous knowledge, the teacher and the learner
will be at the same level. On the part of the learner, he is made to draw from
related physical examples that abound in his environment. The learner becomes
highly motivated to learn and hence it is a way of gradually inserting the teaching
methodology into the design. Curriculum designers must be aware of this principle.
It must be well understood that the role of the teacher, the learner and content in
curriculum design and development forms a major aspect and is a principle in
curriculum development.
In all subjects, there has to be demonstrations especially when such subjects
contain elements of practical studies. Important subjects as the sciences
(mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology etc), physical education, theater,
agriculture, technology etc require demonstrations. Teachers and students must be
able to show mastery of the contents of those subjects while in schools. A good
curriculum designer must be principled on the methods of skill transfer especially
in the type of instructors recruited to develop these areas. In the area of medicine
for example that deals with human life, there must be nothing left to chance. Text
and materials must have been well designed with practical instructions put in place
for learners and students. The next stage is the application of the developed
curriculum. These can be done through modeling. Modeling could partially run
simultaneously with evaluation. Though the curriculum may not have been
practicalized in the real world setting but its major trust could be seen through
modeling. A good curriculum before final introduction to real world experiences
ought to have been subjected to real world experiences. Many of these principles
itemized are not easy to execute in real life but are necessary for a curriculum
design to be adjudged good. Finally, a major principle in curriculum design is
curriculum evaluation. The designers must evaluate the designed curriculum.
Evaluation is in various forms as formative, summative and final evaluations. A
good curriculum is designed to accommodate interest of all parties that will be
involved in its execution which in essence means that a good curriculum must be
user and learner friendly.
Elements of Curriculum Design

Figure 4: Elements involved in a curriculum design

Illustrations of Principles in Curriculum Design

Figure 5: Principles in Curriculum Design

Models in Curriculum Development

There are several models of curriculum design. Among these are the Classical
Humanist, Wheeler’s , Tyler and Taba’s curriculum models. The prominent ones
that shall be discussed in this study are the Ralph Tyler’s Model and Hilda Taba’s
Model. This is so because the duo of Ralph Tyler and Hilda Taba are quite
positive. It is asserted that they have been the most influential curriculum models
the world has known.

Ralph Tyler Curriculum Model

Ralph Tyler was an American educator that was born in Chicago and lived
between 1902-1994. He worked on the field of educational assessment. Ralph
Tyler was fortunate to be born into an aristocratic American family as his father
was a medical doctor. Such family background and pedigree gave him the
opportunity for good education. Ralph Tyler served on and chaired the Committee
that developed the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in the
USA. Ralph Tyler had great influence on curriculum development as an
educationist because he was opportune to direct the channel of resources being a
professional and a chairman to the committee. Ralph in his interactions especially
on primary and higher education asked four basic questions that eventually became
the pillars of his postulation in curriculum modeling and they are;
1. What is the educational purpose that an institution should seek to attain?
2. What are the educational experiences that can be provided that can likely help
to attain these purposes?
3. How can these educational experiences be effectively organized and
4. How can we determine if these purposes are attained?
Tyler’s questions simply pictured in a diagram can be seen in figure 6

What is the Educational

Purpose of a programme?

How do we
determine the Tyler’s Curriculum
Model What are the Educational
attainment of these
Experiences expected of
purposes in the programme?
education

How can the educational

purposes be attained?

Figure 6: A diagrammatic representation of Tyler’s question that is commonly

referred to as Tyler’s model.
 The model from all assumptions/thoughts has 4 questions, yet encompasses
all the stages and processes required of a good curriculum design or development.
The first question is what is the educational purpose of the curriculum? This
question encompasses the aspect of needs assessment and purpose for the design.
The second question centers on the educational experiences bringing into focus the
learner, the content and the institution. The interaction of these three are central
and pivotal to the purpose of curriculum development and design. The third
question has to do with the strategies to be adopted while the fourth question has to
do with evaluation. As could be seen from these four questions, some other
designers had formulated up to 12 or more. That will bring us to another popular
model, the Hilda Taba’s model.

Hilda Taba’s Curriculum Model

Hilda Taba’s conceptual curriculum model according to the knowledge
portal is often referred to as the grass root model. Hilda was born in Estonia in the
former Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) and lived between 1902 and
1967. She was a curriculum reformist, educator and teacher. Hilda in her
psychological, social-political and educational development was greatly influenced
by the renowned educational psychologist, John Dewey especially on the tenets of
democracy which she was not opportuned to experience. Again, Hilda’s assertion
and influence were re-modified by the Russian revolution. Hilda’s fundamental
idea was that anybody could be anything depending on the opportunities. Hilda
also had fundamental beliefs in the community and so had the intention of
influencing people to achieve goals. Frankel (1994), explains that Hilda Taba
agreed that curriculum must be made on valid criteria. Hilda’s curriculum model
was therefore based on 7 steps as follow;
1. Identification of needs and expectation of the society
 2. Formulate learning objectives
3. Content selected must be reflective of the learning objectives
4. Organizing content must be a function of the teacher and knowledge of his
students
5. There should be selection of learning experiences
6. There should be an organization and determination of actual learning
activities
7. Evaluation and effectiveness of curriculum
The above tenets of Hilda’s model are very important in curriculum
development and implementation. Comparing the Hilda model with Tylers model
show’s that Tyler had four (4) questions that showed all the stages and processes of
curriculum development but Hilda had seven. What then were their differences? In
the first instance, Tyler was more interested in the modification of curriculum to
suit social and national needs while Hilda was more concerned about the
individual, community and society. It is not unlikely that the social environment in
which the two model instructors lived had sharpened their imaginations about the
world. While Tyler lived in a democratic setting, Taba was brought up under a
socialist/community setting and hence Taba as an individual and an educator
needed liberation for herself and her society unlike Tyler that was born into an
aristocratic democratic society.
Again, Hilda Taba was influenced by renowned social educators like John
Dewey with the Russian revolution having its influence but the same is not true of
Tyler. Tyler was educated and had the opportunity to chair a committee that
dictated the channelization of funds. Specifically, he had a firsthand experience.
While both parties eventually said the same thing, Tyler had only four (4) stages
which he described with questions but Taba explained her stages with statements.
Other influences on Tyler and Taba included Bloom who developed the famous
Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. There is also Blooms curriculum model
which is not the focus of this study. It is clear that Tyler’s curriculum model is
deductive while Hilda’s is inductive.

Challenges to Curriculum Development and Implementation in Nigeria and

Sub-Saharan African Countries
Several factors serve as impediment to both the development of curriculum
and its implementation process in many parts of Africa with Nigeria inclusive. The
factors responsible are detailed below.

Selecting Learning Goals

A core challenge to curriculum planning is the ability of educators to select
the goals (objectives) and philosophies of the type of educational curriculum that
will be beneficial to their communities, societies and nation. Most of the time,
Nigerians find it difficult to establish the ultimate goals of its system. In the post
independence Nigeria, it was observed that Nigeria’s educational system patterned
after the British was unsuitable for Nigeria. An indigenous 6-3-3-4 system was
adopted. The theoretical approach to the system including curriculum development
was excellent but 30 years into its operation, gaps and lapses have been identified
for example, the trust of the 6-3-3-4 system was self reliance but emerging figures
from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics indicates that Nigeria is experiencing the
highest level of unemployment unprecedented after independence. This also
applies to other countries of sub-Saharan Africa. It is perceived that something is
wrong with the educational system especially the curriculum that seem to produce
unemployable graduates.

Selecting Knowledge Delivery Models

 This has to do with methodology. In some cases, the wrong hands are made
to select the type of models to be adopted. Challenges occur when the wrong
knowledge delivery model is adopted. Most countries depend on some models that
are irrelevant to the African setting. Among factors responsible for this is that the
socio-political environment of the knowledge model being adopted may not have
been properly examined before importing it. Take for example, the 6-3-3-4 system
had commenced before it was observed that teachers for special areas were
completely unavailable then started the crash programme to foreign countries for
training etc. The equipment that were bought are no where in our schools today.
The ultimate is that the programme has failed but who is accountable?

Creating Assessment Methods

Some challenges with curriculum development and implementation in
Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries is inability to create viable
assessment methods. Assessments are either not done at all or the assessment
indices are not clear. A clear case is the assessment for the 6-3-3-4 education
curriculum. Despite the fact that its failure is obvious, assessment has not been
published by Nigeria’s Ministry of Education. The case is the same in most other
African countries. In some cases, politics, ethnicism and corruption cloud some
assessment criteria. Assessment criteria must be built into any curriculum
programme before implementation and fine tuned during implementation.

Finance, Community and Society

The inability of several African governments to finance curriculum and by
extension education leaves much to be desired. In several situations, the education
provided has no direct relationship with the needs of the society. Most
communities are not consulted when curricula are being designed. In some cases
those to implement curricula may not be aware of the curriculum design until the
implementation process. Assessment of skills and manpower is not carried out
before the decision to design and implement curriculum. Most communities are not
aware of the linkage between education and their society.

Politics and Expected Returns

Despite the number of educational planners in Nigeria, the rate of returns of
education on investment is yet to be properly ascertained but early classical
educational planners and economists opined that returns on primary and secondary
education far outstripped returns to tertiary education hence other educational
economists like Akangbou (1985) agreed that tertiary education should not be
made free in Nigeria. Expected returns to education in some other instances have
been politicized especially as it pertains to the supply of education. Educational
demand has consistently been on the rise in Nigeria due to the fact that it has some
positive results. It is the sure and easiest way to escape poverty while it is also a
good tool for improving the age earning profile. In Nigeria, politics has been
introduced to education and with this, both location of schools, admission to
schools bear political leanings that influence expectations.

Personnel
The challenge of personnel in education has been a problem till today. It has
severally been researched by educators that most educational institutions lack
personnel. Shortages in personnel manifest in the absence of experts. In the history
of Nigeria’s curriculum design and implementation, personnel availability has
always been a problem for example, the 1976 FGN Universal Primary Education
(UPE) scheme that led to the development of teacher using the crash programme.
Another was the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), free education scheme that led to
the establishment and proliferation of Colleges of Education and Advance
Teachers Colleges. After the 1981 adoption of the National Policy on Education, it
was shortage of personnel that affected the take off of the programme. In addition
to this, the personnel in the area of curriculum planning and implementation are in
short supply hence the challenges. It is observed that most people that engage in
curriculum planning in the developing world are not experts in that area.

Determination of Curriculum Content

Determination of curriculum content is another challenge. An example is the
current unemployment problem facing graduates traceable to poor curriculum
content. While the 6-3-3-4 education system was predicated on several factors as
incongruent curriculum content with social community, the present policy
emphasizes self reliance. However, the present unemployment indicates that there
is no congruence between skills and certification questioning the educational
objective and philosophy of the country. Most time, curriculum content that is not
well articulated serves as the source of challenge. Such challenges however cannot
be unexpected with poor personnel, politics etc

Technological
Technological innovations has remained a core challenge to curriculum
development and implementation in Nigeria. In the first instance, along with all
aforementioned challenges especially personnel, technology has a lot to contribute
in modern curriculum monitoring and implementation. Despite cost for acquiring
these equipment they often improperly deployed, maintained and in most cases not
well used. Modeling in curriculum using technology has not been articulated in
developing countries. Again, educational dissemination is mostly technological (e-
learning, computer assisted learning) etc. these are yet to take root in most less
developed countries.

Evaluation
Evaluation is a major component of curriculum development and
implementation. Due to its significant nature, curriculum evaluation is often
divided into formative and summative but it is observed that in Nigeria, it is
uncoordinated. The relevant agencies saddled with these responsibilities have
simply not proffered solutions over time. Curriculum evaluation mechanisms must
be put in place by qualified and competent experts.
Finally, it must be said that the curriculum implementation process in most
countries is decentralized as it is done in Nigeria depending on the levels of
government. Education in Nigeria is coordinated by the Federal Ministry of
Education (FME) and replicated in the States Ministry of Education (SME). On a
lower scale, the Local Education Authorities (LEA) due to the constitutional
requirement for administration. To this end, it can be said that the evaluation
process is uncoordinated as the SME are often administered with political leaders
with differentiated ideologies. Worse still is the absence of data to fully evaluate
the level of curriculum implementation as well as determine the next line of
direction.

