THE AVAILABILITY OF HUMAN AND MATERIAL RESOURCES IN TEACHING SENIOR SCHOOL IN LAGOS STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1  Background of the study

       The development of human and material resources has been the focus of concern of recent, towards the development of a nation. This is due to the fact that the growth of tangible capital stock of a nation depends to a considerate degree on human capital development. Without adequate investment in developing the human and material resources of the education sector, the possibility of the growth of any nation might be hampered. Education is the vital instrument for social and economic mobility at the personal level and an instrument for transformation of society at the national level (Okpala, 2006)

       The major concern of the researcher is on the availability of human and material resources in secondary school as both of them are the major ingredients to determine the effectiveness and performance of the school. Resources, according to Flippo (2003) mean anything that can give help or support when needed in order to achieve a goal or objective by an individual, group of individuals or an organization. Thus, educational resources according to Flippo (2003) mean those things that are needed to help or support in achieving educational goals and objectives. Irondi (2009) maintains that educational resources are made up of human, financial and materials resources. He adds that human resources are made up of school administrators, the same people teachers, bursars typists, Clarks, messengers, cleaners, watchman, cooks, drivers, librarians, gardeners etc. Human resources in secondary school are made up of both skilled and unskilled workers.

       Castetter (2006) opined that there is no organization that can function properly without adequate and qualified personnel. He maintains that the quality of the personnel determines the quality of the school products. Adequate provision of human resources in schools will help to produce quality students and will help to promote good schools administration. It is the responsibility of the school and the government to provide human resources to secondary school.

       Adeogun (2009) notes that it is the responsibility of the school administration and the state government to ensure that adequate materials resources are made available to the concerned school. This will enable the schools to equip their students effectively and produce good performance on the part of both teachers and students; there is need for the provision of adequate human and materials resources in our secondary schools. Adequately of the human resources according to Adeogun (2009) means having the right quantity and quality of staff in an organization. According to Nwana (2003), teacher quantity refers total number of teachers in the school system and for teachers to be effective; they must be adequate in number.

       Lassa (2008) asserted that the success of any human endeavor, secondary school inclusive, is closely related to be quality of personnel who perform the tasks. He added that the extent to which public education succeeds will depend to a large extent, upon the quality of the personnel engaged in the educational process and upon the effectiveness with which they discharge individual and group responsibilities. He also pointed out that among all the ingredients needed in making secondary education succeed, is the competency of the personnel charged with the task of effecting desirable changes in children. In another view, Nwana (2003) found out that the adequacy in the number of teaching staff and availability of teaching materials influence the overall efficiency and effectiveness of an educational institution. This implies that for secondary schools to be effective and efficient, there is need to for the provision of adequate human and materials resources consequently, this study will assess the availability of human and materials resources in teaching senor secondary District I, Lagos State.

1.2  Statement of the problem

       The availability of human and material resources in secondary schools is crucial and government of the state has been consistent in ensuring that these educational resources are available for schools. Inspite of the effort of the government to provide the schools with both human and materials resources, most secondary schools have still not met the academic standard and are struggling good student performance. Report from past researchers reveal that government secondary schools lack adequate infrastructural facilities like laboratories, libraries and ICT centres and those affect the performance and productivity of schools.

       Also, poor administration in most secondary schools leads to bad maintenance of human and material resources in school. Good supply of materials like textbooks and other instructional materials may be mismanaged by school administrators, principals and teachers. Moreso, many secondary schools lack textbooks in the four care subjects, that is, English, Mathematics, Basic Science and Technology. Lack of textual materials and instructional materials like teachers guide, hand books, manuals have affected quality delivery of the curriculum. Thus, the main thrust of this study shall be assess how effective is the availability of human and material resources in teaching senior secondary school in Lagos State.

1.3  Objectives of the study

       The main objective of the study is to assess the availability of human and material resources in teaching senor school. The specific objectives shall include;

i.     To establish a relationship between availability of human and material resources and student performance in secondary school.

ii.    To identify the various human and materials needed in secondary schools in Lagos State.

iii.    To ascertain the effect of quality teachers and staff on student academic performance in secondary school in Lagos State.

iv.    To examine the influence of good classroom library and laboratories on student performance in science and art subjects.

v.    To identify the problems affecting the availability of human and material resources in secondary school.

vi.    To make necessary recommendations based on the findings to be made.

