School Based Management System and DecisionMaking: A Strategy for Enhancing CommunityInvolvement in Public Primary Schools in Plateau State

This study examined the school based management system as genuine strategies for enhancing community involvement in Public Primary school in central zone of Plateau state. The study adopted descriptive survey design. Two research questions guided the study while one null hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significant. Multistage sampling procedure was adopted to select 60 head teachers and 60 SBMC from a population 1051 head teachers and 1055 school based management committee from 1051 public primary schools in central zone of plateau state. The instrument for the study was titled; “School Based Management System and Decision Making strategies for enhancing community involvement in public Primary schools in plateau state’ (SBMSDMCIPPP). The instrument was validated by two experts and a decision rule of 2.50 was taken as a criterion value to guide the study. The reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach alpha of 0.78. Mean and standard deviation scores were used to obtain the results of the study. The findings of the study reveals that school based management system such as construction of school facilities like laboratories, ICT room, holding regular meetings with the school are one of the collaborative efforts to enhance community involvement in public primary schools. Decision making strategies such as active participation in decision making process of the school, frequent seeking of parents inputs when making decisions and any decision taken by the school should be transparently communicated to the community leaders as well, parents should be called to discuss the progress of their children in their academics and about their children discipline. Based on the findings of the study it was recommended that efforts should be made to strengthen the need for community based management system in the hosts communities, school should find a way to meet the prominent and significant personalities in the host community to assist on improving the school infrastructures and head teachers should create a social media platform to reach all parents.

Introduction

The development of any nation has been seen to hinge heavily on the educational foundations of its citizens. This implies that, education is a means of effecting change on the society through individuals in the learning environment in other to build a well developed nation. Although, to be able to build a well developed country through education, there is need for community involvement and collaborative efforts of the hosts communities at the primary education level which is also known as basic level of which is the foundation of education.

Community is a group of people living in the same locality and under same government and this includes parents/guardians, residents cooperate organizations among others who are responsible in educating the child (Obodoechi, 2009). This is in agreement with Okenyiet al. (2019) that community is a group of people in a certain territory that shares a mode of life. Therefore, community is a group of people with common interest who live in a locality to achieve a common goal. One of the common goals is training children to acquire education training at all level especially at basic level which is primary education and to achieve this goal there is need for community involvement.

Community involvement has been used as a panacea to solve complex problems related to school and education (Ajayi, 2021). Community involvement could not be seen as something that suddenly manifest in education delivery because not all community are involved. Hence, primary education exists in various communities, so schools have obligations to the community. Therefore, the school environment should be made conducive to achieve learning goals through the effective community involvement through the community based management system and decision making.

Community involvement means creation of opportunities to enable all members of a community to actively contribute, influence development process and to share equitability in the fruits of development (United Nations, 2005). This is in line with Nwufo and Otor (2017) that community involvement is a creation of opportunities to enable all members of a community and the larger society to actively contribute to and influence the development process and share equitably the funds. Abbas (2012) opined that community involvements in school are the various complementary roles that members of the immediate locality in which school is located play to contribute to educational development of their words. Therefore, community involvement in primary school is the involvement of the community in rendering financial, moral and other forms of support for enhancing the delivery of basic education to pupils in primary schools.

Globally, primary education otherwise known as basic education in Nigeria is seem as the foundation upon which other level of education are built. Primary education which is known as basic education is the education given to the children aged 0–15 years (National Policy on Education, 2014). It further added that primary education which would be provided by Government shall be compulsory, free, universal and qualitative. Although, for the primary education to be qualitative and to achieve desired goals all hands must be on deck, this implies that even the host communities should collaboratively assist in some areas. But in Plateau state Nigeria especially in central zone the extent of community involvement is tend to be low using a careful observation. This seems to suggest the reason behind the federal government continuous clarion call for community participation in providing education for her citizenry (National Policy on Education, 2014).

In many developing countries, primary education is the most central stage as it equips children with essential basic knowledge and skills that shape their future learning experiences and social development. This could be achieved if there is effective community involvement through school based management system and decision making strategies because government efforts alone will not be enough in meeting the needs and aspirations of Nigerian educational system in terms of infrastructures and other school development project. This is in agreement with Ogoti (2018) that community involvement facilitates children development pre-literacy skills. These skills have been shown to be essential for later school success. Perhaps, this progress will be easy with school based management system.

School Based Management System in Nigeria was established by government to act as a bridge between schools and communities they serve (Ajayi, 2021). The school based management system is the process of ensuring all inclusive and effective participation in the management and administration of the school system by the local communities. The bridge enables schools and communities to work together for the achievement of school set objectives. The school based management system are intended to contribute to school development planning and decision at the school level for improved learning outcomes. It is essential link between schools and the communities they serve. Community based management system is made up of local people of the domicile school. The school based management system was the outcome of global reform of education of the 1990s and 2000s. In 2005, the National Council on Education at her 57^th meeting directed that all schools should establish school based management committee to participate in decision making process. The National Basic Education Boards through the Federal Ministry of Education (FDM) to establish School Based Management Committee in their school.

