Community participation in quality assurance in secondary school management. The case of school-based management committee (SBMC)
| Published date | 04 February 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-10-2017-0069 |
| Date | 04 February 2019 |
| Pages | 24-40 |
| Author | Ifeyinwa O. Ezenwaji,Mkpoikanke Sunday Otu,Bernedeth N. Ezegbe,Charity C. Okide,Chiedu Eseadi |
| Subject Matter | Education,Curriculum, instruction & assessment,Educational evaluation/assessment |
Community participation in
quality assurance in secondary
school management
The case of school-based
management committee (SBMC)
Ifeyinwa O. Ezenwaji and Mkpoikanke Sunday Otu
Department of Educational Foundations, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
Bernedeth N. Ezegbe
Department of Social Science Education, Faculty of Education,
University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
Charity C. Okide
Department of Adult Education and Extra-Mural Studies, University of Nigeria,
Nsukka, Nigeria, and
Chiedu Eseadi
Department of Educational Foundations, University of Nigeria,
Nsukka, Nigeria
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to determine the extent school-based management committee (SBMC)
participatesin enhancing quality assurance in secondary schoolmanagement in Enugu state, Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach –A total of 1,305 people participated in the study, which included a
sample of 843 comprising 281 principalsin all the public secondary schools, 281 community representatives
and 281 Parent Teachers Association (PTA) representatives were randomly selected form Enugu State,
Nigeria. There were17 local government areas in Enugu State where those public schoolswere located; a 29-
item questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection. In addition, the questionnaire was
developed using simple English words to facilitate their understanding. Mean and standard deviation were
used to answerthe research questions, while analysis of variancewas used to test the hypotheses.
Findings –The findings showed that SBMC enhanced quality assurance in public secondary schools in
Enugu State to a low extent. The governmentshould therefore educate the principals on the role of the SBMC
to ensure qualityin public secondary schools in Enugu State, Nigeria.
Research limitations/implications –It was challenging for the researchers to help the principals
understand the rationale and significance of the study. Thus, the researchers spent a great deal of time,
explaining the parametersand goals of the study. Another limitation was that additionaldata from interview
and focus group couldhave added more useful information. Therefore, futureresearchers should try as much
as possible to addfocus group discussion and interview in studies similar to this one.
Practical implications –The finding that there are major problems militatingagainst the operation of
the SBMC in public secondaryschools in Enugu State Nigeria implies that if proper policy is not made to ease
the implementation of SBMC, it would be difficultto maintain quality assurance in the secondary schools. In
addition, the findings show indication that educational counseling is lacking in the secondary schools in
Enugu state, especially on the part of principals, and PTA. Therefore, there is need for the government to
make qualityassurance counseling available for principaland PTA to ensure quality assurance.
QAE
27,1
24
Received25 October 2017
Revised13 August 2018
11October 2018
Accepted6 December 2018
QualityAssurance in Education
Vol.27 No. 1, 2019
pp. 24-40
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0968-4883
DOI 10.1108/QAE-10-2017-0069
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0968-4883.htm
Originality/value –The researchers originated that SBMC enhances quality assurance in public
secondaryschools.
Keywords Quality assurance, Community, Public secondary school, SBMC
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Few decades ago, Nigerian school administrators have tended to keep parents from
participating in school policy issues affecting their children with the argument that a
professional skill such as teaching must be carried out without interruption or interference
from homes. As a result, parents and children in Nigeria were increasingly alienated from
their communities and ill preparedfor playing any useful roles in the community. Presently,
Nigerian schools are becoming more involved with the community with respect to their
children’s education. Schools are starting to be seen as instruments of development for the
community, both local and national, and as centers for the education and training of
members of the community. In addition, schools are trying to encourage parents to take a
greater interest in the school and get a better understanding of what is going on in the
classroom. This led to the policy statement in the National Policy on Education of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004 (FRN), which stated that the government’s ultimate goal
was to make education free at all levels. In Nigeria, the financing of education is a joint
responsibility of the federal, state, and local governments, as well as the private sector. In
this connection, the governmentwelcomes participation of voluntary agencies, communities,
and private individuals in the establishment and management of secondary schools (FRN
Section 5, p. 22, 2004). The new thrust in Education delivery worldwide emphasizes
participation by involvement of all stakeholders in education, including the Community
Accountability Transparency Initiatives (CATI) and school-based management committee
(SBMC), among others to empower the communitiesto trade resources, develop, utilize and
equate with the quantum of input to ensure quality in education. The growing concern for
quality has led Nigeria to look for ways of achieving quality education at all levels of
education. The need to inspire quality consciousness in school operators and managers for
attainment of total quality assurance in secondary school and a turnaround in educational
effectiveness gave birth to the concept of community participation in school management
(Ogundele and Adelabu,2009).
What is school-based management committee?
According to Ayeni and Ibukun (2013), SBMC is the process of devolution of power and
authority to significant stakeholders to perform statutory responsibilities in the
administration, monitoring, evaluation, and review of education policy issues for
sustainable, goal-oriented governance and effective teaching and learning activities to
achieve set standards and quality learning outcomes in schools. Ayeni et.al. further stated
that the decentralization of decision processes in educational policy issues entrenches
democratic principles, community participation, equity, as well as integration of diverse
local interests and needs in school management. Ogundele and Adelabu (2009) noted that
the SBMC in Nigeria is a form of community involvement in school governance, which is
based on regulation with elected but voluntarymembership. Certainly, the intention behind
the school committee method is to implement democratic participatory decision-making.
According to the Federal Government Blueprint (2011) on the guidelines for the
development of SBMC, committees will generally comprise 12 to 19 people; any more than
Quality
assurance in
secondary
school
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