CURRENT ISSUES IN
EDUCATIONAL
MANAGEMENT IN NIGERIA
Edited by
N. A. Nwagwu
E. T. Ehiametalor
M. A. Ogunu
Mon Nwadiani
A publication of the
Nigerian Association for Educational
Administration and Planning
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface and Acknowledgement …………………………….xi — xn
SECTION 1: MANAGEMENT OF A FREE COMPULSORY
SCHOOL SYSTEM
1
Chapter 1:
Educational Management in Nigeria. ... ……..2-12
Prof. A. B. Fafunwa
Chapter 2:
Management of Free and Compulsory Education
in Nigeria: Issues and Problems. ............ 13-23
Dr. M. S. Onwueme
Chapter 3:
Effective Management Strategies for a Free and
Compulsory School System in Kwara State. 24-37
Dr. (Mrs.) A. T. Alabi
Chapter 4:
Effective Management of Schools for
Compulsory Education. ..
...
...
Dr. Michael U. C. Ejieh
38-47
Chapter 5:
Management Demand of Universal Basic
Education Programme..
...
...
48-59
Dr. (Mrs.) R. O. Olubor and Dr. S. Unyimadu
Chapter 6:
Planning and Managing Universal Basic Education
(UBE) at the Primary School
Level in Cross River State………........
60-70
Dr. Usang U. Bassey and Mrs. Ijeoma A. Archibong
Chapter 7:
Investigating Factors Influencing Primary School
Pupils' Learning Achievement in Imo State... 71-90
Assoc. Prof. I. L Anukam
iii
SECTION 2:
HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AND
MANAGEMENT
91
Chapter 8:
Training and Utilization of Educational
Administrators and Planners in Nigeria... 92-101
Dr. R. A. Alani
Chapter 9:
Conflict Dimension in Higher Education Personnel
Management... ………………………….. 103-113
Dr. C. I. Imhabekhai
Chapter 10:
Staff Development for Improved School
Management...........................................114-123
Dr. A. OgunJele
Chapter 11:
Nigerian Universities and the Development
of Human Resources............................124-137
Dr. A. Y. Abdulkareem
Chapter 12:
Time Utilization and Goal Setting: A challenge
to Human Resource Development...... 138 - 148
Dr. (Mrs.) C. J. Ifedili
Chapter 13:
Curriculum Planning and Manpower
Development..............................................149-162
Dr. Jide (hvolabi
Chapter 14:
Business Education: How well is it meeting
Challenges of Human Resources Development
in Nigeria?........................................
163 174
Dr. L. E. EkpenyongandJ. Nwabuisi
Chapter 15:
Issues in Incentive Administration for Effective
Workforce Retention: A Study of Some Primary
School Teachers in Aguata.........
175188
Dr. Virgy Onyene
iv
SECTION 3:
PROVISION AND MANAGEMENT OF EDUCATION
FINANCE
189
Chapter 16:
Financial Planning for State Secondary Schools: A
Strategy for Qualitative Secondary Education
in Nigeria............................................
190-201
Dr. G. C. Nduka
Chapter 17:
Towards Effective Fiscal Resources Management
System in the Nigerian Secondary Schools:
Some Guidelines............
202-210
Dr. (Mrs.) A. N. Okorie
Chapter 18:
Enrolment Projection and Cost Implication of
Universal Basic Education in Nigeria...... 211 - 229
Dr. J. K. Adeyemi and V. O Igbineweka
Chapter 19:
Provision and Management of Education
Finance in Nigeria......
...
...
230-251
Dr. P. O. Okunamiri
SECTION 4:
SUPERVISION, STANDARDS AND
QUALITY CONTROL
252
Chapter 20:
Supervision, Evaluation and Quality Control
in Education......... ………….
......
253-269
Prof. S. O. Igwe
Chapter 21:
Problems of School Inspection in Nigeria... 270 - 281
Dr. M. A. Ogunu
Chapter 22:
Supervision as an Instrument for Maintaining
Standards and Quality Control in UBE...
282 - 294
Dr. (Mrs.) C. N. Ojogwu
Chapter 23:
From Quality Control to Quality Assurance: A
Panacea for Quality Education in Nigerian
Schools..................................................
295-303
Dr. (Mrs.) Yetunde Ijaiya.
v
SECTION 5: FACILITIES PLANNING AND
MANAGEMENT
304
Chapter 24:
School Facilities: Management Practice In
Nigena................................................
305-319
Prof. E. T. Ehiametalor
Chapter 25:
Maintenance of Secondary School Facilities
in Midwestern Nigeria...
.. ...
