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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

Education remains the pivot on which the human resources of a nation is built. It contributes to social, economic, technological, political and even cultural development of any nation. In the words of Adu (2005) and Moore (1982), education is described as the sum of a person’s acquired experiences. Deji – Folutile (2004), Fadipe (2005) and Ogundare (2005), generally acknowledged that education is the springboard for societal and global development, as it brings about substantial and meaningful change, the world over.

The contribution of education to human resources development throughout the world cannot be quantified. The resources development based on education include meeting learning needs and aspiration of individuals through the development of their intellectual abilities and aptitudes. Therefore, government’s objective on issues concerning education is to ensure that the benefits derived from it are of consonance with the needs and aspirations of individual as well as the society. The qualities of education that the society or state receives bears direct relevance to the availability or lack of educational resources provided by the government.

Cadbury (1992) provided the first ever insight into what corporate governance is all about, which is the system by which companies and organizations are directed and controlled. Shleifer and Vishny (1997) stated that corporate governance involved the ways in which suppliers of finance to corporations assure themselves of getting a return on their investments. The World Bank (2002) opined that corporate governance refers to the organization and rules that affect expectations about the exercise of control of resources in firms. Whilst the Cadbury code presented a more general view to corporate governance, the view represented by Shleifer and Vishny (1997) tends to recognize “suppliers of finance” as the only eligible stakeholders. On the other hand, the World Bank perceived corporate governance as it relates to interpersonal interaction between the firms resources (and direction and its publics).

Corporate governance (CG) is defined as the formal system of accountability and control for legal, ethical and socially responsible decisions and use of resources in business organizations. It is based on certain institutions like; laws, contracts, norms and regulations that create self-governing system in the organization. A corporation has various stakeholders, internal and external groups whose support is essential for the survival and growth of any corporation (Freeman 1984; Lozano 2000; Mitroff 1983). This is therefore refers to the expenses which government incurs in the performance of its operations (towards education). As rightly noted by Adegbenro (2000) and Olanrewaju (2003) corporate governance has been a helping tool in maintaining a smooth growth rate in developed economy through economic stabilization, stimulation of investment activities and the likes corporate governance play a crucial role in under-developed economy, such roles include reduction of regional disparities, development of social overheads, creation of infrastructure for economic growth in terms of communication and transportation facilities, education and training (Olsyede, 2008; Reitz, 2005; Adegbenro, 2000).

However, in Nigeria education is considered as the most important instrument for change and for national development with which a nation can achieve its greatness socially, economically, technologically and politically (NPE, 1998, 2004). For a good educational policy or programme to guarantee quality outputs, it must be serviced optimally with appropriately trained and motivated teaching staff adequately supplied with necessary facilities and equipment. Resources (human and material), therefore, constitute the principal bedrock of an educational system. Unfortunately, the Nigerian educational system has hardly turned itself to these realities studies have shown that there is general inadequacies in respect of suitable teachers in number and quality funds and other material inputs (Adekoya, 2004; Gbadamosi, 2002; Obasa, 2000).

Secondary education occupies a strategic position in Nigerian education system. It serves as a link between primary and higher education by absorbing the product of the former and supplying entrants into the later. The measurement of is performance has to be in view of the stated objectives. The broad aim of secondary education is to prepare individual for:

(1)             Useful living within the society

(2)             Higher education (NPE, 1998; 17, 2004:13).

However, in specific terms, secondary education should:

(a)              Provide an increasing number of primary school pupils with the opportunity for education of higher quality irrespective of set, social, religion and ethnic background;

(b)             Diversity its curriculum to cater for the differences in talents, opportunities and roles possessed by or open to students after their secondary school course;

(c)              Equip students to have effectively in our modern age of science and technology;

(d)             Develop and project Nigerian culture, art and language as well as the world’s cultural heritage;

(e)              Raise a generation of people who can think for themselves, respect the views and feelings of others, respect, the dignity of labour and appreciate those values specified under our broad national aims and live, as good citizens;

(f)               Foster Nigerian unity with an emphasis on the common ties that unite us in our diversity;

(g)              Inspire its students with a desire for achievement and self – improvement both at school and in later life (NPE, 2004, Page 13-14).