1.4  Research questions

       The following question shall be considered in the study:

i.     Does any relationship exist between availability of number and material resources and student performance in secondary school?  

ii.    What are the various human and materials needed in secondary schools?

iii.    Does quality teachers and staff has any effect on student academic performance in secondary schools?

iv.    Does good classrooms, library and laboratories influences student performance in science and art subjects?

v.    What are the problems that affect the availability of human and material resources in secondary schools?

1.5  Research hypotheses

       The hypotheses formulated for the study shall include;

H01: Quality teachers and staff does not has any effect on student academic performance in secondary school

H02: Good classrooms, library and laboratories do not have any influence on student performance in science and art subjects.

1.6  Significance of the study ­ 

This study will have theoretical importance for academic as it will contribute to the body of literature on availability of human and material resources and student performance in schools. The data to be generated and information gathered from the field survey and library research shall become important sources of information and references for students in universities and other institutions of higher learning. It will also be useful for independent studies carried out by institutions that conduct educational related research.

Secondly, the study will have practical importance for education administrators at all levels in schools as it will give them an insight on the relevant of human and material resources. This study will equally be importance to government policy makers by helping them to make sound and intelligent policies that will ensure even development in the education sector.

1.7  Assumptions of the study

       The following are the assumption of the study;

i.     Human and material resources significantly affect student performance.

ii.    The instruments to be used in gathering data are valid and reliable.

iii.    The variables to be used in the study are appropriate and suitable.

iv.    The results of the study can be generalized.

1.8  Scope and limitations of the study

Geographically, this study shall be limited to secondary schools in Lagos state. The study shall focus on the availability of human material resources in teaching secondary schools. This implies that issues relating to the various types of human and material resources, the importance of human and material resources to secondary school, the factor affecting the provision of human and material resources in secondary school shall be extensively discussed.

The following limitations were envisaged to be encountered by the researcher, first of all, poor attitude of the respondents toward questionnaires respond. The researcher had the problem of getting relevant information for the study due to the unwillingness of most teachers and staff of secondary schools to divulge information on the availability of human and material resources. Secondly, high cost of transportation fares to and from the case study. The researcher had difficulty in moving to and from the case study since Lagos as a whole is very large. Moreso, scanty research resources affected the researcher. The availability of relevant research materials to enrich the literature review was scanty. However, it should be noted that these limitations will not in any way hamper the achievement of the research objectives.

1.9  Historical background of Lagos State

       Lagos state is an administrative division in Nigeria, located in the South Western part of the country. The smallest in area of Nigeria’s state, Lagos State is arguably the most economically important state of the country, containing Lagos, the nation’s largest urban area. The actual population total is disputed between the official Nigerian census of 2006 and a much higher figure claimed by the Lagos State Government. Lagos State is located in the South-Western part of the Nigerian federation. On the North and East, it is bounded by Ogun State. In the west it shares boundaries with the Republic of Benin. Behind its southern borders lies the Atlantic Ocean, 22 percent of its 3,577km2 are lagoons and creeks.

Lagos State was created on May 27, 1967 by virtue of State (creation and transitional provision) Decree No 14 states. Prior to this, Lagos municipality had been administered by the federal government through the Federal Ministry of Lagos Affairs as regional authority, while the Lagos City Council (LCC) governed the city of Lagos. Equally, the metropolitan areas (colony provience) of Ikeja, Agege, MushimIkorodu, and Badagry were administered by the western region. The state took off as an administrative entity on April 11, 1968 with Lagos Island serving the dual role of being the state and federal capital. However, with the creation of the federal capital territory of Abuja in 1976, Lagos Island ceased to be the capital of the state which was moved to Ikeja. Equally, with the formal relocation of the seat of the federal government  to Abika pm 12 December, 1991, Lagos Island ceased to be Nigeria’s political capital. Nevertheless, Lagos remains the center of commerce for the country (www.en.wiki/history_of_lagos-State.htm)

1.10      Definition of terms

Human resources: This is the set of individuals who make up the workforce of an organization. It involves the knowledge; the individuals embody and can contribute to an organization.

Materials resources: This involves facilities that are use to develop and add values to people. In this context, materials resources include the physical assets like laboratories, libraries, instructional tools, writing materials, classrooms etc, use to develop students academic performance.

Student academic performance: This refers to how students deal with their studies and how they cope with or accomplish different tasks given to them by their teachers.

Teachers: Those are those persons who help others to learn new things.