Appendix Figures and Tables

As part of government efforts in widening access to education at all levels, the private sector is being encouraged to establish secondary schools. Private secondary schools are owned by individuals, organizations/associations or religious bodies that establish them. The initial fund for the establishment of the school for capital project and recurrent expenditure comes from the owners known as proprietors or proprietresses.

The major source of finance for private schools is the school fees that are charged. This comprised money paid as tuition, and other payments such as boarding fee and furniture.

Other sources of finance for private secondary schools include proceeds from school projects, donations, loans, and so on.

3.3.1 Problems of Secondary School Finance in Nigeria

There are various problems encountered in financing public secondary schools, some of which are examined below:

a. Greed on the part of school Principals: Where school heads are insincere and greedy, there may be misappropriation and embezzlement of funds made available for a particular project at the expense of educational objectives.

b. Unstable political environment: political instability in Nigeria gives room for unstable policies of government and poor economy. Consequently, the public funding of schools is adversely affected and execution of capital projects becomes difficult.

c. Inflation: Inflation is a persistent fall in the purchasing power of money. It refers to a situation whereby too much money buys few goods. Such situation makes the preparation and implementation of school budgets cumbersome particularly when an accurate estimate of the rate of inflation over the budget period cannot be made. As a result of inflation, some of the projects budgeted for may not be implemented due to rising cost of materials.

d. Poor remuneration of teaching staff: Over the years, teachers have made persistent complaints about poor salaries being paid to them. The strike action embarked upon in early 2009 by teachers of both primary and secondary schools was a good example. Most state governments are still battling with the nagging issue of Teachers Salary Scale (TSS).

e. Inadequate Funding by the Government: Grants released to schools are far below expectation. The reason for this is not far fetched, because different sectors are competing with education. What government allocates to education falls short of UNESCO’s recommendation of 26% of a

The resultant effects of these include ageing facilities, inadequate classrooms, incessant strike actions by teachers, shortage of laboratory and laboratory materials, brain drain, among others.

Self-Assessment Exercise:

State some of the problems of secondary school financing in Nigeria.

3.2.2 Need for Long Range Financial plan in Secondary Schools.

We all know that finance is essential in the fulfillment of the goals and objectives of secondary school education. Thus, there is the need now for state-wide and more sophisticated forms of multi-year, systematic financial planning which brings together various observations, suggestions, and experiences through the involvement of different interest groups to accelerate and guide financial planning for qualitative secondary education (Nduka, 2001).

The long range plan for secondary schools is expected to contain student enrolment projections, an instructional programme development plan, a staff development plan, a support services development plan, a capital facilities improvement plan, and a multi-projection of expenditures and revenues. If those are adequately planned for, the problem of financial crisis will be minimized.

Therefore, the need for a long-range financial plan for secondary schools includes:

(i) To protect the state secondary schools from unnecessary and harmful dislocation and fluctuation in programmes and services to the students.

(ii) To tamper decision-making at the board or commission and state Ministry of Education levels with greater prudence or toughen it with greater courage and initiative by setting programmes and policy proposals which are being considered in the context of the future financial conditions of the state.

(iii) To build public and staff confidence in the State Universal Basic

and proof that a careful planning process is in place and long-range plan really exists and that the decision makers will not deviate unnecessarily from the afore mentioned plans.

(iv) To increase the likelihood of success in bringing about change in the state-owned secondary schools.

For the financial long range plan to work successfully, every stakeholder needs to be sincere. Government should improve allocation to the education sector as well as avoiding financial leakages. The school administrators should be financially disciplined.

4.0 Conclusion

School finance is an important aspect that determines expected quality of graduates from the system to some extent. The trend of financial allocation to education confirmed that government alone cannot bear the burden of education finance. The grants meant for the administration of secondary schools are not released as and when due. In some states, a term or two terms grants are outstanding. This is a serious problem. The relationship between secondary school and Ministry of Education as well as the Teaching Service Commission can also be strengthened through adequate funding. The regular visit by the Ministry depends on availability of vehicles. Having known that educational funding is a thorny responsibility for government to shoulder, communities in the neighborhood of schools have to come to the aid of schools.

5.0 Summary.

In this unit, we have discussed secondary education funding. The main source of funding of public school is grants from the government, while private secondary schools rely on school fees. It is clear that all is not well with our public secondary schools. Remember that other sources of education finance were explored. Owing to the problems of funding, we recommended long term financial plan for secondary schools.

1a. What is the major source of finance to public secondary schools in Nigeria?

1b. List other sources of finance available to public secondary schools.

2. Enumerate some of the problems of secondary school finance.

3. Of what significance is long term financial plan to quality of secondary education in Nigeria?