The sum total of these aims is that a Nigerian youth should develop into a well integrated person who is socially stable, morally dependent, mentally and physically alert, intellectually equipped, nationally and internationally oriented and culturally adjusted.

The smooth functioning of any organisation depends largely on the availability of adequate resources. educational resources which are the sum total of everything that goes into the system, are very essential for the effective operation and maintenance of the system. School buildings, student-enrolment, adequate and qualified teaching staff, furniture, textbooks and other infrastructures that are vital for the system are part of educational resources (Oru, 1988 in Olanrewaju, 2003). Broadly categorized, the secondary school system was the following secondary education resources such as human, financial, physical and material resources. Human resources such as teachers, non-teaching staff and students, the material resources which include printed materials, instructional aids, stationery items and laboratory equipment, financial resources comprising o the monetary aspect of resources and physical resources such as the classrooms, laboratories, library, administrative blocks, workshops and auditorium. For a high and uniform academic standard, these resources must not only be available in adequate quantity, but must also be equitably distributed among schools.

The quality of secondary school education is the function of several factors, which include:

(i)      Availability of instructional facilities such as textbooks, libraries, laboratories, teaching aids;

(ii)     Quality and quantity of teachers available;

(iii)    Students ability and capability to study independently;

(iv)    Interests and attitudes of students towards learning;

(v)     Nature of subjects allocated to teachers;

(vi)    Changes in the school system;

(vii)   Administrative strategies employed in the day to day running of the school.

The government’s determination and consciousness to ensure better qualitative education led to the emphasis in the fourth National Development plan (1981-1985) on the expansion of secondary school facilities across the nation. The aim was to give every child, the full opportunity to develop his intellectual and working capacities for his own benefits and that of the community. The government stressed further that necessary emphasis would be placed on the provision of basic facilities such as classrooms, libraries, laboratories and administrative buildings. It also said further that attention would be given to ensuring that facilities for secondary and tertiary education were drastically expanded and that efforts would also be made towards providing adequate in expensive and locally produced textbooks and local science apparatus. Enough schools, properly and uniformly equipped were to be built so that children could attend school close to their residence irrespective of their state of origin.

The importance of resources as a contributory factor to quantitative education was stressed by the Nigerian Educational Research Council. The report at the seminar (1980) pointed out that in order to achieve adequate attention on good academic qualities, these factors below deserves attention:

i.                        Education and training of adequate teachers;

ii.                        Establishment of guidance and counseling services for proper career guidance of the students;

iii.                        Quality control of education through proper supervision of instruction;

iv.                        Enrichment of school environment to provide conducive learning situation;

v.                        Provision of equipment for laboratories;

vi.                        Provision of physical infrastructures;

vii.                        Provision of adequate fund to meet up with the magnitude of capital and recurrent cost by the states and federal governments.

The above factors are very essential for any development-oriented educational system. When resources are available, learning becomes more meaningful and through them, information that is incidental to the process of teaching is communicated permanently to the student, and moreover, facts are retained better when supplemented with resources. Oni (1988) explaining these factors maintains that factors i-iii emphasize the need for the provision of the right personnel. It is only when adequate and qualified teachers, guidance counsellors are available that one can expect the educational quality to improve. Factors iv-vi stress the importance of provision of physical/material resources like classrooms, well-equipped laboratories and the last factor (vii) pays attention to the financial resources, both capital and recurrent expenditure allocate to education.

Thus, for any nation to make things happen in education positively, it must understand the inter-relatedness between public expenditure and development; as no nation will develop more than its educational system. It should be noted also that in enhancing or improving educational growth and development, harmonizing the government expenditure is very essential.

The main objective of this study therefore is to investigate the extent at which corporate governance influence secondary education system in Lagos State in terms of differential distribution of educational resources and its utilization in Lagos State between 2000 and 2009.

Statement of Problem

Sustainable educational growth and development has been a paramount concern of every concerned government and private individuals in Nigeria, considering the multi-various economic problems Nigeria is witnessing and economic meltdown the whole world is facing. In spite of the democratic system we are practicing, it has been observed that there exist differential distributions of educational resources to Lagos State secondary schools based on stratification such as age of school (new/old), location (rural/urban), type (single/mixed). Whereas, all the students in these school are exposed to the same examination conducted by either NECO or WAEC, since input will surely dictate the output, and if the differential distribution of education resources favour some categorized secondary schools in Lagos State, it is then worthy of researching into the extent at which corporate governance contribute to the differential resources distribution and its utilization in these schools between 2000 and 2009.

