AN ASSESSMENT OF CHALLENGES MILITATING AGAINST EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF SCHOOL-BASED MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE IN PUBLIC BASIC SCHOOLS IN FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY, ABUJA, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study assessed the various challenges militating against effective implementation of school-based management committee in Public Basic Schools in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. Research design of this study was descriptive survey. The population of the study comprises all the head teachers, and teachers in the one hundred and forty three (143) Basic schools across the territory, Abuja. The sample size for the study was 59 head teachers and 241 teachers selected from the basic schools using a simple random sampling techniques. The instrument for data collection was the structured questionnaire developed by the researcher titled “School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs) of Basic schools Questionnaire (DFPQ). The questionnaire is developed on four (4) point rating scale provided for the respondents to choose from, they are: Strongly Agree (SA) – 4, Agree (A) - 3, Disagree (D) – 2, Strongly Disagree (SD)- 1. The instrument was considered suitable by the experts for the study after the corrections. To ascertain the reliability of the instrument, the questionnaire was administered to ten (10), head-teachers and ten (10) teachers for trial-testing Basic schools not part of the sampled schools. A reliability estimate was computed using Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient which gave the value of 0.95. The mean and the standard deviation was used to analyze the research question posed for the study. The study disclosed that the challenges militating against effective implementation of school-based management committee (SBMS) in Public Basic Schools in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria includes; inadequate funding, poor supervision, corruption, poor participation of parents, insecurity problems, poor road network to schools, poor capacity building for implementer and poor implementation of SBMS policies. Based on this findings, the paper suggests the following measures; Increment in the funding of SBMS programme in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja by the government and private institutions. Government should and stakeholder should ensure accountability in the finances of the SBMS programme in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja by improving monitoring and evaluation of the programme. Government should create more awereness of the SBMS programme to draw the attention of the parents and stakeholders participation and involvement by directly involving them in the programme management at the local level. Government should ensure constant capacity building programme for the implementer of the SBMS programme to improve the quality of management and administration.