DISTRIBUTION AND UTILIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES IN TWO STATE/FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OWNED SCHOOLS IN LAGOS STATE ABSTRACT
This study examined the distribution and
utilization of educational resources in two state schools and two
federal government owned schools in Lagos State. Relevant and extensive
literature were reviewed in this study. The descriptive survey design
was used in the study. To ascertain the opinions of the selected
respondents the use of the questionnaire was adopted. A total of 150
respondents were involved in this study while the population of the
study of the study are all teachers in state and federal government
owned secondary schools in Lagos State. Two null hypotheses were
formulated and tested in this study using the Pearson product moment
correlation coefficient at 0.05 level of significance. At the end of the
study, it was observed that there is a significant relationship between
resources allocation and standards of education in secondary schools in
Lagos State (both state and federal government) and that there is a
significant relationship between distribution of resources and their
utilization and academic performance of students.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgments iv
Abstract v
Table of Contents vi
CHAPTER ONE 1
Introduction and Background to the Study 1
Statement of the Problem 3
Purpose of the Study 4
Research Questions 5
Research Hypotheses 6
Significance of the Study 6
Scope of the Study 7
Definition of Terms 7
CHAPTER TWO: Literature Review 9
Concept of Resource Allocation 10
Procedure Adopted for Resource Allocation 11
Distribution of Resources Within the Education Sector 12
Adequacy of Resources for Education 15
Strategies for Measuring Efficiency of Resource Allocation 20
Use of Budgetary Processes to Evaluate Performance of the
Educational System 24
Political Processes for Evaluating Allocation to Education 27
Disparity in States’ Allocation to Education 29
Public Budgeting System as Resource Allocation Strategy 32
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 33
Introduction 33
Research Design 33
Population of the Study 33
Sample and Sampling Technique 33
Research Instrument 34
Procedure for Data Collection 34
Procedure for Data Analysis 35
CHAPTER FOUR: Data Analysis and Interpretation of Results 36
Introduction 36
Descriptive Analysis of Bio-Data of the Respondents used in this Study 36
Descriptive Analyses of Research
Questions and Responses from the Questionnaires
39
Testing of Hypotheses 49
Summary of Findings 51
CHAPTER FIVE: Summary, Conclusions, Recommendations and
Implications 52
Introduction 52
Summary of the Study 52
Conclusion 53
Recommendations 54
Implications of the Study 56
Implication for Planning and Policy
Implication for Administration
Implication for Further Studies
References 58
Appendices 62
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction and Background to the Study
Interest in the study of how resources
are allocated at variety of levels within educational system grew
rapidly during the 1970’s and 1980’s (Adeleke, 1994). According to
Adeleke, the desire to learn more about the internal allocation of
resources for education has not been limited to decentralization of the
schooling systems such as in the United States, Canada and Nigeria. Even
in highly centralized school governance systems, considerable variation
exists at local levels on how educational resources are ultimately
distributed and utilized. Studies have began to examine these internal
distribution practices in wide variety of nations around the world
(Allenson, 2000).
Otis (1997) states that in Nigeria, the
early work on education resources allocation dates back from the early
twentieth century and this focused on the availability, apportionment
and utilization of the resources among constituent local Education
Agencies or Authorities.
The distribution and utilization of
education resources witness challenges such as how much resources are
allocated to various schools, how has the population of the schools
commensurate with the resources allocated to them. There is interest on
what happens to the resources allocated for distribution to various
educational levels of primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in
Nigeria. Also, there is an interest on the type of programmes run by the
schools and the type of students admitted. These determine to a large
extent whether the resources allocated to the schools are well utilized
or not (Anyamele, 2001).
According to Obadina (1998), there is
the desire to learn more about what educational managers do with the
resources allocated to their schools. Also there is the desire to learn
more about these internal resources allocation.
According to Uzoma (1994), the budget
allocation for education is nothing to write home about, a situation
where less than 10 per cent of fiscal allocation is given to education, a
sector that requires enormous or huge expenditure. This has resulted in
low salary structure of teachers, lack of full remuneration by teachers
and even the standard of education in the country has been affected.
