Abstract

This study investigated administrative constraints and effective management of secondary schools in the Kumba municipality.  The main objective of the study was to find out, whether administrative constraints affect effective management of secondary schools. To achieve this objective, the independent variable (administrative constraints) was operationalized and three specific research questions were formulated as follows: what is the relationship between; (1) insufficient finances, (2) inadequate infrastructures, (3) inadequate personnel and effective school management? The research design adopted for this study was the descriptive survey design with the aid of a structured questionnaire as the main research instrument.

To answer the research questions, copies of questionnaire were administered to a sample of 100 participants (secondary school administrators) and data from the 100 participants were effectively analysed, from which conclusions were drawn. The data derived were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistical analysis using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20.0.

Based on the analyses of data, it was realised that; there exist a significant relationship between inadequate infrastructures and effective school management which was significant at (r = -.792**, n = 102, p< .0005), inadequate personnel and effective school management which was significant at (r = -.692**, n = 102, p< .0005) and insufficient finances and effective school management which was significant at (r = -.664**, n = 102, p< .0005).

Inferring from above, it can be seen that administrative constraints in this study operationalized as; insufficient finances, inadequate infrastructures and inadequate personnel demarcated themselves as significant predictors of effective school management. More so it was noticed that inadequate infrastructures (r = -.792**, n = 102, p< .0005) was the strongest negative determinant of effective management of secondary schools, followed by inadequate human resources (r = -.692**, n = 102, p< .0005) and insufficient finances (r = -.664**, n = 102, p< .0005).

At the end of the study, it was recommended that, seminars and workshops concerning administrative constraints and effective school management should be regularly conducted for in-school administrators in order to enable them to develop strategies to overcome such constraints and enhance effective school management.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

In most African countries, their Education always follows the historical development of the country. Cameroon’s Education is not left out. Her Education has followed her historical development. The pre- colonial period was marked by traditional Education which varied from one area to the other.

According to (Ngoh 1996), educators in the French part of Cameroon encountered problems which can be traced as far back as 1937. Moreover, its administration was predominantly in the hands of missionaries. In the case of the English speaking sector, Education and its administration were not only in the hands of the missionaries, but also in the hands of the local authorities.

In Cameroon, administrative constraints and effective management are the major problems to secondary school effectiveness. Administrative constraints includes; inadequate materials, poor infrastructure, insufficient finances, untrained administrators,  indiscipline, time management and problem  of time, non-implementation of policies and the decisions of the school. As a result, most secondary schools are poorly managed and these results in the non-attainment of set objectives. Administrators find it difficult to effectively manage their schools because of all of the above constraints.

It is worth noting that though one of the main reasons of Education is to maximise the effectiveness of the teaching/learning process, as stipulated by the educational stakeholders, these same stakeholders cause some of these constraints. Financial constraints, are a serious problem   in lay private and confessional schools in the Kumba municipality. Subventions that were given to these schools are either not given again or are grossly insufficient to augment their small finances.

Closely linked to financial constraints are inadequate instructional materials which also present another constraint. The provision of instructional aid should be available, adequate and provided on time too for teaching/learning to be effective. Unfortunately, such a vital instrument is either insufficient or unavailable due to financial constraints or laziness on the path of teachers or poor management.

Many schools in the Buea sub division have cultivated the habit of not using instructional materials for quite some time now and this has affected the effectiveness of schools. According to Ogba and Igu (2014), one of the biggest challenges of secondary school management and administration is poor funding. They stress further that the extent to which adequate educational programmes are achieved depends largely on the economic provisions supporting the programme. Insufficient funds often lead to large classes for teachers, skimpy libraries, very limited instructional materials, low-priced building construction and poorly trained teachers.

Keller (2012) posits that insufficient funds to maintain schools and pay teachers’ salaries are among other factors that militate against the smooth administration of secondary schools. The lack adequate finances puts enormous degree pressure on school administrators, because as Anderson and Lamby (2005) point out that there is a high degree of pressure on school heads to raise funds so that their schools are fully efficient.

The idea of administration predominantly comes from the political science field of study on how community, traditional and royalties administered their constituencies. The issue of administration and its constraints are therefore applied to the educational administration sector wise and are made acute by the fact that most educational administrators are either untrained or incompetent.

According to Ayeni (2010), administrators need to understand a set of management theories which originate from industrial and commercial activities in order to adapt it to suit its purpose, use it in practice, in training and retraining. As such, school administrators must attain an acceptable level of training in order to qualify for the job. But that is not the case as some educational administrators in the Kumba municipality are untrained and as such they are incompetent.