Consequently, in Plateau state with the careful observation of the researcher such directives are experiencing set back which has contributed to deplorable state of some primary schools in central zone. So there is need for the community involvement in public primary schools to achieve learning objectives. This could be achieved again through appropriate decision making strategies.

Statement of the Problem

The government of Plateau state has interfered efforts in migrant and partnership policy that aimed to promote relationship between the school and host communities in enhancing children education. This policy will be possible if there are well developed and defined strategies that will incorporate members of the school host communities in relevant discussions on the progress of the school. Review studies by Kabiru (2015) found out those parents’ involvement in primary schools are still at low extent in Nigeria. This could be as a result of ignorant attitudes of some parents in the host communities, economic, financial and environmental situations. The level of community involvement in Primary schools have some significant effects on public primary schools in central zone of Plateau state of which could be attributed to poor infrastructures in schools, Poor enrolment and learning outcomes of which could be link to poor community involvement and appropriate decision making strategies.

Absence or poor state of community involvement in public primary schools in Plateau state Nigeria has left some schools especially in rural areas of central zone of Plateau state in deplorable conditions, inadequate resources and poor performances of pupils in academics which collectively diminish the quality of education in the society. Therefore, this prompted the researcher to embark on investigating the School Based Management System and Decision-making as strategies to enhance community involvement in public primary schools in central zone of Plateau state

Objectives of the Study

The purpose of the study is to examine the school based management committee and decision making strategies for enhancing community involvement in public primary school in plateau state. The study sought to:

1. Examine school based management system as a strategy to enhance community involvement in public primary school in plateau state.

2. Ascertain decision making strategies that will enhance community involvement in public primary schools in Plateau state.

Significance of the Study

The findings of the study will be significant to the Universal Basic Education Commission in ascertaining the possible ways to improve on infrastructural facilities in the school. It will also help the commission to know the level of relationship between the school and host communities. The findings of the study will assist the school administrators on literacy skills which will be an effective to increase home base community involvement. The findings of the study will result in positive, immediate and long term academic, behavioural and social outcome for children.

Research Questions

The following research questions were posed to guide the study;

1. What are the schools based management strategies that will enhance community involvement in public primary schools in Plateau state?

2. What are the decisions making strategies that will enhance community involvement in public primary schools in Plateau state?

Hypotheses

Ho_1: There is no significant difference between school based management system and community involvement in public primary schools

Ho_2: There is no significant difference between decision making and community involvement in public primary schools

Methodology

Descriptive research design was adopted for the study. The area for the study is central zone of Plateau state. The population of the study comprised of 1051 head teachers and 1055 school based management committee from 1051 public primary schools in central zone of plateau state. The sample for this study comprises of 1051 head teachers and 1055 school based management committee from central zone of plateau state. To arrive at sample size, a multistage sampling procedure was adopted. Firstly, public primary school and school based management committee were stratified based on the education zones and central zone was selected using simple random sampling technique. This central zone was selected because it is second zone that has the highest number of Public Primary schools and because of the proximity on the part of the researcher. Secondly simple random sampling was also used to sample six Public Primary schools with their two school based management committee each from the five local government areas in central zone which results to 30 public primary school with their school based management committee. Proportionate stratified sampling technique was adopted to select two teachers and two school based management committee in each of the school using the corresponding number of teachers and school based management committee, this is done to get sample size of 120. Structured instrument titled: school based management committee and decision making strategies as indices for community involvement in public primary schools in plateau state (SBMSCDPPSP). The instrument was validated by two experts. Reliability of the instrument was determined by administering it in Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa state Nigeria which was not part of the original sample population. The coefficient of the reliability average was estimated to 0.81 using Cronbach alpha which indicated the consistency and the reliability of the instrument. The instrument was administered to the respondents with the assistance of the two research assistant. 120 instruments were administered and subsequently 119 were retrieved which constituted 98% success. The data collected was coded and analyzed using descriptive statistics because of the appropriateness to the study. A mean score of 2050 was taken as a decision rule for the study.

Results

Table I shows the total number of instruments used in the study. I20 structured instruments was distributed to the respondents in order to obtain data. About 115 instruments was retrieved from the respondents and analyzed but 4 were omitted.

Table I. Distribution of the Instrument

Details	Number
Total number of given instrument	120
Returned instrument	115
Omitted instrument	5
Analyzed instrument	115

Features of Respondents

The researchers collected personnel data from the respondents for easy description of demographic features of the sample teachers and SBMC.

Table II revealed that 48 of the respondents were male while 53 were female. This shows the participants to be 48% and 53% for female and male respectively. Female constituted a highest percentage of the sample but this did not have any impact on the findings.

Table II. Gender of the Respondents

Gender	Frequency	Percent	Valid percent	Cumulative percent
Valid male	45	45.2	45.2	45.2
Female	53	54.8	54.8	100.0
Total	120	100

Table III shows teachers position % categorizes which are 25% (9.4%) are teachers while 95% (9.6) majority are SBMC.

