The roles of community in financing and administration of secondary school.

PROJECT SUMMARY

Secondary education occupies a strategic position in Enugu State because of the important roles it plays in preparing the students for useful living in the society and for higher education. According to Rowntree in Ogbonnaya (2003: 141) “Secondary education refers to full-time education provided in secondary schools usually for pupils between the ages of eleven or twelve and eighteen plus”. It is also defined by the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1998: 16) in her National Policy on Education as “the form of education children receive after primary education and before the tertiary stage”. Secondary education in Nigeria is a six year programme, comprising of the junior secondary and senior secondary schools. Each section lasts for three years. The curriculum of the senior secondary school are comprehensive and diversified in nature. At the junior secondary school level, students are taught both academic and pre-vocational subjects. The state government through its state ministry of education controls and funds secondary education in the states through the state post primary schools management Board (PPSMB) or state Education Commission as it is called in Enugu State. The ministry provides quarterly grants to the board for execution of their management functions. The board utilizes these grants to pay teacher’s 2 remunerations, procure stationery, office equipment and physical facilities. The board also prepares budgets and awards contracts within the states Tender Board’s guidelines and regulations. It establishes conditions of service for all staff of Post Primary School subjects to the approval of the commissioner of education. Sources of funds for secondary schools in the state include quarterly grants, registration of students for external examinations and admission of new students, parents Teachers’ Association levies, Alumni Association levies, individuals, commercial and individuals, firms, donations and so on. Writing on community participation, Ndu, Ocho and Okeke (1997) pointed out that in 1970, the East Central state government took over school control and encouraged communities to build schools a situation which brought schools face to face with the political, social, economic and religious life of the community. They argued that school community relations has always been in existence as a preexisting condition of effective school management. The Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004) stated that the governments ultimate goals was to make education free at all levels, and that the financing of education is a joint responsibility of the Federal state and local government as well as private sector. In this context, government welcomes and encourages the participation of local communities, individuals and other organizations.