The social and educational problems cited above indicate the tasks of an educational administrator. These problems make it quite difficult to achieve the much desired objectives of Education because it is evident that leadership has some impediments. The school administrator should have some job satisfaction as it will be relatively easy and stress-free if the programs and policies are followed by all stakeholders in education (Adeyemi, 2010).

Education has remained a systematic process through which a child or an adult acquires knowledge, experience, skill and sound attitude. It makes an individual civilized, refined, cultured and educated (Ikegbusi, 2012). According to her, for a civilized and socialized society, education is the only means; its goal is to make an individual perfect. According to Adesina (2011), education is a major force in the economic, intellectual, social and cultural empowerment. He further stresses that education has the capacity to bring about character and attitudinal change, as well as restructure capabilities for desired development.

The achievement of the right to education requires that young people be given the opportunity necessary for the acquisition of the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values which will enable them lead happy and productive lives as individuals and discharge their social duties for the betterment of life in the society (Fafunwa, 2002).

In spite of the roles of secondary education, Ajayi (2014) reported of public crises of various dimensions such as poor funding, poor educational infrastructure—which include inadequate classrooms, inadequate and low quality teachers, and polluted learning environment. In a school, where these infrastructures and amenities are not well provided, heads of secondary schools with efforts to administer schools diligently will be disenchanted.

Probable outcomes of this kind of situation comprise unruly and disorderly students, non-literate population and an unresponsive teaching workforce (Ikegbusi, 2014). These hinder the fulfilment of educational objectives. Many secondary schools in Kumba municipality are not excused from this bitter state of matters. Many are confronted by a constant outburst of rowdy behaviour on the part of students, a constant lack of educational amenities as well as an overpopulation of students.

Administration according to Peretomode (2003) is the component part of the management concerned with facilitating accomplishment of the objectives of an organization like school through the systematic management of constraints and careful utilization of the available limited resources like human, material, finance and so on. Okeke (2014) sees secondary school administration as involving the provision and maintenance of the necessary manpower to those who teach children with a view to bring about the desired change in the children’s behaviour.

The school principals face numerous administrative problems which militate against operative running of their schools. These include inadequate and low quality teachers, inadequate funding to maintain schools and paying teachers’ salaries, intrusion by parents. Others are lack of accommodation for students, indiscipline behaviours on the part of teachers and students and uncooperative assertiveness of other school staff. Where the heads fail to arrest these situations and problems, the smooth running of secondary school is conceded.

Etuk (2007) outlined the following under listed functions of school administration as staff personnel administration, student personnel administration, finance and physical resources, and school community relationship management. The above fit well with the objectives of this study. Therefore, the study will be reviewed under the following: insufficient finances, inadequate infrastructural facilities and inadequate human resources were examined in relationship to the effective management of secondary schools.

From the above, it is pertinent to work with the administrators themselves in order to  discover those areas or aspects of administration that pose problems in their schools so that educationists can work hard towards solving the problems. Most at times, we tend to look only at the part of the teachers or the students whenever the set objectives of a school are not met, even so, most researchers also tend to verify reasons for ineffectiveness of schools only from the students and teachers perspective. As a result this research seeks to verify the possible elements which hinder smooth administration of secondary school in the Kumba municipality and as such, its affects on the effective management of these schools.

Statement of the problem

One of the paths to nation building is education; this is only attainable when quality Education is offered to citizens. It is against this backdrop that the main aim of administration in any school is the coordination of all human efforts towards the realisation of organisational goals and objectives which are embedded in teaching and learning.

The government and other stakeholders have endeavoured to provide facilities for the administration of every secondary school in the country. This is done to ensure that the aims of education in the country are met. But concerns such as, insufficient finances, inadequate infrastructures and inadequate human resources have however been realised as constraints responsible for the ineffective management of secondary schools.

As a result, teachers are not satisfied, educational goals and objectives are not met and non-implementation of policies by the school administration keeps recurring. School administrators are posed with complex management challenges that hinder the realization of the desired educational objectives of the country.

It is based on the above that this study raises the main question:

What is the relationship between administrative constraints and the effective management of secondary schools in the Kumba Municipality?

Objectives of the study

The main objective of this study is:

To investigate the relationship between administrative constraints and the effective management of secondary schools in Kumba municipality.

Specifically, the study intended to;

1. Find out the relationship between insufficient finances and the effective management of secondary schools in Kumba municipality.
2. Examine the relationship between inadequate infrastructures and the effective management of secondary schools in Kumba municipality.
3. Assess the relationship between inadequate human resources and the effective management of secondary schools in Kumba municipality.

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