320-331
Dr. (Mrs.) B. O. Ogonor and Mrs. G. A. Sanni
Chapter 26:
Facilities and University Development... 332 - 343
Mrs. R. O. Osagie
SECTION 6:
RELATED ISSUES
Chapter 27:
Computer - Based MIS and the 21s1 Century
University Administration in Nigeria...
345-358
Dr. (Mrs.) Uche Emctarom
Chapter 28:
Computer in Educational Planning and
Administration.
...
...
...
Dr. V. O. 'Ibadin
344
359-364
Chapter 29:
Motivation and Teacher Classroom Evaluation
and Management in Edo State......
... 365-376
Dr. (Mrs.) F. I. Ofocgbu
Chapter 30:
The Role of Educational Administrators in the
Promotion of In-service Teacher Education for
Primary School Teachers in Nigeria... 377 - 396
Dr. E. D. Nakpodia
Chapter 31:
Strategies for Resolving Ethical Problems
in School Administration...
...
397
Dr. M. E. Ijcoma
vi
413
Chapter 32:
Strategies for Improving the Quality of
Education in Nigerian Universities...... 414 - 423
Dr. (Mrs.) V. O. Ochuba
Chapter 33:
Challenges of Educating Nigerian Youths
for the 21st Century...... ...
...
424-431
Prof. Aloy Ejiogu
vii
Chapter 23
From Quality Control to Quality Assurance:
A Panacea for Quality Education in
Nigerian Schools
By
Dr. (Mrs.) Yetunde Ijaiya
University of Ilorin
Introduction
The worth of any educational system as an investment lies
in its capability to continuously serve its customers (students,
parents, employers or labour, the society) better and remain
relevant. Educational planners are therefore faced with two main
challenges: providing for quantity and for quality.
Quantity is concerned with numbers, that is, getting as
many citizens as possible to school within the shortest time
allowed while quality is about how good or bad the products are
and answers the question: What manner of education? Of the two,
quantity is easier to deliver than quality. If universal free education
is backed up with adequate resources (teachers and teaching
facilities), school enrolment is guaranteed to increase. How to
ensure quality education is the aspect that presents educational
managers the most challenging task.
It is in the aspect of quantitative growth that educational
planners even in Nigeria can lay claim to some success though a
lot is still required to be done. In the process however, quality
seems to have suffered with all the attendance consequences. Yet
295
without quality, education becomes a wastage and even poses
danger to the individual beneficiary and the society.
The quality of education being provided for children has
been a source of grave concern for a long time. Critics have said
that the education was too bookish and irrelevant to African needs
during the colonial period and even after independence in
1960.
The 1969 Curriculum Conference which culminated in
the National Policy on Education and the 6-3-3-4 system of
education was a reaction to that fact, i The school curriculum was
expected to be comprehensive to cater for varying talents of
children. Yet, complaints about the low quality of education has
continued. In recent time, more concerned people, state] governors,
government officials have come out openly to admit and lament]
the rot in the educational system. For instance, Jacob (2001, p. 11)
expressed concern about the declining level of literacy in Igala
land which I can be traced to "teaching employment given to
unqualified applicants and admissions given to some unqualified
candidates”.
Olayemi (2001, p. 11) also observed that "the depreciation
that has endangered public schools is undoubtedly the major cause
that led to the emergence of private schools". He however noted
that private schools! need to be closely monitored to stem the
abuse which is now common! among them. Apart from such
comments, other indicators of declining quality and wastage in the
education system include high drop-out and! failure rates, rampant
examination malpractices, poor reading and writing skills among
students at all levels. Evidence of wastage abounds among] the
teeming population of students who repeat General Certificate
Examination (G.C.E) and Joint Admission Matriculation Board
(JAMB) Examination every year. There is also evidence of client
reaction as many parents take their children to private schools
within or outside the count for those who can afford to.
In recent years, the trend in many countries has been
towards restructuring of school management. Decentralization has
296
received morel attention as a means of reducing wastage and
ensuring greater quality, that is, quality control is exchanged for
quality assurance (West - Burnham, 1994).
The focus of this paper is on how qualitative education can
be guaranteed in Nigerian schools. It will therefore examine the
concept of quality and quality control and highlight quality control
practices. It will also identify factors that stifle quality in Nigerian
schools, and suggest the adoption of Total Quality in the
educational system. It will also make recommendations for
effective practice of Total Quality Management.