Implications of the Study for Educational Planners and Administrators

The significance of this study cannot be over emphasized. The current problems
facing most countries of sub-Saharan Africa in the area of graduate unemployment
is absence of skills for self reliance traceable to poor educational curriculum
content hence it will be highly beneficial for educational planners and
administrators to observe the following;
1. There should be continuous determination of social needs and relevance of
curriculum at all times in the curriculum implementation process. The
current situation where social needs are determined once by a group of
politicians or the media is not only unacceptable but unethical.
2. We must learn to put square pegs in square holes to attain fit. A situation
where politicians that have no training in curriculum development or
education become the determinants of curriculum and the theories that will
be used for curriculum development and implementation will take nations no
where. Experts must be allowed to do their works. Experts in question must
be seasoned curriculum development experts.
3. Curriculum monitoring and evaluation must be given its due priority. It is
not sufficient to develop a curriculum but its implementation must be
evaluated at all stages. In addition to this, the evaluation process must be
coordinated between Federal, state and LEAs to give meaning.
4. The implementation needs of curriculum should always be determined
during the development process before embarking on implementation. A
situation where the curriculum implementation begins before it is noted that
there is inadequate teachers, laboratories, classrooms etc is a plan to fail. It
reveals sinister motives.
5. Social cankerworms must not be allowed to destroy social engineering
processes like curriculum. An example of this is corruption. An inroad of
corruption will result in a total waste of all scarce resources allocated to the
process

Summary
This study examined the development and implementation of curriculum and laid
significant emphasis on less developed countries. The chapter explained that the
curriculum development process and implementation needs to be better articulated
to give a good content with good methodologies and learning content. The
importance of philosophies and objectives of education were well spelt out.
Though several curriculum models were identified, the chapter examined the Tyler
and Taba models of curriculum development. The challenges of curriculum
development and implementation in Nigeria and other less developed countries
especially countries of sub-Saharan Africa was explained.

Review Questions
1. Carefully explain the following
(a) Curriculum (b) Curriculum Planning
2. With the aid of a diagram discuss the phases of curriculum development
3. Development of curriculum as well as its implementation process has been
problematic in Nigeria.adjudge and explain giving suitable examples, six
reasons that account for this and proper solution.
4. List the types of curriculum and explain each of them
5. Identify and explain any four factors that must be considered in the
development of a teacher centered curriculum.
6. Discuss the models of curriculum by (a) Ralph Tyler and (b) Hilda Taba
7. Write short notes on the following in the curriculum development
(a) Professionalism (b)Content (c)Age (d) Instructional
materials (e) Pedagogy (f) Content
References

Akangbou. S.D. (1985). Introduction to educational planning in Nigeria. India:

Vikas Publishing House PVT Ltd.

Arogundade, B.B. (2009). Classroom management in education in J.B. Babalola

and A.O. Ayeni [Eds] Educational management: Theories and tasks. Ibadan
Nigeria: Macmillan Publishers Limited, Pp 787-796

Brent . A. (2000). Philosophical foundations of the curriculum. George Allen and

Urwin, UK Pp 15-57

Frankel, J.R. (1974). Evolution of Taba curriculum projects. Journal of Social

Studies Vol.84 No.4. Pp 149-159 available on
www.knowlegeportal.pakteachers.org retrieved 23rd August, 2013

Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004). National Policy on Education. Lagos, Nigeria:

Federal Government Press,

Hawes.A. (1979). Curriculum and Reality in Africa. Great Britain Pp 10-32

Igwe. R.A. and Rufai. S.A. (2012). Introduction to curriculum development in Soji
Oni (Eds). Virtuoso Ventures, Nigeria. Pp 181-190

Moronkola . O.A., Akinsola.M.K. and Abe . C.V.(2000). The nature of curriculum.

Ibadan. Nigeria: Royal People Ltd.
Osokoya, I.O. (2003). 6-3-3-4 Education in Nigeria. History, issues and problems.
Ibadan, Nigeria: Laurel Educational Publishers.

Taylor. P.H. and Richards.C.M. (1985). An introduction to curriculum studies

(2ndEdition). WINDSOR: NFER-Nelson
 CHAPTER NINETEEN

STUDENT PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION IN SECONDARY SCHOOL

By

OBOEGBULEM ANGIE Ph.D

Chapter Objectives:

At the end of the chapter, the reader should be able to:

1. Define the term “student personnel administration”

2. Identify the objectives and philosophy of student-personnel
administration in secondary schools.
3. Discus the roles and functions of the principals, teachers and students in
student-personnel administration in secondary schools.
4. Explain the importance of guidance counselling and health services in
student-personnel administration.
5. State why school library is very important in student-personnel
administration in secondary schools.
6. Discuss four factors that constitute indiscipline in secondary school
administration.
7. Explain why students should be involved in secondary school
administration.
Introduction

One of the broad aims of secondary school education according to the

National Policy on Education (FRN, 2004:18) is “to raise a generation of people
who can think for themselves, respect the dignity of labour, appreciate those values
specified under the broad national goals and live as good citizens. In every school
system, the student is at the centre of the teaching-learning activities. The type of
education needed for the achievement of useful living within the society becomes
the responsibility of the secondary school principal, teachers and the society at
large. Useful living within the society implies the development and training of the
leader to ensure that all school programmes are propelled towards developing to
the fullest the personality of the learner. This development which should involve
his intellectual, physical, social, psychological as well as educational needs have to
be centered on student personnel administration.

For the school to successfully achieve this all-round development of the

student, it has to perform a number of students’ oriented functions, some academic
and some administrative (Ukeje, 1992). The administrator (principal) has to ensure
that the institution’s instructional programmes are planned and executed for the
benefit of the student and the society. Towards this end, Abenga (1998) states that
the school should provide avenues for the students to develop desirable
technological, social, moral and psychological skills needed for survival in this fast
growing information age.

Concept of Student Personnel Administration

Student personnel administration comprises all the students’

services/activities that supplement and support the usual instructional programme.
The main role of the principal in student personnel administration is one of
integrating these services with instruction and coordinating the various kinds of
personnel services (Campbell, Bridges and Nystrand, 1977). Duffy (1990) defines
student personnel administration as an administrative post that is critical to the
effective operation of a school.

Oboegbulem (2004) defines student personnel administration as all the

activities and services, apart from the normal classroom instruction, rendered to
students by the principal, staff, students themselves and even the community that
are geared towards making an individual in the school an all –round educated, law-
abiding citizen of his community. It involves guiding and supervising students in
whatever they do, so that the objectives of the school will be achieved. Similarly,
student personnel administration comprises those administrative and supervisory
functions and services, other than classroom instruction that affect the welfare of
the student (Okeke, Nosiri, Elele, Ozurumba, Igwe, 1995). Okeke (2002) defines
student- personnel administration to be “.. . all those special classroom- supporting
services outside the curricular and curriculum offerings that impinge upon the
maturation of the self of students”.- an intellectual self, a physical self, emotional
self and a social self.

Objectives of Student Personnel Administration

 General Objectives:
The general objectives of student personnel administration includes:

1. Maximum individual development of the student. This involves the

development of the personality of each student. The administrators, teachers
 and members of the community should avoid any act that adversely affects the
personality of the student.
2. Establish and support human values that may have social recognition and
importance.
3. Achieve a desirable inter-personal relationship between the administrator,
teachers, workers and students so that there will be co-operation in the school.
4. To give fair and equitable treatment to student(s) so that there will be co-
operation in achieving the goals of the school.
5. To ensure that teachers and workers are aware of their responsibilities to the
students and should carry them out creditably.
6. To provide a favorable school atmosphere but in case of any problem, suggest
remedial measures.
 Specific Objectives
Specific objectives of student personnel administration are:

1. To select the right type of student for admission with regards to qualification
and conducts.
2. To ensure proper orientation and classification of students
3. To ensure that facilities are available for effective teaching and learning
(Vanshival, 2009).
However, Oboegbulem (2004:165) has specifically identified nine objectives
of students personnel administration, these include;

1. to make the students think effectively;

2. to help them communicate their thoughts clearly;
3. to help them develop the skills of making relevant judgment;
4. to help them play their parts as useful members of their homes and families;
5. to make the pupils understand basic facts about health and sanitation;
 6. to help the students understand and appreciate their roles as citizens of
Nigeria;
7. to help the students develop good moral principles;
8. to help the pupils understand and appreciate their cultural heritage; and
9. to make them recognize the dignity of labour.
To achieve these noble objectives, the administrator should see that the
students are at the centre of the educational process. All the activities in the school
should aim at developing the child’s personality to the fullest. The school should
provide good instructional programmes and opportunities for the students to
develop responsible attitudes and good moral training which will prepare them for
future life.

The Philosophy of Student Personnel Administration

The Committee on problems and plans in Education of American Council on

Education identified appropriate philosophy on education which must consider the
student as a whole – his intellectual capacity and achievement, his emotional make
– up, his physical conditions, his social relationships, his vocational aptitudes and
skills, his moral and religious values, his economic resources, as well as his
aesthetic appreciations. Based on this, the specific aims and objectives in terms of
student personnel administration should be;

1. Interpreting the institutional objectives and opportunities to prospective

students, workers, and parents;
2. selecting and admitting students in co-operation with administrators and staff.
3. orienting the student to his educational environment
 4. providing a diagnostic services to help the student discover his abilities,
aptitudes, and objectives.
5. assisting the student throughout his stay in the school to determine upon his or
her courses of instruction in the right of his past achievements, vocational and
personnel interests, and diagnostic findings.
6. encouraging the active co-operation of the family of the student in the interest
of his educational accomplishments
7. assisting the students to reach his maximum effectiveness through
clarification of his purposes, improvement of study methods, speech habit,
personal appearance, manners etc.
8. assisting the student to clarify his occupational aims and his educational plans
in relation to them.
9. determining the physical and mental health status of the student, providing
appropriate remedial health measures, supervising the health of students and
controlling environmental health factors.
10. providing adequate hostel accommodation programmes for students
personnel administration.
11. Supervising, evaluating and developing the co-curricular activities of students
12. Supervising, evaluating and developing the social life and interest of students
13. Supervising, evaluating and developing the religious life and interests of
students
14. Keeping a cumulative record of information about the students and making it
available to the proper persons.
15. Maintaining student discipline to the end that the individual will be
strengthened in mind and body.
16. Maintaining student group morale by evaluating, understanding, and
developing student mores.
 In conclusion, the effective organization and functioning of student
personnel administration requires that the educational administrators at all times
should;

i. Regard student personnel work as a major concern, involving the cooperative

efforts of all members and the student body
ii. Interprete student personnel work as dealing with individual’s total
characteristics and experiences rather than separate and distinct aspects of his
personality or performance.
 Administrative Hierarchy in Students – Personnel Administration in
Secondary Schools

Principal

Vice- Principals

Department Heads Dean of Studies

Sectional Heads

Co-ordinators Supervisors

Teachers Counselors
Health
Specialist

Form Teachers Social workers

Functions of Student Personnel Administrators and Teachers

1. Facilitate the student’s educational, emotional, and social development

2. Assist in student’s educational and behavioural development by means of
student parental involvement.
3. Obtain background information to help in programme planning and
behavioural management by conducting in depth interview and social
histories.
4. Facilitate meaningful relationships for school personnel with parents through
home visits
5. Promote and participate in programs to develop a positive mental health
atmosphere within the school.
6. Monitor all home instruction student assignment.

The Role of Administrators, Teachers in Students Personnel Administration

The administrators and teachers have enormous role to play in student
personnel administration. These include activities which the teachers, headteachers
and principals of schools can perform in order to help in achieving the aims and
objectives of student personnel administration in schools. Oboegbulem (2004)
identified these activities as;

1. Registration of new students;

2. Orientation of new students;
3. Enrolment into classes/classification;
4. Guidance and counselling services;
5. School health services;
6. Provision of social services;
 7. Provision of library services
8. Evaluation,
9. Marking and promotion;
10.Discipline and punishment;
11.Co-curricular activities;
12.Students organizations and activities;

1. Registration of New Students

In secondary school educational system, registration of new students, usually
takes place before the school resumes. It is expected that the new students should
be registered first before the old students in order to familiarize them to the school
environment. If the new students are registered at the same time with the older
students, the rush of registration, makes it impossible to give adequate attention to
the new students.