Based on this problem, answers will be sought for the following research questions.

Research Questions

The following research questions were set to guide this study.

(1)             Will corporate governance have any significant contribution to the development of secondary school education in Lagos State?

(2)             Will corporate governance have any significant effect on secondary school ethics in Lagos State?

(3)             To what extent has corporate governance influence the school management practices in Lagos state secondary schools?

(4)             Would there be any significant effect of corporate governance on the school regulatory mechanism of secondary schools in Lagos State?

(5)             Would there be any significant effect of corporate governance on government policies on secondary school education in Lagos state?

(6)             To what extent would corporate governance influence government roles in the management of secondary schools in Lagos State

Research Hypotheses

The following research hypotheses were formulated to guide this study:

(1)             Corporate governance will not significantly contribute to the development of secondary education in Lagos State.

(2)             There is no significant effect of corporate governance on secondary school ethics on in Lagos State.

(3)             There is no significant effect of corporate governance on school management practices in Lagos state secondary schools.

(4)             There is no significant effect of corporate governance on secondary school regulatory mechanism in Lagos State.

(5)             Corporate governance is not a significant correlate of government policies on secondary school education in Lagos state.

(6)             Corporate governance is not a significant correlate of government roles in the management of secondary schools in Lagos State.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to investigate the influence of corporate governance on differential resources distribution and its utilization in secondary schools in Lagos State between 2000 and 2009, with a view to bringing about optimal productivity. The influence of these resources is highlighted for the purpose of policy re-visitation. Furthermore, this study suggest ways of improving the involvement of government in the distribution and utilization of educational resources in secondary schools with a view to enhancing better educational performance of the schools.

Scope of the Study

This study is to find out the effect of corporate governance on differential resources distribution and utilization between the year 2000 and 2009 in Lagos State. Consequent upon the geographical spread of the local government areas and the five administrative divisions in Lagos State, three out of the five administrative educational divisions would be covered in this study.

The study is therefore delimited to the following:

(a)              Resources to be examined in this study would be human, physical and material resources. Financial resources would not be examined because it measured indirectly into the other three resources that were examined.

(b)             Since the public secondary schools is the focus of this study, the contribution of private or community resources would not be looked into.

(c)              This study would not consider the private secondary schools, more so that this study is not a comparative study.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study would provide a viable data/information whether resources provided by the government match the expectation of the schools system. It will also sensitize the education authorities, school administrators and the general public on the lack of uniformity that may exist in the distribution of secondary education resources, hence, there is (may be) urgent need to ameliorate the situation.

It would be significant in enabling education authorities see the essence of even distribution of resources to secondary schools in the state considering the differential distribution in relation to school academic performance. It will expose the differing secondary schools academic performance in the state, and the need to improve the teaching and learning situation in these schools, and, this improving the educational standard in the state.

The outcome of this study would convince educational planners of the need for equity or uniformity in resources distribution, so as to influence the students’ academic achievement.

Lastly, it would enable the government at all level to realize that no nation will develop more than her educational system. Thus, more allocation would be allotted to educational sector in their yearly budget. This will also enforce the educational administrators and planners to see to the supervising level of the system to ensure equitable distribution of resources and its utilization.

Definition of Terms

This section contains some contextual definitions of basic concepts that are used which will enable the reader to understand the stud with ease.

(1)             Corporate Governance: This is the formal system of accountability and control for legal, ethical and socially responsible decisions and use of resources in schools in order to get better results.

(2)             Educational resources:- These are the sum total of the input that goes into the education system such as human resources (school managers, teachers and students), material and physical resources (classrooms etc.).

(3)             Resource distribution: Is the distribution of educational resources in quality and quantity to schools, which are available for sharing.

(4)             Resource utilization: Is the level of use of the resources and it is determined by providing for a systematic qualification of responses as the respondents are required to check how often the selected teaching/learning activities are carried out during the academic session.

(5)             Old schools: Are schools established before 1979.

(6)             New schools: Are schools established after 1979.

(7)             Single–sexed school: Are schools for boys or girls alone.

(8)             Differential distribution: Inequitable distribution of educational resources into schools.

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