Quality and Quality Control
Quality is perceived differently by various professionals
who often use the term. While, for instance, an accountant sees the
quality of a product in terms of cost-effectiveness, a customer is
likely to judge it on the basis of its reliability. However, quality is
something everyone considers good and wants to have (Cole,
1996). Quality has to do with whether something is good or bad; it
is about the standard of something when compared with other
things. It therefore pre-supposes that there is a standard set. In
manufacturing industries, standard or quality of products can be
assessed against an original product or against customers
specifications. Quality control is therefore directed at determining
the extent to which a product meets that standard. Cole (1996, p.
232) defines quality control as "basically a system for setting
standards and taking appropriate action to deal with deviations
outside permitted tolerances".
Quality control is a retroactive action used to determine the
quality of a product or a system after processing and during which
wastages would have occurred and what is left is to reject and/or
battle with rectification. It is however, better, more rewarding and
less costly to take steps to prevent failure and wastage before they
happen. Hence the need for quality assurance which is preventive
rather than corrective.
297
Quality Assurance or Quality Control
Quality control practices in Nigerian education is based
essentially i school inspection, monitoring and control.
While
such measures appropriate for obtaining data on policy
implementation and for strategic planning, and aid public
accountability, they are of little value when comes to managing
classroom learning processes (West - Burnt 1994). Also, while
the provision and rehabilitation of school facilities assist in the
delivery of quality, some intervention is needed to plan utilize such
facilities effectively in the teaching/learning process.
School inspection has been criticized for its inadequacy to
assist classroom teachers to improve their performance (Tuoyo,
1999). West — Burnham (1994) also sees inspection as an
external imposition which prone to rejection by teachers. This is
more so when inspectors behave like tin-gods (Ijaiya, 1991).
School inspection is particularly criticized its limitations as a postmortem examination of certain school activities, searches for
lapses and wastages rather than preventing them and the seeks
rectification which is often more costly (West - Burnham, 1994)
terms of time, money and energy to the student, government,
teachers : parents. Neither the parents nor the pupils expect failure.
Most child come to school with hope and enthusiasm to learn but
somewhere ale the process, many fail even though teachers are
teaching. Failure therefore, suggests that there is a dissonance
between what the teachers teach and the needs of the learners.
Inspectors on visits to the school may not be able to handle this
problem successfully without the schools' input Schools are
therefore in the best position to attack such a problem being in
constant touch with their own students. How schools can best do
this the main concern of this paper.
The worth of any management is based on its ability to
produce quality products and satisfy clients and other stake holders. Its tasks, therefore, include identifying and solving any
problem that militates against quality delivery. Such a problem
298
solving approach will be directed at taking preventive measures
against wastage. Prevention is therefore the basis of Quality
Assurance Management or Total Quality (West -Burnham,
1994). In the attempt to provide quality education, there are
pertinent questions to be raised such as: who should ensure
quality? Who should be held accountable? And with what
consequences? The issue of educational accountability has not
been addressed in Nigeria for obvious reasons. In the U.S.A for
instance, principals have been "dismissed or re-assigned due to low
student achievement" (Reaves, 2001, p. 21). In Nigeria, such
school heads stay put. Lack of public demand for accountability
from head teachers and teachers is a strong factor for declining
quality in the system. Neither promotion nor transfer is linked to
pupil achievement. The lack of clearly defined quality standard and
how to assess it even makes it easier for teachers to feel
unaccountable for quality. However, the Government is not, at
present, in a strong option to demand full accountability from
Nigerian teachers or take such a stem measure against them as in
the U.S.A where education is much better funded and enjoys
stability. Nigerian teachers work under difficult and unstable
conditions such as inadequate teaching facilities, irregular and
inadequate remunerations, under-funding of education and strikes.
It should be noted that quality delivery begins from policy makers
to resource providers, policy implements and students; that is, it is
the responsibility of all stake holders. Both the input and the
processing contribute to the quality of the products.
The need to enhance productivity and minimise wastage
has led to a new but "broader, organisation-wide approach to
quality" away from the traditional view of quality control to
quality assurance (Cole, 1996, p. 237) which has been variously
termed Quality Management (QM), Total Quality (TQ), Total
Quality Management (TQM) (West - Burnham, 1992; Cole, 1996;
Bush and Coleman, 200).
299
Total Quality “works to ensure that every aspect of the
organisation and every employee is focused all the time in meeting
and then exceeding customer requirements” (West - Burnham,
1994, p. 172). Cole (1996) sees it as approach that is based on a
positive attitude to quality at every level in the organisation. Cole
(1996) noted that TQ has its genesis in the work of Professor
Ishikawa, who while training supervisors on quality process came
to the realization that workers' participation in the quality process
can ensure the achievement of quality standard, provide feedback
to supervisors and managers about quality problems and secure
workers’ commitment to quality. When workers form part of the
total quality production process, quality assurance becomes
participative collaborative (Cole, 1996).