The principal and teachers, should check the credentials of incoming students.
New students are required to present certificate of good health from recognized
health officers before they can be registered. This is to prevent the registration of
student with physical, psychological and mental cases that would prevent them
from doing well in the school. According to Ukeje (1992), registration of students
involves admitting students who can be accommodated socially, and who are at an
appropriate age and stage of maturity to benefit from secondary education
programme. Transfer students should show their transfer certificates and record of
work from their former school. Each student should provide a file-jacket during
registration which will be kept for future use.

2. Orientation of New Students:

 Orientation programme for fresh students, is conducted after the registration
of new students. The newly admitted students, are formerly introduced into the
various programmes of the school. They are taken round the school compound to
familiarize them with the school environment. The students are shown different
aspects of school life-school building, library, infrastructural facilities and
equipments. The new students are introduced to the Vice-Principals, subject-heads,
form teachers, house masters, school bursar and other staff (tutorial and non-
tutorial), the motto, tradition and philosophy of the school are read out by the
principal. According to Oboegbulem (2004): orientation gives students a sense of
belonging and a feeling of acceptance by members of a school community.

3. Enrolment into Classes /Classification:

The newly registered students, are classified and enrolled into classes where
they can perform effectively. Care must be taken to ensure that they are enrolled
into appropriate classes where they can learn best in the company of their peers.
The enrolment into various classes should be made so as to project the future
population of the school, to facilitate actual teaching, and to give the students the
necessary skills they require. Classification into classes must follow the Federal
Government of Nigeria guideline (2002:5) in the national minimum standards
which recommends that the ideal number of student per class should not exceed
thirty (30) and forty-five (45) in primary and secondary school respectively.

4. Guidance and Counseling Services:

Guidance and counselling services are very important functions of student
personnel administration. Guidance means assisting student in learning to make
wise decisions regarding their vocational, educational and personal lives
Types of Guidance

a. Vocational Guidance

Vocational Guidance Includes:

i. Letting the students know the various occupations relating to rewards,

conditions of employment, opportunities for advancements and requirements
to succeed in an occupation.
ii. Giving the students the opportunities to know their special capacities,
aptitudes, interest, traits of personality and character with regard to vocational
life
iii. Letting the students know the right studying habits which will enable them
succeed in making appropriate vocational decisions.
b. Educational Guidance:

These involve;

i. Giving the students the opportunity to discover their interest, abilities and
capacities in their career choice
ii. Giving them a wild range of courses that would help contribute to the
realization of his/her vocational and educational plans.
iii. Providing courses of study as well as guiding them in choice of courses of
study.
iv. Acquainting the students with the curricular and co-curricular opportunities of
the school that will help them in future life.
v. Acquainting them with the opportunities and methods of using the school
library most effectively.
Specifically, guidance and counseling services, offers the students and assists
them with personal, educational, or career goals. Buttressing this, Johnson and
 Johnson (1991) stated that guidance and counseling services are very necessary in
students – personnel administration because, it will help the counselers to identify
and develop school–based competences which are hinged on their identified
academic, personal/social or career needs of students.

In student-personnel administration, secondary school administrators and

school counselors must work together to provide three (3) programme components:

i. A guidance curriculum emphasizing self – awareness and life skills in the

areas of academic, personal, and career.
ii. Individualized students planning to take into consideration – personal,
educational, social and career plans.
iii. Provide students support system which will include – health services,
psychological supports and services for student with special needs.
Herr and Cramer (1996) outlined counseling services and strategies that can
be used to solve existing problems –stimulate students to develop and acquire
knowledge, skills and competences necessary for one to become more effective in
life. Gysbers and Moore (1997) Daniels and Gysbers (1992) outlined a framework
describing the stages and sub-stages of the counselling process as:

a. Problem identification: This involves gathering client’s information, testing

it, understanding it and drawing conclusions based on the identified problems.
b. Problem resolution (client’s goal): This involves taking action, developing
individual career plans, evaluating the results and closing the relationship.
Principals, teachers and headmasters should encourage positive attitude to
studies through offering guidance and counselling services in the school.
Principals, teachers should begin at early stage to assist students in career
developments. Students must learn their strengths, aptitudes, and interests and be
able to match them to the full through exploratory activities. In the area of career
guidance, the students are educated on choice of vocation and courses that will
lead them on such vocations. The principal and the school’s guidance counsellor
and teachers, must collaborate in assisting all students to explore these areas of
career possibilities that will help them in life.

5. School Health Services

School health services can be explained as those services that take care of the
health needs of members of the school community, especially the students. One of
the primary functions of school principals that deserve first consideration in
student personnel administration, is the health of the students, and teachers. It is
the responsibility of the school head or principal and teachers to help the students
develop good health habits and personal cleanliness. The school should provide
health services to take care of each child’s health condition. There should be a First
Aid Unit manned by a well qualified health and physical education teacher to take
care of student’s health temporarily before he is taken to the hospital. Maddy
(1994) and Lathen (1988) identified the effect of negligence in the proper
supervision of school health services programme, and such negligence could result
to – serious injury to a child, impairment of child’s continues education for many
years – the spread of disease through the school and the community.

The objectives of the school health services have been identified according
to Achalu (2001:55) to include:

i. To understand each child’s health needs and develop high-level health for
each students.
ii. to prevent de-fects, disorder and continuously appraise a student’s health
iii. To develop in each student a positive health awareness and reduction in the
incidents of diseases.
iv. To develop personal and healthful hygienic life.
v. To provide emergency measures, healthy school environment and
maintenance of good sanitary practices and surrounding.

The First Aid Unit in the school should be equipped with necessary facilities.
All drugs provided in the unit should be genuine to avoid complicating the child’s
health condition. The school should be responsible for taking such a child to the
hospital before contacting the parents. In support of the above, Abenga (1992)
stated that “in the area of students health services, the principal and staff should
help tackle sick cases with dispatch and cater for the environmental health services
for the school”. According to him, efforts should be made to keep a First Aid Box
and where practicable, engage the services of a school nurse to take care of minor
health cases. For effective health care of students, the following are necessary:

a. Invitation of medial experts and para-medical personnel who should be invited

periodically to examine students and inoculate them against deadly disease
like small pox, chicken pox,
b. There should be a specialist in school health services such as health education.
c. There should be health committee made up of teachers teaching courses in
science, home economics and physical health education.
A buoyant school should employ a school nurse who should take care of
students with symptoms of illnesses and who will render valuable First Aids in
care of accidents. (Oboegbulem, 2004). There should be also care providers in each
secondary school to attend to the health of each child registered in that particular
school. A number of states have outlined the list of health regulation practices in
their primary and secondary schools. Similarly, Morgan, Stevenson and Stephens
in Myrick and Myrick, (1998) outlined the following as requirements in health
practices of schools;

a. Provision of wash hand basin for washing of hands

b. Use of personal toiletries

c. Keeping medical records of each child

d. Keeping a health-related admission procedures

e. Isolation of sick students

f. Notification of parents concerning outbreak of communicable diseases

g. Reporting any diseases or infection to appropriate quarters

h. Know the ratio of adult to child

i. Determine the group size, among others.

6. Provision of Social Services

Provision of social services like clubs, unions, and recreational facilities in

the school is very important for the health of the students. Oboegbulem (2004:169)
observes that lack of social services and facilities like games, library, educational
excursions, clubs, societies among others, will lead to anti-social behaviour by
students. Igwe, (1990), Edem, (2003) and Kumole (1999) in collaboration with the
above view, stated that recreational activities reinforce index learning. Therefore,
they need avenues for dissipating their energy in other areas. The head teacher and
teachers are obliged to provide various recreational activities, organize inter-school
matches and provide a wide range of games in the school to enable the students
develop physical fitness and good health.

In addition to social services, the principal and teachers should also provide
security and convenient services. It is expected that the head teacher should
employ labour to cut over grown grasses and hedges in order to protect the
children from snake bite and other dangerous crawling animals. The principal
should make sure that his school is walled and provided with a big gate manned by
an able-bodied gateman. A night watchman, should be employed to guard the
school facilities and equipment from theft.

The principal should also provide convenient services such as toilets, urinary
for teachers and students to ease themselves when pressed. There should be
provision of school canteens for staff and students. When all these facilities are
provided in the school by the head teacher, the school can then become a second
home for the students and teachers.

7. Provision of School Library:

The school library is one of the basic ancillary services that should be
provided in educational institutions. In every level of education, be it pre-primary,
primary, secondary and tertiary, books appropriate to the age of students of such
school should be provided.

The school library can be seen as a room or building in a school where books,
magazines, journals, periodical, cassettes, films, filmstrips and projectors are
stored for students use. In other words, it is a central laboratory of the whole school
which stakes books in all subject areas, including non-book materials
(Oboegbulem, 2011)
The Aim of School Library in Primary and Secondary Schools

a. Providing books for leisure reading as well as reference and information

books so that students can consult them as the need arises.
b. Developing in the students lasting love for books and encouraging them to
read at home and build up personal collection of books.
c. Encouraging responsibility and co-operation in taking care of books and
returning them promptly when due.

Functions of School Library

a. To systematically provide information resources required for the school

educational programme which are needed to help in the learning of school
subjects.
b. To actively assist in improving and increasing the reading skills and learning
habits of students
c. To provide the students with skills required to transform the gathered
information into knowledge
d. To assist the students broaden their knowledge in understanding of life.
e. To help students develop the habit of reading for pleasure
f. To assist in increasing the cultural awareness of students (Fayose, 1995:16)

Importance of School Library

a. The school library houses materials that are not easily available like
government documents, encyclopedias and reference books.
b. It provides a place of reading for information, serious academic work and for
enjoyment like daily newspapers, fiction, folktale, pretty books etc.
 c. It enables students to add to the knowledge they possess. More knowledge is
gained from books read by students outside the classroom than during class
work.
d. Finally, whatever the teacher teaches can be validated in the library.

To achieve effective use of the library, Oboegbulem (2011) identified the

following as a guide to teachers:

a. Create an hour in the class time-table for library

b. Give assignments or class work that requires the use of the library.
c. Advise and encourage students to keep a record of books read
This should be submitted to the class teacher every Friday afternoon

Problems in Establishing a School Library

 Lack of interest and knowledge on the part of teachers and general public
 Lack of funds
 Lack of inclusion of library education in teacher training programmes
 Lack of in-service courses on school libraries for teacher librarians and other
interested teachers.

8. Evaluation of Students

Evaluation means appraising or determining the extent to which one achieves

an objective in a given task. Whenever a judgment is made about the effectiveness
of a given programme or project, an evaluation has been made. A well thought-out
evaluation programme contributes to the improvement and progress of the
students. In schools, evaluation of students takes place in various forms.
Evaluation is made through oral questions, written tests or examination to
determine how the students have learnt. Good teachers do not wait until the end of
teaching before evaluation. Oboegbulem (2004) observed that evaluation is made
at intervals through questioning of students to ascertain the extent they have
understood a particular concept. Written tests or examination are given at the end
of teaching in order to evaluate the extent the students have learnt. Through
evaluation of students, the principal will be able to determine the capability of his
teacher and determine whether the students are learning and whether they are
making progress individually and collectively. Evaluation of students will also
enable the school head and the teachers to know the areas where special attention
should be paid in a particular subject. Result after evaluation should be entered in
the progress register.

9. Discipline and Punishment is Schools

 Maintaining students Discipline and Punishment Principal

One of the primary functions of the principal and his staff in student personnel
administration is that of maintaining discipline among the pupils in the school.
Discipline implies self control, restraint, respect for self and others.