Table III. Head Teachers and SBMC Position According to Survey

Position	Frequency	Percent	Valid percent	Cumulative percent
Head teachers	95	90.6	90.6	100
SBMC	25	9.4	9.4	9.4
Total	100	100	100	100

Research question 1; What are the School Based Management System strategies to enhance community involvement in public primary schools in central zone of Plateau state?

Table IV shows the results above 2.50 highlights the SBMS strategies to enhance community involvement in public primary schools in Plateau state.

Table IV. Mean Rating on School Based Management System Strategy in Enhancing Community Involvement in Public Primary Schools in Central Zone of Plateau State

S/N	Items instrument	Head teachers		SBMC		Decision
		$\overline{\text{X}}$	SD	$\overline{\text{X}}$	SD
1.	Construction of school laboratory and ICT room by the school base management	2.59	0.97	2.63	1.11	Agreed
2.	Renovation of building by the school base management committee	2.61	1.02	2.52	1.99	Agreed
3.	Buying out land for the construction of school administrative block	2.63	1.11	2.59	0.97	Agreed
4.	Holding meeting twice in every term	2.25	0.81	1.80	0.97	Agreed
5.	Maintenance school facilities	1.80	0.94	1.88	0.90	Disagreed
6.	Provision of local vigilant group to secure the school premises	3.63	1.94	3.10	2.02	Agreed
7.	Regular visitation to the school by the school base management committee	2.62	0.74	2.58	1.15	Agreed
8	Organize donation to improve the school physical facilities	2.02	0.97	1.53	0.66	Disagree
9	Organize price giving day to sustain the interest of pupils toward life achieving goals	2.51	0.99	2.59	0.81	Agreed
10	Assisting in the teachers on workshops and conferences	2.25	0.98	2.02	0.97	Disagreed

Research question 2: What are the decisions making strategies that will enhance community involvement in public primary school in Plateau state?

Table V shows the criterion value above 2.50 indicates the decision making strategies that will enhance community involvement in public primary schools in plateau state.

Table V. Mean Rating of Decision-Making Strategies that Will Enhance Community Involvement in Public Primary Schools in Plateau State

S/N	Item statements	Head teachers		SBMC		Remark
		$\overline{\text{X}}$	SD	$\overline{\text{X}}$	SD
11	Community members should actively participate in decision-making process in school.	2.52	0.99	2.61	0.02	Agreed
12	School should frequently seek input from the community when making decision that will promote the progress of the school and community.	2.50	0.97	2.63	1.11	Agreed
13	Community involvement in decision making positively impact pupils learning outcome in our school	2.25	0.98	2.02	0.97	Agreed
14	Decision made by the school should be communicated transparently to the community leaders.	2.51	0.99	3.33	0.81	Agreed
15	Parents involvement in the discussion of their children progress should be incorporated in decision of the school	3.20	0.89	2.92	0.79	Agreed
16.	Discussion about the pupils discipline should be incorporated in the decision making of the school	2.75	0.71	2.91	0.83	Agreed
17	The school administrator should value the opinions of community members in decision making	2.50	0.68	2.73	0.63	Agreed
18	Parents teachers Association will play a significant role in decision making	2.61	1.02	2.59	0.97	Agreed
19	School should regularly organize meeting together with the community leaders	2.12	0.44	2.18	0.35	Disagreed
20	Any decision should be geared towards academic excellence	2.62	0.74	2.58	1.15	Agreed

Discussions

The findings of the study reveals that the school based management system such as construction of school laboratory, regular meeting and other strategies which are above 2.50 as a criterion value are those strategies that will enhance community involvement in public primary schools in Plateau state. The outcome agrees with Izuehie and Ofojebe (2019) that provision of school building facilities and basic amenities in schools are some of the SBMS strategies that will enhance community participation in schools. This implies that the provisions of physical facilities, collaborative visitation are SBMS strategies that will facilitate community involvement in public primary school in Plateau state.

The findings of the study also reveals the decision making strategies such as involving the parents in taking the decision that will improve the school, seek inputs from the members of the community, collaborative discussion about the progress and discipline of the pupils between the school and host communities is one of the strategies in enhancing community involvement in public primary schools. This strategy is in line with Ogoti (2018) who opined that decision making strategies pave way for community participation in primary schools and improve academic progress of children in education. Therefore, the findings reveals that SBMS and decision making strategies listed in the instrument of the study enhances community involvement in public Primary schools in central zone of Plateau state which directly improve the academic performance of pupils as well ensuring that the schools are not in deplorable conditions.

Conclusion

Following the discussions based on the findings of the study. The School based management system and decision making strategies enhances community involvement in public primary schools in central zone of Plateau state of which also sustains the academic interest of pupils and place the school in a very conducive atmosphere for learning.

Recommendations of the Study

Based on the findings of the study the following recommendations were made:

1. Efforts should be made to strengthen the need for school base management committee through the ministry of education, universal basic education board, churches and mosques.

2. The head teachers should create a social media platform for quick and fast deliberations on the matters that will promote the progress of the school.

3. The head teachers should find a ways of meeting the prominent and significant personalities in the host communities.

4. Home visitation and phone calls should be intensified and encouraged between the school and communities.

Conflict of Interest

The author declares that there is no conflict of interest regarding this study.