Others whose works also had profound influence on TQ are
W. Edwards Deming and Jooseph Juran (Cole, 1996), both of
who developed statistical process control in post war Japanese
industries. Their work showed that it was possible to attain
continuous high standard at affordable prices to the customers
when attention is paid to continuous improvement of production
process and when workers' commitment to quality production is
secured. Cole (1996) showed that 85% of failures in production is
traceable to management and this is because management often
becomes complacent with failure, assuming that current
performance is the best possible.
Juran’s position is that managers should be forward looking
and address underlying causes of problems rather than indulge in
curing the symptoms. However, it is not all aspects or absolutes of
TQ as put forward by its proponents that can be applied to
education. For instance, the absolute of 'zero defects' in setting
standard in industries is most unrealistic in education (West Burnham, 1995).
Three important lessons from TQ however, stand out as
relevant to quality assurance in education, c.nphasis on prevention
of wastage, involvement of students, teachers, head teachers,
300
inspectors and parents in the quality process, securing the right
attitude and commitment of all concerned to quality so that quality
becomes the concern of all the sundry.
TQM can be an internal arrangement by each school to
prevent wastage rather than rectify it. It recognizes the autonomy
of the school to handle its own affairs. The main features of TQM
according to Cole (1996, p. 242) include, prevention of errors
rather than detection and correction, right first time as the motto,
total commitment by management to TQM policy, meeting
requirements/quality as defined by the customers, each employee
is a customer to every other employee, quality implies continuous
improvement, review and measure performance, including all
quality processes as well as the delivery of the final product or
service and quality is everyone's responsibility (including
suppliers).
School-based total quality management should put in
place as preventive measures against failure and wastage. Efforts
would be made to identify learners' needs, problems would be
identified and underlying causes addressed. The idea of quality
assurance is however not totally strange to Nigerian schools.
Most private schools have already started some form of TQM.
In fact, the good ones among them have demonstrated
sensitivity for quality assurance through their teaching, extra
lessons, parental involvement etc. The philosophy behind TQM
is however to develop the culture of continuous improvement
through employees; collaborative efforts for the satisfaction
of customers' (students, parents, teachers and community) needs.
Each teacher will be a client to the next teacher by ensuring that he
passes on to the next class at least near perfect pupils both in
academic performance and behaviour. School based quality
assurance will therefore be a continuously built school-wide
culture of progressive programme involving all staff, students and
parents in the effort to produce well balanced, high quality pupils
from year to year and all weak points along the line will "be
301
collectively identified and dealt with before any damage is done. A
weak point in one class or at one level is the concern of all. There
is every expectation that TQM will become a reliable process for
improving school quality in Nigeria in the future. For effective
TQM schools have to be given more free hand through gradual decentralization of school management and adequate funding.
Conclusion
The desire for better quality of education is a generally
shared feeling in Nigeria as in many other countries. Though
quality production is the responsibility all of stakeholders, the
schools, in particular, play key role in the quality process. The
traditional practices of quality control through school inspection,
auditing and monitoring are mere retroactive actions taken after
possible damage had been done. Total Quality is suggested as a
better alternative for quality assurance because it focuses on
wastage prevention rather than corrective. The goal of TQ is to
develop a culture of total commitment to quality process in the
school so that wastage is prevented before it occurs. The motto is
right first time.
302
References
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Management in Education. Leicester: University of
Leicester. EDMU.
Cole, G. A. (1996). Management Theory and Practice. London:
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Ijaiya, N.Y.S. (1991). A guide to supervision of Instruction.
Ilorin: My Grace Graphics Repro. Co.
Jacobs, S. (2001). Trend of illiteracy in Igalaland: The Comet.
Thursday, October 11, 2001, p. 11.
Olayeni, A. (2001). Closure of Private Schools. Nigerian Tribune.
Thursday, October 11, 2001, p. 11.
Reeves, D.B. (2001). Crusade in the Classroom. New York: Simon
& Schister.
Tuoyo, M.U. (1999). Inspection and Supervision as Practice of
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E.E. Oluchukwu (eds). Educational Planning and
Administration in Nigeria in the 21th Century. Ondo:
National Institute for Educational Planning and
Administration
West - Burnham, J. (1992). Managing Quality in Schools.
Harlow: Longman.
West - Burnham, J. (1994). Inspection, evaluation and quality
assurance. In T. Bush and J. West - Burnham (eds). The
Principles of Educational Management, pp. 157- 176.
Harlow: Longman.
West - Burnham, J. (1995). Total Quality Management in
Education. Leicester, University of Leicester EDMU.
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