The Roles of the Principal in Maintaining Discipline

i. The principal and his staff should lead by example

ii. The school should have a clear discipline policy and should make good use of
the school government
iii. The principal and his teacher should be fair and firm in dealing with students.
iv. The principal should make sure that school rules are not so many as to bore
the students. Students should be involved in making rules.
v. The principal should employ the services of guidance counselors in
maintaining discipline, especially among those students who exhibit anti-
social behaviour.
Forms of Punishment:

a. Detention
b. Threats and warnings
c. Forced apologies
d. Suspension
e. Expulsion
f. Transfers

Students Participation in School Administration

One of the primary responsibilities of principals and teachers is all round

development of each student in the school. The student is at the centre of the
educational process and all activities in the school should aim at developing his
total personality to the fullest. In order to achieve this, the principal and teachers
should see that good instructional programmes are implemented and that the school
provides opportunities for the students to develop responsible attitudes and to
experience the type of moral training which will prepare them for future life. In
view of the above, Abenga (1995) observed that properly conducted schools,
provide the student with a unique opportunity for practical training in democratic
principles and procedure and as such are great merit.
 Students should be given a broad-based education by the school and be
encouraged to participate in the government of their school. They should be
allowed to have a say or contribution in the selection of their leaders. The students
participation in the life of the school helps in achieving the following:

a. Contributes greatly to the efficient and orderly operation of the institution

b. improve communication between students, principal, and teachers
c. Lead to better understanding and co-operation to help to resolve many
personal and group social problems which can be disruptive in the school.

These can be done through;

i. Prefectorial system
ii. Committee system
iii. Conducting school morning assembly
iv. Organizing and participating in co-curricular activities (Oboegbulem;
(2004:172)
i. Prefectorial System: This is one of the most effective ways of involving
students directly in the administration of the school, and encouraging a
healthy inter-personal and inter-group relations. The students are delegated
to certain responsibilities connected with the day-to-day life of the school,
for instance, dealing with minor cases of discipline, taking responsibility for
student’s welfare, supervision of learning after school hours, arranging
advisory services for junior students and checking attendance. Properly
operated, the prefectorial system helps to minimize the work of principals
and teachers as well as help set a good tone for the school.
 ii. Committee System: The committee system is another way of involving the
students in school administration. The students are grouped into various
committees such as;
 Disciplinary Committee
 Food Committee
 Social Committee
 Games Committee
 Canteen Committee
 Aesthetic Committee
Through these committees, students are trained on ways of taking
responsibilities in schools and making decisions that help in efficient running of
the school.

iii. Conducting School Assembly: The school assembly is a formal exercise

where all the members of the school community gather to say morning
prayers, hear general announcements before starting the day’s activities.
Students participation in morning assembly, varies from school to school. In
most schools, teachers conduct morning assembly while in some schools, the
prefects are delegated to conduct morning assembly.
iv. Co-Curricular Activities: Co-curricular activities according to
Oboegbulem; (2004) are regarded as an integral part of the school, because
of its importance and educational value. They afford better use of the
student’s leisure time, arouse their interest in certain activities and vocation,
provide training in leadership and opportunities for citizenship and character
training. Co-curricular activities, contribute to the development of self-
expression and promotion of physical, mental, and emotional health. In some
schools, these activities are organized by school prefects but supervised and
 directed occasionally by teachers. Most schools provide a wild range of co-
curricular activities such as football, games, athletics and varieties of clubs
and societies. These activities, help them develop worth-while habits and
skills like – honesty, industry, ambition for success in a particular vocation
like sales-manship, writing, outdoor and indoor games. The clubs in addition
to helping the students in developing understanding of human nature,
improves the ability to associate comfortably with others, develop worth-
while ideals and habits about culture, fair-play, courtesy and corporative
work. These activities should particularly, help in diversification of
curricular to carter for the differences in talents and provide opportunities
and roles which are open to students. In these activities, efforts should be
made to enable the student live effectively in the modern age of science and
technology as well, develop their cultural heritage through arts and
languages.

Limitations of Co-curricular Activities

a. Interference with scholarship

b. Unwise increase in principals and teacher’s loads
c. Failure of activities to achieve desirable outcomes
d. Excessive cost to students
e. Excessive emphasis on developing perfection in activities such as; plays,
drama etc.
Advantages of Students Participation in School Administration

1. Provision of a channel for the education of students by the principal in civil

responsibilities and attitudes of good citizenship
2. Development of feelings of goodwill, friendliness and fellowship between
students and staff.
3. Reduction of the necessity for supervision and pressure by staff thus, relieving
them for more professional duties.
4. Increases happiness for school life of students
5. Improvement in the discipline and moral tone of the school.
6. It is an opportunity and means for students to solve their own problems.
7. Development of ideal of right conduct, self-control, co-operation, efficiency
and fairness
8. Provision for training in leadership
9. Development of a sense of individual responsibility for the welfare of all
groups and interest
10.Development of good habits and skills on current issues

Roles of School Prefects in School Administration

1. Participation in school assembly helps to see that truancy is avoided and

discipline maintained.
2. Organizes students for singing and reading on the assembly ground.
3. Sees that silence in the study hall is maintained and students are inside their
classes
4. Prevents vices in the school such as drinking, smoking, gambling etc.
Concept of Discipline

Discipline has been recognized by many eminent researchers and professional

administrators as a most dependable means for the success of a system. Adesina
(1980) sees discipline as a situation which results when students are taught to
respect the school authorities, to observe the school laws and regulation, and to
maintain an established standard of behaviour. In the view of Oboegbulem (2004),
discipline means character or orderliness and efficiency, or training that perfects
orderly conducts of an individual which is exhibited through training in self-
control and in habits of obedience to socially approved standards of thoughts and
action. It can also be explained as the training of experience that moulds, corrects
and strengthens behaviour. Ani (2000) states that discipline is an attitude of mind
which produces self control, obedience, adherence to norms in the absence of any
sanction or supervision.

Concept of School Discipline

School discipline is the system of rules, punishments and behavioural

strategies used in regulating children’s behaviour and in the maintenance of order
in schools. The aim of school discipline is to create a safe and conducive learning
environment in the classroom. In a class where a teacher is unable to maintain
order and discipline, teaching and learning climate is diminished (Wikipedia
2009).

Concept of Class Discipline

Class discipline, on the other hand, is seen as a situation whereby students are
trained in the class to exhibit obedience to rules and regulations, through orderly
conduct, positive attitude for the achievement of effective teaching and learning. A
disciplined student is one who is in compliance with the school rules and codes of
 conduct. These rules are meant to define the expected standards of behaviour in the
school. For example in the areas of :

 Dressing
 Time keeping
 Social behaviour and
 Work ethic
In the view of Atanda and Lameed (2006:54), class discipline, is a process by
which students are enabled to develop an “acceptable personality through such
democratic methods that are rational, non-arbitrary and non-threatening. According
to them, class discipline is internalization of worthwhile control extrinsic to the
students by the teacher”.

Similarly, Oboegbulem, (2011), stated that “an individual is disciplined when

he can set a goal for himself and then make whatever sacrifices and efforts
necessary to obtain it. She identified eight attitudes that promote discipline.

i. Respect for authority

ii. Frankness
iii. Good sense of humour
iv. Justices, firmness and fairness
v. Use of commendation
vi. Accept of responsibility of action
vii. Obedience of rules and regulations
viii. Use of punishment that will lead to reform
The National Policy on Education (FRN 2004) states that the quality of instruction
at all levels has to be oriented towards inculcation of the following values:

a. Respect for the worth and dignity of the individual

 b. Faith in mans ability to make rational decisions
c. Moral and spiritual principle in interpersonal and human relations
d. Shared responsibility for the common good of the society.
The above values need to be addressed taking into consideration the persisting
problem associated with discipline in our school system.

Causes of Indiscipline in Schools

A number of factors constitute indiscipline in schools;

i. School factor:

a. Leadership style of the principal. For instance, a principal who does not seek
the opinion of staff, and does not involve them in the formulation of policies
through regular staff meetings.
b. Lack of interest in the welfare of staff and students
c. Lack of trust in school staff, can cripple the administration
d. Poor school conditions like the use of obsolete curricular materials
e. Not involving students actively in decision making (school government)
f. Inadequate communication and ambiguous rules and regulations
g. Lack of recreational material. This can create boredom and lead to
indiscipline.
ii. Teacher Factor

a. Teachers poor work attitude in the classroom can lead to poor plan of the
syllabus and the scheme of work. When the syllabus or scheme of work is
poorly planned, there is bound to be confusion and boredom during teaching.
 b. Poor method of teaching can result in indiscipline. The teacher may be using
uninterested and out-dated teaching method in teaching.
c. Lack of preparedness on the part of the teacher can manifest when the
teacher is ignorant of the content to be taught. This can cause dislike of the
lesson and distrust of the teacher by the pupils.
d. Poor grading system and lack of personal interest in students and their
problems

iii. Students- Factor

Loitering when others are in class, going home before classes fighting, lying,
lack of respect to senior, use of abusive language, stealing, forgery, prostitution,
examination malpractice, cultism, drug abuse, among others.

Abenga and Asor (1990) have suggested that discussions could be held with
students who indulge in the above antisocial behaviour and let them understand the
consequences of such actions.

Summary

Student-personnel administration has been a major issue in secondary school

administration. One of the objectives of the secondary school education according
to the National Policy on Education is to raise a generation of people who can
think for themselves and respect those values specified therein.

Since education consists of the guidance of students and youth who can
think for themselves, respect the dignity of labour, and achieve useful living, the
teachers and school administrators should work tirelessly to develop the
personality of the students to the fullest. The development should involve his
intellectual, social, psychological, physical and educational in order to achieve the
objective of educating the students to become useful and respected citizen. Any
arrangement of carrying out these activities by the principals, staff and students
themselves so as to achieve these desired objectives of producing good quality
students, come under pupil-personnel administration.

It therefore means that any good secondary school should be founded on

democratic principles which involve active participation and partnership between
the principal, staff and the students representatives. These principle encourage co-
operation, consultation, unity of purpose and unity of command which are the key
to educational progress in a secondary school.
Review Questions

1a. What do you understand by student-personnel administration?

b. identify and explain any four specific objectives of student-personnel

administration in secondary schools.

2. Describe four activities which the teachers and the principals can perform to
achieve effective student-personnel administration.

3. “Health is Wealth”. Discuss this statement in respect to the importance of

health services in student-personnel administration.

4. Students’ involvement is a cardinal factor in secondary school

administration. Discuss four ways in which students can be effectively
involved in achieving smooth secondary school administration.

5. Discuss why Guidance and counselling service are very important functions
of student-personnel administration.

6. Discipline is the bedrock of success in school administration. Justify this

statement, state any five causes of indiscipline in schools and suggest
solutions to them.
References

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 CHAPTER TWENTY

PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT IN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

Aja-Okorie, Uzoma

Chapter Objective

At the end of this chapter, the reader should be able to

i. Explain the terms personnel, managements and personnel management

ii. Differentiate between student personnel management and staff personnel

management

iii. Outline roles of human resource management in an organization like the

school

iv. Discuss the activities of student personnel management and those of staff
personnel management

v. Identify the steps in human resource planning and rational behind the
activity

vi. Discuss the problems confronting effective human personnel planning in the
Nigeria education system and profer solution to such problems.

Introduction

This chapter, attempts to provide an overview of what personnel management

represents in organizational management. Particular reference is on personnel

management in school enterprise. The focus is on two major components of

personnel which are staff and student personnel. The chapter starts with a

discussion of what personnel management is in an organization such as the school

and goes on to the principles and processes involved in staff personnel and

pupils/students personnel management in schools. Thereafter, the processes in

personnel planning and challenges confronting effective human resource planning

are highlighted. Lastly the challenges confronting effective staff management in

schools and strategies for providing solutions to the identified challenges

highlighted. In an attempt to examine the topic in its several contexts, the

discussion interchanges the word, “personnel” with other associated terms such as”

labour”, “human resource”, “workforce”, and “employees” as a matter of

convenience, appropriateness and emphasis.