Another problem of allocation and
utilization of educational resources is the corrupt practices of the
managers of the resources and their lack of vision and misplaced
priorities they give to certain areas of education sector which ought
not to be so.
Research examining inequalities within
schools is hardly new. Analysis such as Abel (1999), for years have been
concerned with the phenomena such as the tracking of students by
academic specialization or the grouping of students for instructional
purposes. According to them, there have been studies of high school
tracking where findings suggest that students assigned to the
non-academic track are seriously discriminated against. There has also
been studies of instructional grouping where the findings reveal
substantial inequalities in the amount and character of the
instructional resources that are supplied (Breaben and Oakes, 1991).
This study among other things will treat
the availability, distribution and utilization of resources to various
levels in the state and federal government owned schools.
Statement of the Problem
According to Anyanwu (1990), education
in Nigeria has not been well treated in terms of location and
utilization of resources. For instance, the state and federal government
owned schools suffer the problem of low funding which is as a result of
low budget allocation of below 10 per cent to the education sector,
whereas education ought to be given a lion share of the fiscal
allocation from federation account. The inadequate allocation and poor
utilization of the education resources has resulted in the low
remuneration of the teaching personnel as well as low or poor
availability of instructional materials for effective teaching and
processes. This has affected the standard of education negatively. Many
schools lack current materials in their libraries, poor equipment in
science laboratories and poor maintenance of available infrastructure
and in some cases even lack of manpower to utilize the scarce material
resources that are available in schools. This has been the greatest
problem of our school system, and has impacted negatively on our schools
generally. The problem of this study therefore, is on poor distribution
and utilization of educational resources in Lagos State Secondary
Schools and Federal Government Colleges in Lagos State.
Purpose of the Study
This study examines the distribution and
utilization of education resources in two state schools and two federal
government owned schools in Lagos State.
The specific objectives of this study are:
- to determine whether education resources have been distributed well in Nigerian schools.
- whether the resources allocated to schools are utilized effectively by educational personnel.
- to compare and contrast between the allocation and distribution of
resources to both states and federal government owned schools.
- to examine the problem of ineffective distribution and utilization of education resources in our schools.
Research Questions
The following research questions will be answered during the course of the study:
- Have education resources been well distributed in Nigerian schools?
- To what extent is the resources allocated to schools effectively utilized?
- Does the government allocate adequate resources to the education sector in Lagos State?
- To what extent can we compare and contrast the allocation and
distribution of the resources in both the federal and the state owned
schools?
- What are the problems of resource allocation, distribution and utilization in Nigeria schools?
Research Hypotheses
The following hypotheses will be tested in the course of the study:
- There is no significant relationship between allocation of resources
and educational standard in Nigerian secondary schools (both Lagos
State and Federal Schools).
- There is no significant relationship between distribution and utilization of resources in schools.
Significance of the Study
This study will benefit teachers,
principals and school authorities at both the state and the federal
levels of our schools system. For instance, teachers would find out this
beneficial because it will give them an insight on the low level of
funds and other resources allocated to educational sector. Also, the
government especially at the federal level will through this study
understand that the budgetary allocations given to education is
inadequate and may have a change of policy or a rethink on the issue of
budgetary allocation to education in Nigeria. the study will be an
important reference material to new researchers and students as well as
the general public.
Scope of the Study
The study attempts to investigate the
distribution and utilization of educational resources in two state owned
schools and two federal government owned schools in Lagos State of
Nigeria.
Definition of Terms
The following operational terms have been defined as they will be used in this study:
- Distribution: This refers to the way and manner in
which educational materials (resources) are shared or sent to various
arms of our educational system to be utilized in order to sustain growth
and educational development.
- Utilization: This refers to the usage of the shared educational resources for a practical purpose of developing the entire school sector.
- Resources: This could be human or material
resources in education. It is the human or material resources that are
needed to enhance the growth and development of a country’s educational
system. Human resources are the personnel (principals/teachers/other
staff), while material resources are the funds and other educational
materials used in schools.
- Allocation: This is an amount of money and or space
that is given to a particular school for a specific purpose. This is
the act of giving instructional material to a particular school for the
aim of achieving desired goals or objectives.