EFFECT OF SCHOOL INSPECTION ON EDUCATION STANDARD IN TARABA STATE PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION 

1:1 Chapter Overview

This chapter contains ten sections as follows: Background to the study, Problem statement, Conceptual framework, Research aim, Overall objective, Specific Objectives, Hypothesis, Significance of the study, Definition of key concepts, and Organisation of the study.

Background to the Study

School inspection is a vital service in all schools, which can be used to ensure improvement of academic achievement in schools. The impact of the school inspection however, depends on how it is done, and whether the recommendations by school inspectors are used as a tool to impel improvement of school performance. If observation during school inspection is not effectively communicated to all stakeholders and if feedback and follow up is lacking and there is no implementation of inspectors’ recommendations then school inspection will be a waste of time and resources. There are established performance indicators for quality education (see Appendix D) which are checked by both school inspectors and school supervisors. The schools where most of the performance indicators are attained are the schools which also perform well academically. School inspectors use the inspection findings to grade schools and to improve performance by providing guidance and support to teachers. In Nigeria school inspectors perform both functions (inspection and supervision) but school authorities dwell mainly on supervision.

School supervision is a continuous process of providing guidance and support to teachers in order to improve the provision of education. In Nigeria supervision in secondary schools is conducted by heads of schools, deputy heads of schools, academic coordinators and heads of departments. In secondary schools, school inspection is provided by the zonal inspectorate office.

Inspection and supervision are sometimes used interchangeably; however they have slightly different interpretations. According to Colin (2001), inspection involves observing work in schools, collecting evidence from a variety of other sources and reporting judgement. For him, inspection therefore involves making  judgement about the significance and worth of what is observed, collected and reported. However, Aiyepeku (1987) argues that inspection, is not so much on judging teachers but on assessing teaching and identifying educational problems with teachers in order to help them to find solutions to the problems.

Supervision may also be described as the exercise of general superintendence over the activities of functionaries in an establishment. This involves a system of mobilizing staff through the provision of guidance, advice, encouragement and motivation, in the discharge of their duties (Whawo, 1995; Institute of Education

University of Ibadan, 1981). Supervision involves an in-house helping relationship in which the supervisor constantly and continuously guides and assists the teachers to meet set targets while school inspection involves a cooperative relationship whereby the school inspector comes into the school from outside to check and ensure that set targets are being met by both teachers and in-house supervisors (Olagboye 2004). The schools of thought on supervision and inspection by Aiyepeku (1987), (Whawo 1995) and Olagboye (2004) show that both activities focus on the schools’ areas of weaknesses and provide solutions or recommend on possible remedies to the weaknesses.

Both school inspection and school supervision identify the shortcomings in the school setting and either passes judgement or provides remedial guidance and support to stakeholders. All stakeholders (school authorities, parents, students,  school supervisors and school inspectors) support quality education. School inspectors and school supervisors work towards reducing the shortcomings in the school setting. Where the shortcomings are kept to a minimum, academic achievement and performance will be enhanced

School inspection aims to produce graduates who are self reliant and who will contribute to national development and the economic welfare of the people in line with the roles of Nigerian school inspectors as per MOEVT (2014) requirements which are:

• To inspect all schools and write reports with a purpose of advising the Commissioner for Education on matters which require decision making for improvement.
• To inspect, educate and advise owners, managers, school boards/committees and teachers on good implementation of schools’ development
• To initiate and conduct educational research and disseminate information for the purpose of improving teaching standards in
• To act a link between the school, other institutions and the
• To take part in book writing, book review and production of handouts and articles for various academic
• To pursue personal professional and teacher academic
• To conduct in-service training for teachers and carry out supervisory visits to improve the quality of teaching in

School inspection is a vital means for monitoring the delivery of education according to stipulated curriculum and set standards. It also ensures efficiency and quality delivery in education. The efficiency and effective delivery of education under the decentralized and liberalized education system as stipulated in the Education and Training Policy document requires closer monitoring of schools as well as having adequate feed-back mechanisms between school inspectors and education agencies, managers and administrators at zonal, regional and district levels MOEC, 1995).

The School Inspectorate is a department within the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training headed by the Chief Inspector of Schools (CIS) who is also the director of the department. The C I S directly reports to the Commissioner of Education. The CIS is supported by four sections in the department, namely Management, Basic Education, Secondary Education and Teacher Education. Each of these four sections is headed by a head of section. In this context, the focus will be inspection in secondary schools. The duties and responsibilities of school inspectorate at secondary and teacher education at zonal level are

• to ensure effective inspection of secondary schools and teacher training colleges and their adherence;
• To set policy, aims, objectives and standards of education;
• To write progress reports on every subject taught in secondary schools and teacher training colleges;
• To prepare and implement action plans of their sections;
• To compile secondary and teacher education statistics;
• To prepare monthly, quarterly, mid-year and annual progress reports concerning secondary and teacher education in the zone;
• To prepare annual budget of secondary and teacher education sections to be incorporated in the budget for the zone;
• To conduct and analyze surveys and other educational researches;
• To analyze national examination results concerning secondary schools and teacher training colleges;
• To review books intended for use in secondary schools and teacher training colleges;
• To organize and participate in seminars, workshops and conferences concerning secondary and teacher education;
• To organize, recommend and facilitate in-service training for secondary school teachers and tutors in teacher training colleges and
• To accomplish any other tasks assigned to them by the Zonal Chief Inspector of Schools (MOEVT, 2009).

Statement of the Problem

Based on the roles and expectations of the society on the importance of school inspection and its impact on academic achievement, the government of Nigeria spends some of taxpayers’ money to support school inspection processes. One way to justify the taxpayers’ money expenditures is to measure the impact of school inspection. Under this circumstance it was important to investigate the impact of school inspection on the level of academic achievement whereby this situation is still a challenge because lots of the government schools are still operating below standard by measuring the student’s academic performance.

The Aims Objective 

The overall objective of this study was to investigate  the Effect of school inspection on education standard in Taraba state public secondary schools”

The specific objectives are;

• To assess the teachers’ perception on school inspection
• To explore how the recommendations in inspection reports are implemented by schools and other
• To examine the challenges that the inspectors face in the whole process of inspection.

Research Questions

• General Research Question
• How do teachers’ perceive school inspection?
• How are the recommendations in inspection reports implemented by schools and other authorities?
• What are the challenges faced by the inspectors during inspection?

Significance of the Study

This study will enable the Ministry of Education to become aware of the impact of school inspection on education standard . The study will motivate school inspectors to perform their duties more diligently. Teachers and heads of schools will see the advantages of their schools being inspected.

Definitions of Key Concepts 

In carrying out this study the following key concepts are defined in the context of the study as follows:

Inspect: To examine something carefully in order to judge its quality or correctness. (Microsoft Encarta, 2009). In the context of this study is to examine and evaluate all activities in a school setting.

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