The concept of Personnel and Management

Personnel are generally referred to as human resource in an organization. They are

known as employees in an organization or place of work. The primary function of

personnel is to facilitate production. Personnel activities entail working for a

particular enterprise through offering of their services for the good of the

organization and in turn receive remuneration for those services. The personnel

function supports the overall strategy in an organization. Obi, (2003) refers to

personnel as employees whose primary function is to help in production through

providing their services.

On the other hand, management focuses on activities concerning how an overall

organization should be structured in order for the organization to be able to realize

desired results. Henri Fayol as cited in Akumah (2008) developed the basic

management functions in any organization to include; planning, organizing,

staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting. These management

functions are highlighted as follows:

- Planning: It involves developing an outline of the things that must be

accomplished and the steps or methods for accomplishing them. It attempts

to forecast future actions and directions of the organization.

- Organizing: It establishes the formal structure of authority through which

work subdivisions are arranged, defined, and coordinated to implement the

plan.

- Staffing: It involves the whole personnel function of selecting, training, and

developing the staff and maintaining favourable working conditions.

- Directing: It is closely related to leading. It includes the continuous task of

making decisions, communicating and implementing decisions, and

evaluating subordinates properly.

 - Coordinating: It involves all activities and efforts needed to build together

the organization in order to achieve a common goal.

- Reporting: It verifies progress through records, research, and inspection;

takes any corrective action when necessary.

- Budgeting: concerns all activities that accompany financial activities

including fiscal planning, accounting and controlling.

The Role of Human Resource/Personnel in Management in an Organization

Human resource/ personnel is the “life wire” of any organization, be it a corporate

or social organization. In the scale of production, human resource or personnel

described as labour is essential and plays key role in organizations. Personnel are

concerned with the activities in production, profit and distribution of production

benefits. Personnel resources are literally understood as business outfit and most

vital assets, which the profitability and even the survival of an enterprise usually

depends upon. The caliber of workforce/personnel in organizational work force

determines organizational success.

Therefore, the need to build quality manpower and maintain its capacity is virile in

any organization. A good measure of this can improve quality assurance, effective

service delivery and help to maintain adequate control in the organization (Adesina

& Fagbamiye, 1988). Developing capable manpower, which is often referred to as

personnel involves acquisition of relevant knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitude

necessary for optimal production. Ability to have a constructive imaginative

thought boosts yields of organizational goals (Nworgu, 1991). Personnel in work

place are paramount because even rules and regulations, position guide and other

policies may be developed but they need and take on significance only as people

make use of them. Ezeocha (1990) maintains that personnel management performs

vital functions which include; formulating, proposing and gaining acceptance for

the personnel policies and strategies in organization. Hence, management of

personnel is directly linked to organizational success. Gege, (1996) describes it as

a process of accomplishing organizational objectives by acquiring, retaining,

terminating, developing, and properly using the human resources in an

organization.

Human resource/personnel management in school system focuses on how to

manage human resources in educational organization or institutions (Ume, 2002).

Hence, human resource in school administration encompasses two focal areas; staff

and pupil/student personnel. The school as a social system is basically charged

with the responsibility of developing skills, knowledge and attitudes for acceptable

societal role. In line with this, the management personnel are very crucial in

school administration. Examining staff personnel, Adesina & Fagbamiye, (1988)

posit that staff personnel administration is an important task for the school
administrator. Staff personnel in school management are made up of teaching and

non teaching staff whose responsibilities are geared towards maintaining activities

of the school system for quality output. For effective and efficient staff personnel

administration, there must be harmonious co-existence of all staff and students,

who have direct link to achievement of the school objectives. It focuses on training

and developing, promoting, transferring, recruiting, providing welfare, paying

salaries and wages of staff. The purpose of staff personnel administration is to

ensure that the staff are carried along (giving them financial and moral reward) that

will ginger them into putting in their best in achieving the institutional objectives.

Staff personnel administration can also be described as that segment of

management process that is concerned with the maintenance of people at work and

ensuring the physical and social well being of employees. Besides, staff personnel,

there are also student personnel in school system. Student personnel administration

deals with the management of students in a learning environment. This process is

necessary to ensure that students realize the purpose for which they secured

admission into an institution of learning. The entire school life of a student needs

to be well managed in such a way to produce result in the most efficient and

effective manner. Hence, the administrator and other employees are charged with

these responsibilities until they leave the school. Their daily academic activities
and welfare while in the school are managed and monitored until they pass out of

the school.

Principles of Personnel Management

Principles of personnel management are guides to possible actions, conduct and or

practices in specific situation. Personnel management can be referred to as the

implementation of manpower by and within an enterprise (Ezeocha, 1990).

Personnel management often involves function that is related to the acquisition,

development and maintenance of human resources in a working organization

(Ukeje, 1992). A successful personnel management involves functions and

activities such as integrating the efforts of people with the other resources of the

enterprise in such a manner that the objectives of the enterprise, the goals of the

individual worker (staff) and the goals of society at large are all attained in the

optimal level comparable with the work situation. Some of these principles are

discussed below:

a) Universal / Fundamental Principles: This is one of the principles

formulated by Henri Fayol as cited in Akumah (2008) to guide the actions,

practices and conduct of personnel in an organization. These are guidelines

outlined for effective and efficient realization of an organizational goal.

Some of these guidelines are highlighted as follows:

- Delegation of Authority and Responsibility: this principle involves

delegation of duties backed up by power to supervise and to execute the

powers.

- Equity: For achievement of organizational goals, all workers should be

treated equally. Even the students should be accorded respect. The

principal should dispense equal justice.

- Unity of command: One man, one supervisor. A worker should not have

multiple supervisors rather he should have only one supervisor so as to

know who he should be loyal to.

- Humanitarian principle: This is referred to as a behavioural principle.

It demands cordial relationship between the boss and his subordinates.

- Division of labour and specialization: This principle states that

employees are placed on their area of specialization in order to optimize

productivity and enhance efficiency.

- Discipline: For achievement of organizational goals, workers and

learners have to obey the institutional rules and regulations. The principal

should maintain discipline through good relationships, good leadership

styles and welfare services and plan for the staff and students. He should
 be honest and sincere in his professional dispositions. His interactional

skills must be adequate.

b) Principle of Scientific Management: This was espoused by Henri Taylor.

This principle holds that managers should focus on achieving organizational

goals with less attention to the general welfare of workers. Remuneration

should be measured by individual input as a way of increasing productivity.

c) Bureaucratic Principle: This presumes that activities in the work place

should be systematic, consistent and orderly. The focus is more on sequence

of achieving organizational result.

d) Humanitarian Principle: This is synonymous with behavioural principle. It

is concerned with how the employer relates with his employees. In a school

system it shows how the principal and staff co exist with the students to

achieve organizational goal. Furthermore, humanitarian principle takes the

following forms;

- Principle of justice: this focuses on the due process in rule of law. It

involves approach to workers’ protection from abuse and arbitrariness in

application of rules and regulations within the organization.

- Principle of democracy: the focus of this principle is on equality in the

dispensation of responsibilities and treatment. The school principal needs

 to involve staff and students in decisions that concern them. It recognizes

participatory approach.

- Human relations: this connotes that the principal tries as much as

possible to accommodate individual differences of staff and students.

Interaction of employer and employees is necessary to enhance

productivity.

e) Prudential Principle: This is the ability to anticipate, determine, arrange,

use and control the material and human resources within organizational

disposal carefully to achieve desired objectives. It entails careful, efficient

and effective management. This rule makes use of four major components

which are; economy, responsibility and authority, loyalty and employment

of staff.

f) Principle of Change: This is equally known as tempo principle. It focuses

on the need for educational leaders to change with the changing

environment. The principal should keep abreast with changing policies and

method of administering leadership to achieve positive results. This

principle involves adaptability, flexibility, and stability.

Staff Personnel Management

It is not in doubt that production cannot take place without the staff to set the

machine in motion. So also it is impossible to administer a school without

personnel which includes staff and students. The ability of an institution to attract

learners to a large extent depends on the caliber of staff.

The basic steps in staffing are highlighted here under:

- Need assessment: This involves proper planning to identify areas that

require attention in terms of vacancy. It helps to determine the quality

and quantity of staff that are needed

- Recruitment process: This entails assessment of possible staff (quality

& quantity) to fill the identified positions or posts.

- Selection process: This is designed to produce guidelines on how to

attract quality manpower into the job market especially as advertised.

The selection guidelines emanate from set objectives to be achieved.

- Orientation stage: It is the process of posting staff hired in positions

based on organizational expectations which often spell out paths.

Induction exposes the staff to organizational work patterns work

 relationships and the essence in contributing to achieving set

organisational goals.

- Professional growth: It involves providing opportunities for

enhancement and ensuring the growth of staff through promotion, in-

service training, second placement, etc.

The process of staffing is quite embracing in some corporate enterprises.

However, for a teaching position, it is a clear cut decision that once the quantity of

teaching staff are determined and is identified in terms of needy areas, the other

processes appear to be straight forward.

Here is an attempt to illustrate in a diagram the procedures of staffing in a school:

Staffing Function

Need assessment

Organizational Recruitment process Organizational

objective policy
Selection process

Orientation

Professional growth

Fig. 1: Staffing Process in a School

 A school is a network of personalities. Both the administrator and the

administered whose co-operate efforts give identity to school are expected to work

harmoniously within the policy guidelines to realize desired educational goals.

Staff personnel administration rests on the understanding of the most efficient and

effective way of optimizing results in a school system. Staff personnel

development entails or involves the development, application and evaluation of

policies, procedures, methods and programmes relating to school. Employees are

essential ingredient in all organizations, be it business, governmental or

educational. Staff personnel department in organizations such as in the Ministry of

Education, are responsible for activities like recruitment, selection, training, wage

and salary management. In summary, the functions of personnel management are

to select, train, develop, assimilate and remunerate employees. Some of these

processes are hereby discussed below:

a) Job description: This involves listing the main tasks and responsibilities of

the positions. Apart from listing the task and responsibilities of the positions

the next task awaiting the entrepreneur is job specification. This defines the

education, work experience, skills, and abilities an individual worker must

have in order to perform the job effectively.

b) Staff recruitment and selection: It is not an overstatement to say that the

success of any educational programme depends on the selection of qualified

teachers. Recruitment can be described as all those activities or operations

which the school administration undertakes with the intention of attracting

and securing personnel of the desired quality and quantity to satisfy the

needs of the school (Alabi, 2000, Odunwaiye, 2000 & Ogunsaju, 1990).

Efficient recruitment and placement procedures are prerequisites to the

development of an effective working force. A person placed in an

unsatisfying work is either unable to reach the required standard of

performance or is working under physical or psychological strain. These

may lead to frequent absence, ill health and breach of discipline or conflicts

with fellow employees. The avoidance of these, calls for effective

management of people ensuring opportunities for individual’s development.

As a school administrator, one should aim at recruiting staff that are best

qualified to fill the job requirement. The school administrator may not have

much influence in the recruitment exercise of his staff but his role may be

advisory or influence the Teaching Service Commission to attracting

teachers to his school. To do this, the education, experience and personalities

of each candidate must be carefully considered. The selection of effective

personnel is essential for a school to grow and prosper. Silt, Everad & John

(1995), noted that recruiting well qualified employees is an important

 function of personnel management. It is necessary to secure application

determine their qualification, and recruit qualified ones for the job.

c) Training & development: Training is the next stage after an employee has

been recruited, selected and inducted. Training and development

programmes are professional activities engaged by school personnel to

enhance their knowledge, skills and attitudes. Employee’s training includes

any activity that provides information or the development of skills that

improve the employee’s performance (Opadokun, 2004). Training should

start when an employee is recruited and continues throughout the time

he/she is fully employed. The training should either be on the job or formal.

The initial training an employee usually receives after being recruited is an

orientation to the business outfit and the job. Adesina& Fagbamiye (1988)

identified four types of the development programmes in the educational

system. They are; programmes that aim at correcting deficiencies of staff at

the time of appointment; programmes which enable teaching staff to face the

challenges arising from innovation in the school curriculum, programmes

which enable non professionals to professionalize and programmes that

enable acquisition of higher qualification.

d) Staff appraisal: Staff appraisal is a process of assessing staff performances

while on the job to ascertain those eligible for either promotion or and who
 deserve some sort of merit. Opadokun (2004) maintains that there is need to

evaluate staff in terms of their job performances. The school principal is

expected to rate his staff using the Annual Performance and Evaluation

Report (APER) forms for each person as directed by the Teaching Service

Commission. Giving the sensitive nature of staff appraisal, the principal

must have skills in evaluative assessment. He must have the cooperation of

the staff. Some of the areas that constitute evaluation targets include;

qualification, preparation of lesson plan, organization of lessons,

maintenance of discipline, mastery of subject matter, teacher’s appearance,

punctuality, health, students’ performances at the end of the year and other

co-curriculum activities.

e) Compensation and Staff Welfare: Compensation is the totality of the

financial and non financial rewards that the employee gets in return for

service to the organization. Alabi, (2000) and Oduwaiye, (2000) stated that

compensation programmes are designed to attract capable employees to the

organization. It also motivates them towards performance and to retain them.

Compensation is a major issue in staff personnel management and its effect

on productivity is important. Adams (1972) in his version of the equity

theory espoused the idea that the feeling of a worker that he is adequately

rewarded for his labour and services can motivate him. Equity theory states
 that if the individual feels that his compensation is not the same with another

individual who possesses the same job inputs and their productivity is

roughly the same, he will perceive the situation to be inequitable.

Compensation can be in form of finance or non-financial aspect. There is a

general belief that unhappy employees are likely to be unproductive work

force (Fagbemiye, 2000 & Oladununni, 1998).

In the school system, principals have very little to do with the development

of a compensation plan. The salaries as well as conditions of service are

those approved by the Ministry of Education. However, the principal has a

lot of role to play in welfare of his members by associating with his staff in

their problems and rejoicing with them when things are going on well with

them.

Student/Pupil Personnel management

Student/pupil personnel management are geared towards all activities assigned by

school administrators towards making the student or learner to improve upon

himself. It is also the provision of enabling environment for the teaching and

learning process to be effective so that the learner will acquire skills and

knowledge as well as desired attitude which will help him to function optimally in

the society he belongs. The school head is the key person in the total operation of
the school. He is the generator and the power source from which the activities

flow. Without students or learners there is no school. Since they are part of

personnel, they should also be well managed. Some of the activities that are

directly involved in the management of student personnel are highlighted as

follows:

1) Student Admission: Admission of students into the school is mainly based

on completion of preceding level of schooling for instance for admission

into a secondary school, a child must have completed primary school and

passed an examination that leads him into secondary school. The National

Policy on Education pegged the admission of students into secondary

schools to be at the age of 12 years. With the introduction of the Universal

Basic Education (UBE), students are expected to proceed automatically to JS

1 or Basic 7. This system allows for 100% transition rate for the students and

also to complete their basic education. The school head organizes orientation

programmes for the students in junior secondary school. This may include

the counsellor collecting their biodata, letting them to adjust to their new

phase of education life and the plan for future step in career development.

2) School Communication: Communication is the life-wire of every

organization which necessitates exchange of information and without it one

has a lifeless structure (; Dorosaro, 2000; Ogunsaju, 1990 & Ukeje, 1992).
 The school head needs to communicate with his students. He needs to have

feedback from students. The principal communicates with the students

through assembly of staff and students where he reads out rules and

regulations guiding the school. He can delegate his assistants to do that on

his behalf. From time to time the students are reminded of school rules

through various school channels such as teaching staff and non tutorial staff.

3) Student Discipline and Control: Student discipline implies that students

are provided with an opportunity to exercise self-control. Discipline as used

in this context connotes orderliness. Orderliness is essential for good

learning in schools. A disciplined person is orderly, responsible, diligent, co-

operative, honest, and always tries to do what is right and good (Stoner,

Freeman & Gilbert, 2000). A good principal should set good examples for

his staff and students. School rules and regulations help to instill discipline

in the school. Good behavior should be rewarded and negative behavior

punished. To minimize disciplinary problems in school, the following

should be followed:

- Teachers should prepare and attend lessons.

- Teachers should ensure that there is enabling learning environment.

- There should be class control.

 - Criticize constructively.

- Make students feel adequate.

- Be fair and just in your treatment

- Reward those who merit such and punish constructively.

4) Others: Other personnel services available to students are welfare services

as well as guidance counselling services. Well catered staff in the provision

of welfare services accelerate productivity in the organization (Oladununni,

(1998). These go a long way in stabilizing students for effective learning.

Student’s career choices are properly guided when professional counselors

are posted to schools.

Human Resource Planning

Human resource planning is concerned with the demand and supply of labour and

problems arising from reconciling these factors (Iyang, 1995 & Oyedeji, 1998).

The function of manpower planning can be carried out by either the personnel

department or the principal/administrator in the absence of any well defined

separate human resource department. It is the operational needs that determine the

demand for manpower planning. The planning can be for short term or long term
needs. Considerations are given in planning to articulate organizational and

individual needs and for these needs to be congruent.

Rationale for Human Resource Planning

The rationale stems from the fact that organizational demands are very complex,

ranging from ability to prepare and adapt to numerous and ever changing situations

in the organization. Some of these factors are external while others may be

internal. For instance, human factors arising from death or attrition of a staff or

even a change in organizational policy statement may affect staff compositions.

Other factors may arise due to geographical influence. In this circumstance,

planning helps in preparing for quick adaptation.

Human resource planning involves the establishment of objectives, strategies to

achieve them as well as step by step determination of the activities and resources

necessary to achieve them. It is natural in humans to seek for improvement in all

activities. Objectives deal with the aims of the institutions in realizing the goals of

the organization. They are attained through step by step approach. Strategies focus

on the processes to be employed or deployed in order to maximize the choice of

achieving a selected objective in the face of difficulties.

Steps in Human Resource Planning

Human resource planning procedures involve analysis of current and future plans.

These entail analyzing the current state of plan regarding staff and future

requirements in terms of quality and quantity of staff and needs.

a) Forecasting future needs: It involves the prediction and projection of

available current staff in the school. This can be through demand

forecasting, supply forecasting or forecasting requirements.

Demand forecasting is a process of determining the number of teachers

required in the future, the position and the likely skills and competences they

will posses. The method includes institutional assessment, which could be in

form of bottom up approach or top down approach or even a combination of the

two approaches. Administrators act on instruction from the ministry of

education or Committee set to reconcile any discrepancies by way of right –

angle method. It may involve ratio trend analysis through studying past ratios

between the numbers of direct staff and support staff. Study technique can be

applied in using work productivity to calculate how many subjects are being

offered and the number of people /staff needed. Modeling can be used to

determine vacancies required to be filled in an institution.

Supply forecasting involves the number likely to be available from within

and outside the institution. It allows for absenteeism, internal movements and
promotions. It involves wastages and changes in hours and other conditions of

the staff. It includes staff sourcing within the institution and outside the

institution.

b) Analyzing availability and supply of staff: This deals with a careful use of

all available data to establish the number of staff required within the

institution, at a given time. It involves preparation of likely vacant positions

in the near future in order to prepare before hand on how to scout or source

and fill in those identified vacant positions at the right time.

c) Drawing on plans to match demand and supply: To carry out this aspect

of staff need, the administrator establishes statistically how many positions

need to be filled and of what categories. It also involves matching them with

availability of staff and from where the pool of potential staff can be

recruited and selected. It is from this pool that personnel/staff are hired to fill

the identified vacant positions based on need assessment and other logistical

requirements.

d) Monitoring the implementation of plan: Implementation needs to be

properly monitored to ensure a good plan of action in providing quantitative

and qualitative staff strength. In order to identify defaults in time for

necessary correction there is need for monitoring. It avails opportunity to

 ensure completion. It encourages commitment and goal attainment as well

the unity of purposes.

Basic Steps for Achieving Qualitative & Quantitative Human Resource

Planning

This section examines basic steps to follow while planning for staff personnel in an

organization. Policy planners, whether in the field of education or in any business

venture need to follow certain guides in order to achieve maximum results.

Discussed below are some of these steps.

a) Recruitment plan: Human resource plan is a critical managerial function. It

provides an institution with information on resource flows. Resource flows

are used to calculate recruitment needs. It is also used for calculating

succession and development plans. When this is established, unexpected

shortage of staff for instance can be addressed.

b) Identification of training needs: The basis for human resource plan is to

cater and improve on welfare of staff by maximizing their skills and quality

as well as quantity in the employment opportunities.

c) Management development: It prepares an employee for a rise in the

organizational hierarchy. Promotion gives a sense of self fulfillment. When

 denied especially when a staff feels he/she merits such, it brings low morale

and may lead to de-motivation.

d) Institutional relation plans: These plans ensure the quality and quantity of

staff/employees by establishing equity and fairness in comparison with

similar institutions. Good organizational plans curtail industrial unrest.

Challenges Confronting Effective Human Resource Planning

a) Education wastage: This involves dealing with dropouts and repeaters in

the school. The dropouts can be as a result of ill health, financial constraint,

social rejection, ignorance and flare for quick money. The educational

system programmes should reflect the needs and aspirations of the people so

that human resources (staff and students) can be adequately planned over

time in a progressive manner to minimize wastages.

b) Inaccurate personnel data: When reliable data are not available planning

becomes difficult. It is always argued that ghost workers exist in our public

service and schools. Actual data are often difficult to determine due to poor

record keeping which creates challenges in establishing accurate figures.

c) Political instability: The climate of frequent change in government hinders

long term plan of human resources and material resources. Educational plans
 often suffer abandoning in the wake of any new government or at the least

distracted to suit the policies of the new administration.

d) Financial constraints: Human resource planning involves moving around

and making contacts to collect the raw data needed for exercises. There is

also need to train personnel that will collect, collate and analyze the data.

Money is always needed for these processes but due to insufficient funding

or misappropriation of funds work is slowed or even abandoned.

Strategies for Effective Management of Personnel in School System

The Nigerian educational system irrespective of the level involved, is faced with

myriads of challenges in this contemporary time. Employees are confronted with

challenges which include low motivation due to poor welfare system, labour fight,

brain drain, and even premature retirement. Employees feel insecure and

dissatisfied with conditions of service which contribute to low productivity in the

overall educational system, schools inclusive. The learners appear to be losing

confidence in our school system. The general public apparently feels that the

school system is failing in their social functions too. The problems are getting

exacerbated as our youths are becoming restive and turning into social miscreants.

If we are to improve productivity in our school system, staff and students’ welfare

among others must be taken seriously. Urgent attention needs to be directed

towards, staff remuneration, staff training and development, adequate motivation,

monitoring and involvement of staff in matters concerning their welfare. The

students are to be included in decisions that are made for them.

The principal must be able to maintain professional ethics. He should learn to

partner with the local community in the running of the school. The school principal

and the teachers are expected to have cordial relationship without necessarily

compromising the ethics of the school. The principal can achieve greater

participation by avoiding unnecessary staff hostility and antagonism.

Review Questions

1. Explain the following terms carefully

(i) Personnel (ii) Management (iii) Personnel Management and Personnel

Planning

2. Carefully differentiate between the following

(a) Personal Management and Human Resource Planning

(b) Student Personnel Management and Staff Personnel Management.

3. Carefully explain the term human resource planning and justify its essence in a
school organization

4. Personnel amangement is a tasking responsibility. Outline six principles you

would bring to bear in the discharge of this assignment.

5. Identify five activities undertaken in each of staff personnel management and

student personnel management.
6. Effective human resource planning has not been achieved in the Nigerian
educational system. Adjudge and discuss any six reasons responsible for the
situation and proffer solutions.

7. You have just been given an assignment on human resource planning for a
secondary school. Justify the execution of this assignment and discuss the steps
you would adopt for effectiveness in the assignment.

References

Adams, J.S. (1972). Equity in social change: advances in mental social

psychology. New York: Academic Press

Adesina, S. & Fagbamiye, E. (1988). Education administration. Ibadan:

University Press

Alabi, A.T. (2000).” School personnel management” in Femi D. & Segun, O (ed.).
The craft of educational management. Ilorin: Indamac.

Akumah, E. (2008). Educational administration: managerial issues & problems.

Enugu: Celex publishing company

Durosaro, D.O. (2000).” Motivation: concept & issues” in Femi, D. & Segun, O
(ed.) The craft of educational management . Ilorin: Indamac.

Ezeocha, P.A. (1990). Education administration, the principals & functional

approach. Awka: Unigue Publishers.

Ezeocha, P.A. (1990). Education administration and planning. Nsukka: Optimal

computer solutions ltd.

Gege, D. (1996). “Maintenance strategies for improving productivity in the

Nigerian economy”. A paper presented at the 1996 Symposium at the
National Productivity Day, February, 28

Iyang, L.A. (1995).” Strategies for promoting of productivity at the work place”. A
paper presented at the Ilorin National Productivity day Symposium,
February 21.
Nworgu, C. (1991). Introduction to educational administration, planning &
supervision. Ikeja :Joja Educational Research

Obi, E. (2003). Educational management: theory & practice. Enugu: Jamore

enterprise.

Odunwaiye, R.O. (2000). “Staff personnel management & productivity in

education”, in Fagbamiye, E.O. & Durosaro, D.O. (eds.) Education &
productivity in Nigeria. Ilorin:Haytee

Ogunsaju, S. (1990). Educational supervision: Perspectives and Practices in

Nigeria. Ile-Ife: University of Ife Press

Oladununni, S.A. (1998).” An integrated approach to sectoral & zonal

compensation packages”. A paper presented at the National Workshop on
Trade Unionism & National Building, Abuja.

Opadokun, O. A. (2004). Influence of personnel management practices on

academic staff productivity in Nigerian Colleges of Education. Unpublished
PhD Thesis.

Oyedeji, N.B. (1998). Management in education. Lagos: Aras publishers.

Stoner, J.A., Freeman, R.W. & Gilbert, D. R. (2000).Organizational

management. New Delhi: Jay Print.

Ukeje, B.O. (1984). Foundation of education. Benin-City: Ethiope Publishers

Ume, T (2002). Fundamentals of educational administration. Nsukka: Chukwu

Education Publishers.

Vroom, V.H. (1996). Work & Motivation. New York: John Wiley Publishers
 CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

SECONDARY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION.

EZIUZO, GLORIA O. (Ph.D)

Chapter Objectives

After reading this chapter, the reader should be able to:

1. Define the concept of school administration

2. Identify the function of a school administrator

3. List the task areas of school administration

4. Explain the concept of school supervision

5. Outline the purpose of school supervision

6. List the needs/reasons for school supervision

7. Name the types of supervision

8. Outline the managerial skills required in supervision

9. List the factors necessary for effective supervision

Introduction

Secondary education is that level of education which children receive after

primary education and before the tertiary level. Secondary school level is
therefore the bridge between the primary and tertiary levels. School is an
organization which can be described as a group of people with common
objectives. School is therefore an organization of complex activities which are
carried out by people and are coordinated by a person or persons. Thus
administration is necessary in school. Therefore school administration entails
working with teachers, non-teaching staff and students to get things done
effectively. The primary aim of every school administration is improvement of
teaching and learning, and all the activities of the school (Jaiyeoba 2006).
Improving quality of schools and the achievement of students is the concern of
everybody and society. To monitor quality, maintain standard and checkmate the
effectiveness of teachers is strongly a function of effective administration and
supervision. The main aim of establishing schools is to produce well-educated
citizens who will serve effectively in all the sectors of the economy where their
services are needed. Therefore, school administration and supervision are needed
as far as educational management is concerned.

The Concept of School Administration

A School is a formal organization which engages in administrative processes

to achieve the expected outcomes. Administration is a must in the school setting.
School administration is a social process concerned with identifying, maintaining,
stimulating, controlling and unifying formally and informally organized human and
material energies within an integrated system designed to achieve predetermined
objectives. (Ayanniyi 2006) observed that specifically, school administration
concerns students, teachers, material resources, rules, regulations and policies of
available resources and harmonization of relationships and additionally, concerns
the utilization of available resources and harmonization of relationships and
interactions in a suitable environment, in order to foster the attainment of the
goals of teaching and learning. Similarly, Iyaiya (2004) saw it as the
implementation of education policies and progress from its day to day activities.

Administration can also be defined as the process by which goals are

achieved through collective and co-operative human efforts, in a suitable
environment. The collective and co-operative human effort is pulled from all the
people working in the school, which includes the teaching staff, non teaching
staff, the administrator, who is the chief executive/head of administration and
otherwise referred to as the principal in the secondary school and other
professional staff such as parents, the clergy, and the lay members of the school
community. Also involved are members of the School Boards, Ministry of
Education among others. They contribute towards the accomplishment of the
school goals and must see themselves as a team working for the growth and
development of the students in consistence with the underlying philosophy of the
school.

The Functions of School Administration

Secondary school administration could be defined as the systematic

arrangement of human and material resources including activities designed to
achieve educational goals at the secondary level of education. Oyewole (2006)
noted that the principal is the chief executive officer in the Nigeria secondary
school system. He is a teacher and an administrator. Hence, the principal is
regarded as the most important functionary in the secondary school system. The
principal performs a good number of administrative functions in his effort to
achieve goals and objectives which the school is primarily meant to achieve. It is
pertinent to say that the goal of a school administrator is to ensure success in his
school with respect to laid down objectives (Ekiti State Universal Basic Education
Board 2010). In the light of this, the success of the school administrator depends
on his effectiveness in steering the ship of the school to be able to facilitate
success.

Sheppared and Dibbion (2010) observed that the effectiveness of a school

administrator is a function of his/her ability to identify certain basic components
of his/her assignment. He/she will thus be able to use his/her expertise to apply
these elements for the smooth running of the school. To this end, secondary
school administration could only function effectively through the application of
the following elements: planning, organizing, coordinating, commanding,
controlling and decision making. All these carefully combined will distinguish a
good administrator from a bad one. Let us briefly discuss each of these elements.

Planning

Planning determines which direction an organization should go and the

approach to adopt for the administrator to get desired result. Thus it is the first of
all managerial functions. Planning could be short, medium or long term
depending on what is designed to be achieved (Ayodele, 2002). A school
administrator must take into cognizance that planning involves determining
objectives, examining the environment and forecasting changes, and developing
plans to ensure the achievement of objectives in a given environment.

Organising

More importantly, the school administrator’s organizing ability determines

the ways and strategies through which the planned goals can be achieved. It
becomes highly imperative for a school principal to be aware that he is dealing
with people of high potentials which must be properly harnessed to achieve
desired school goals and objectives. Hence, a school administrator should in this
regard be knowledgeable about human resources.

Commanding

Commanding is also vital in effective school administration. Ibukun (1997)

asserted that authority is the right to issue instructions, and that, power is the
right to make oneself obeyed. The school principal has the power to command
and give instructions that will guide both teachers and students under his
leadership. In achieving this, the school administrator needs to be more tactful,
understanding and flexible in approaches adopted to deal with human resources
in the secondary school setting.

Coordinating

This involves the ability and capability of the school administrator to put
together human and material resources at his disposal and use them for better
achievement of the school objectives (Omotayo, 2010). The success of a school
administrator rests solely on his ability to coordinate efforts in the school system.

Controlling

Controlling deals with organizational objectives with plans making

necessary adjustments and corrections where there are deviations between plans
and objectives. Ajayi and Ayodele (2010) observed that control is the managerial
skill that ensures effective acquisition and use of the organization’s resources to
achieve stated objectives.
Decision Making

Decision making is the actual selection among various alternatives in taking

course of action. It is pertinent to note that some school principals find it difficult
to take decisions, while most leaders particular wish to shy away from this
responsibility. This is because, the process is very rigorous and demanding
Therefore, a school principal must be ready to face the challenges of undergoing
the process of decision making which involves deliberating, calculating or
reflecting over an issue either consciously or unconsciously before taking a
particular action.

Taking into cognizance the elements of school administration briefly

discussed above, it becomes highly essential for a good school administrator to
stand distinctively among colleagues in the school system. He or she must posses
certain characteristics that will distinguish him/her from the followers (teachers
and students). Hence, principalship is second only to teaching in its impact on
effective school administration towards ensuring good quality in the areas of
teachers’ job performance and students’ academic performance. Thus, principals’
administrative skills and strategies are the action, behaviours and functions found
to have positive impact on quality assurance in schools (Lydiah & Nasongo, 2009).

It is therefore important that the principal should see himself as a leader, a

thinker and a decision maker. To this end, principals who have good
administrative strategies will employ team work strategy to facilitate teachers’
job effectiveness and better students’ academic performance as all stakeholders
have a key role to play in ensuring qualitative education in our secondary school
system.

Task Areas of School Administration.

This focuses on the mandatory operational areas of school administration

needed for the achievement of educational goals and objectives. The School
Administrator has the duty to manage human, financial and material resources
for effective implementation of the school programmes and for the maintenance
of the school.

The tasks areas of the school administrator according to Campbell, Bridges and
Nystrand (1977) are grouped into the following six categories.

1. School Community Relation: The school as an organization cannot be

isolated from its environment and this is the reason why the school
managers have to develop and administer a culture for the participation of
parents and the community in school affairs. Time must always be created
to receive and interact with parents who visit the school or who are invited
to the school. Such parents’ complaints should be taken in good faith and
necessary adjustments should be made in school operation.

2. Curriculum and Instruction: This is the core area of the school system, and
it is the essence of teaching learning process. It is, therefore, crucial that
the school managers should pay adequate attention not only to the
planning of the curriculum, but also to the effectiveness of the delivery of
instructions and the execution of the instructional programmes. Managers
have to create conducive working environment for teaching and learning.
 This they can achieve through dynamic leadership, provision of material
and instructional resources, provision of co-curricular activities for the
students, motivation of staff, innovative instructional methodology and
good human relations.

3. Staff-Personnel: This implies provision of personnel needed in carrying out

programmes of instruction and services to students/pupils that is (teaching
and non teaching staff). The school administrators’ encouragement to staff
members so as to retain them on the job and at the same time, get them
perform their task to the maximum benefit of the organization. It is
important for the school administrator to provide orientation exercise for
newly employed staff, and, at the same time, do a proper placement of
these staff so as to provide a source of satisfaction for them and thereby
retain them on the job.

4. Student/Pupil-Personnel: This involves the services rendered to students

that compliment regular classroom instruction such as taking pupils
inventory, provision of social workers and guidance counselors to help the
students in both their academic and social lives. There should be accurate
data on pupils’ enrolment, so that the well-being of the pupils’ would be
taken care of. Also, counseling services should be provided as they help in
minimizing problems of discipline in schools. The school administrator,
apart from the provision of the welfare services, should also encourage co-
curricular activities such as, recreational activities and participation of
students in different clubs like The Boys Scout, The Girls Guide, The Red
Cross and so on.
5. Physical facilities: They consist of the school buildings, school grounds and
equipment that are provided in the school which aid the stimulation of
teaching-learning process. It is usually assumed that effective learning can
occur regardless of the type of school facilities provided, but this is far from
the truth. Ill–ventilated classrooms cannot support optimum learning
whereas a pleasant school layout produces a measure of psychological
effects on the learners. The administrator must ensure that the buildings
are kept safe for the students’ use and that they are under good sanitary
conditions. Worn-out equipment should be repaired. The whole school
should be made attractive so as to boost the morale of the teachers and
students.

6. Finance and Business Management: These involve making appropriate and

adequate budge for the school. Securing adequate revenue from
government or through other sources, managing expenditure, and directing
non-teaching personnel are some of the activities here. The school
administrator should prepare the budget, secure revenue for the school
and also use the fund at his disposal judiciously. He must also provide a
proper accounting system for money collected in the school.

7. General Duties: The school head is expected to summon staff meetings in

order to provide a forum for direct communication with both teaching and
non-teaching staff. This is important so that the teaching learning goals
could be achieved. The school principal has the responsibility for projecting
the image of the school through publicity of the work going on in the school
and through functions like assemblies, sport events, literary and cultural
 displays, excursions and participation in quizzes and other educational
competitions.

The Concept of School Supervision.

Supervision is an integral part of school administration and no organization

can function effectively without it. Supervision is an age long device for improving
teacher’s knowledge, attitudes and skills which focuses on the teaching/ learning
process for the purpose of ensuring the achievement of educational goals and
objectives. School Heads are guarantors of qualitative education and implementer
of educational polices and ought to possess some managerial skills of supervision
which are essential for their effectiveness.

Supervision involves assessing the performance of tasks. It includes

providing people with the support and skills needed to perform a task. According
to Dennis (2004), supervision is the act of providing leadership through a process
designed to help staff gain greater competence and overcome some barriers so as
to improve job performance. It is an administrative activity that is aimed at
improving the quality of growth of teachers and school condition which in turn
leads to the growth of the students. School supervision is a practice that is
designed to improve the effectiveness of teaching. Supervision as defined by
Ogunu (2000) is the act of overseeing the activities of teachers and other workers
in a school system to ensure that they conform with general accepted principles
of education in order to achieve educational goals. Nwagwu, Ijeoma, Nwangwu
(2004:325) defined supervision as a way to guide, advice, refresh, encourage,
stimulate, improve and oversee a teacher in order to improve on the quality of his
teaching and classroom management.
 Supervision concerns itself with the rudiments of efficiency and effective
management of human and material resources. Teachers are expected to
demonstrate high standard of academic excellence through teaching process to
improve the quality of their work. Supervision is a recurrent issue in the
discussion of teachers instructional responsibilities, job performance as its affects
teachers’ competence, innovativeness, commitment to their career and methods
of eliminating obstacles in order to acquire the most current ideas in their subject
areas. Thus the Federal Republic of Nigeria in National Policy on Education (1981;
44) stated that “The objective of planning, administrative inspectorate,
supervision and financial services in education are to ensure quality control
through regular inspection and continuous supervision of instructional and other
educational services. Supervision can therefore be seen as the process of
improving all elements and condition surrounding teaching and learning to
produce better learning by providing the leadership necessary to effect
improvement in the work of teachers.

The Purpose of School Supervision

School is an organization of complex activities which are carried out by

people and are coordinated by persons. Thus, supervision is very necessary in
school in order to improve teaching and learning. The supervision exercise
evaluates, records the consistency of strengths and weaknesses of teachers
performance and their ability in the discharge of the onerous task of instructional
delivery.

The Universal Basic Education (UBE) Programme Manual (2002) stated that
“in the context of education, supervision refers to the role played by an education
officer (or supervisor) in being responsible and making sure that teachers do their
work effectively”. It therefore gave the primary objective of supervision as the
enhancement of the quality of instruction in schools. The supervisor helps the
teacher to teach in such a way that the child understands and also ensures that
he acquires the abilities, skills, and attitudes stated in the objectives of
instruction.

The manual clearly stated that school supervision is aimed at assisting teachers to
teach the learners under their care in the most effective way. Chike- Okoli (2006)
classified the purpose of supervision into:

a. Teacher-Improvement purposes, and

b. Non-Teacher purpose

Teacher improvement purposes are geared towards:

1. Ensuring that teachers do their assigned work effectively

2. Enable them to function effectively on the job

3. Providing professional information to teachers

4. Guiding teachers to the sources of instructional materials.

5. Providing technical assistance to teachers when required such as in the

preparation and use of teaching aids.

6. Ensuring that discipline is maintained in the classroom.

7. Maintaining high morale among the teachers

8. Suggesting ways of improving teacher performance

9. Providing an opportunity to discover teachers with special abilities or

qualities.

Non-teacher purpose of supervision

The following purposes that are not directly concerned with the teacher

also guide the supervisor

a. ensuring the supply of teaching materials to the schools

b. Ensuring that the quality of instruction is maintained in the school.

c. Providing an opportunity to assess the moral tone of the school

d. feedback to educational to educational planners on the need for

curriculum change/improvements.

Needs/Reasons for School Supervision

Since school supervision is aimed at improving the effectiveness and efficiency of

teachers so that they can contribute maximally to the attainment of the
educational goals effective supervision becomes very necessary in educational
management.

Ogunsaju (1983), pointed out some of the reasons why

inspection/supervision is conducted. These include

1. To improve incompetent teachers

2. To discover special abilities and qualities possessed by teachers in the
schools.

3. To know the effectiveness of classroom management by teachers.

4. To assess the tone of the school and identify some of its most urgent needs.

5. To provide a guide for staff development

6. To provide the ministry of education with a full picture of the institutions,

and the part which the ministry could or should play in assisting the
principal to improve the institution.

7. To advise the government and staff with up-to –date equipment and
instructional materials which can be used to improve the quality of
instruction.

8. To evaluate the balance and score of the achievement of the stated aims
and objectives.

9. To advise on maximum utilization of available resources

10. To examine record keeping in accordance with the relevant education laws
and regulation

11. To ensure that public funds are wisely spent

12. To fulfill the requirement for registering a school for public examination.

Types of Supervision
There are two main types of supervision of instruction according to Jaiyeoba
(2006:226). They are

i. Internal Supervision

ii. External supervision

Internal supervision

This is the type of supervision carried out by the internal supervisor in the school
such as the principal, vice-principal, head of departments and person designated
by the principal to carry out the supervisory role.

External Supervision.

This is the type of supervision carried out by people designated by the Ministry of
Education to carryout supervision in schools. Such people are the Chief Inspectors
of Education, Deputy Inspector of Education, Zonal Inspectors of Education etc.
These inspectors have their primary responsibility to inspect schools and work
directly with teachers to improve the quality of instruction in schools.

Kinds of External Supervision

External supervision can further be divided into four main types. They are:

i. Full inspection

ii. Follow –up inspection

iii. Partial inspection

iv. Recognition inspection/certification inspection

Full Inspection

Here every aspect of the school is supervised. They include the teaching staff,
non-teaching staff, subjects taught in the school records, equipment, school plant,
and overall organization of the school, among others.

This is carried out to ascertain the level of school performance in the area
of curriculum implementation. Distribution of duties, students performance,
school programmes and discipline among the students and teachers.

Follow –Up Inspection

This type of supervision is carried out to assess the actions taken on the
recommendations and suggestions made in the supervisors report during the full
inspection exercise. The aim of this follow-up inspection is to find out if the
recommendations made have positive effects in achieving the desired objectives.

Partial Inspection

In this type of supervision, the supervisory practice is limited in scope. All school
activities are not involved and it does not involve a team of inspectors as in the
full inspection.

Certificate Inspection

This type of inspection is mainly for the teachers that need upgrading for
one reason or the other. It is useful for confirmation of appointment at the end of
the teachers’ probation period, which is usually two years from the date of first
appointment.
Recognition Inspection

This is related to certification inspection. It is the type of inspection that is

usually conducted on a young school which had already had an advisory visit and
is now seeking to gain accreditation as a centre for public examinations such as
the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) and the National
Technical Certificate Examination among others.

It is designated to assess the standard as well as the preparedness of any

institution seeking accreditation to the examination conducted by public
examination bodies; for example the West African Examination Council (WAEC),
National Examinations Council (NECO) with a view to recommending them for
approval by such bodies.

Stages of Supervision

Supervision in instruction involves three stages namely

i. The preparation stage,

ii. the real supervision or observation stage, and

iii. the conference stage

The Preparation Stage

This is the period prior to supervision. The school or the person to be supervised
is informed at this stage. The types of supervision or areas to be supervised are
communicated so that adequate preparation can be made. Adequate plans for
successful supervision are made at this stage.
The Real Supervision or Observation Stage

This is the stage at which the real observation is carried out. The supervisor
visits the school/ classroom and observes the situation (ie school compound.
lesson, appearance of the both the students and teachers, instructional materials,
teaching methods used etc). During the observation process, the supervisor takes
notes and makes recommendations and suggestions for improvements.

The Conference Stage

This is the last stage. At this stage, a meeting is held with those supervised
(teachers). The findings during observation are discussed at this stage. Teachers
are expected to ask questions. The schools/teachers are commended where
necessary and areas of weaknesses are brought into focus for improvement.
Suggestions/recommendation are made for improvement.

Managerial Skills of Supervision required by Administrators for Effective School

Management.

Principals as guarantors of qualitative education and implementers of

educational policies ought to possess some managerial skills of supervision which
are vital for their effectiveness in school management. The principals as chief
executive and administrators are expected to oversee the activities of both
teaching and non-teaching staff to ensure that they conform to generally
accepted principles and practice of education. To carry out this onerous
responsibility, the supervisors should posses the competencies; behavious, traits
and ability to enable them do the work effectively.
 Kotter (1992) referred to managerial skills of supervision as a body of skills
and competencies that a supervisor manifests in directing the affairs of an
organization. In a similar way, Lewis (1995) described managerial skills of
supervision as the competencies and strategies through which a supervisor plans,
controls, and directs the activities of an organization including the effective use of
resources. These resources include people, raw materials, plants and equipment.

Vikali (2005) categorized the managerial skills of supervision into

 Planning
 Organizing
 Controlling
 Co-coordinating
 Directing
 Communicating and
 Innovating
The School Administrators are expected to possess the managerial skills of
supervision mentioned above in order to interact effectively with teachers during
supervision exercise in schools. Highly experienced teachers should be involved in
decision making and performing supervisory roles.

Factors for Effective Supervision

To ensure effective supervision and to achieve the laudable objective of

supervision, Jaiyeoba (2006) outlined the following as necessary factors:

i. Employment of qualified and adequate number of supervisors/ inspectors.

As a result of inadequate staff in the inspectorate division the overall

performance has been poor. There is therefore need to employ qualified
hands which will go a long way in curbing the problem of irregularity in the
supervisory exercise.
ii. Adequate funding of inspectorate division

The programmes meant to achieve the stated objectives of inspection are

transformed into reality through finance. If the fund expected is not
allocated on time, this could mar successful implementation of plans.

iii. Supply of adequate facilities

There are some facilities needed for the success of inspection (transport
facility, writing materials etc). Government should come to the aid of the
inspectorate division for adequate provision of the facilities required.

iv. Cooperation from the school staff

The school staff, starting from the principals should see the supervisors as
partners in progress. Necessary support should be given to the visiting
supervisors; this is the only way of ensuring a successful exercise.

v. Adoption of democratic style of inspection.

If the inspectors want maximum cooperation from the school staff, they
too have to be democratic. They should not dominate the scene of the
exercise. Staff should not be seen as novices. The inspectors can also learn
from them (i.e school staff).

vi. Staff development

The staffs in the inspectorate unit have to undergo regular training such as
workshops, in service training, seminars etc. Also they should be
encouraged to further their studies. This will be to the advantage of
individual staff member as well as the educational system as a whole.
 Effective supervision fulfils the expected goals and objectives and
contributes to improve teaching and learning.

Summary:

This chapter discusses the school administration and supervision in

educational system. The essence of this discourse is based on the fact that
effective administration and supervision are veritable tools for the educational
system. Based on this fact, it is pertinent to accord high priority to supervision of
instruction in order to improve teaching and learning. School supervision is aimed
at assisting teachers to teach the learner in the most effective way. To promote
excellence in teaching and learning, there must be effective school
administration.

School administration could be defined as the systematic arrangement of

human and materials resources including activities designed to achieve
educational goals. The principal is the chief executive officer in the secondary
school system. Therefore, the success of the school administrator depends on his
effectiveness in steering the ship of the school to be able to facilitate success and
also taking active part in supervisory role to ensure qualitative education in the
school.

When effective school administration and supervision are given their

rightful position in the educational system, teachers’ job performance and
students’ academic performance will improve greatly.
Review Questions

1. Explain the following

a. School Administration (b) School Supervision

2. Discus the main task areas of school administration

3. What are factors that determine effective school supervision?

4. Why is supervision necessary in teaching and learning process?

5. School administration could only function effectively through the

application of the administrative processes. State and briefly discuss the
administrative processes of school, administration.
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