CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The introduction of external evaluation in form of school inspection by national governments is an old system of monitoring educational quality in the world’s education system. The first school inspection/supervision originated from France under Napoleon’s regime at the end of 18th century (Grauwe, 2007). The idea was captured by other European countries and later was embraced in the 19th century (Grauwe, 2007). According to Learmouth (2000), the first inspection services in the UK were carried out by Her Majesty;s Inspectorate (HMI) in 1839 (Learmonth, 2000; Wilcox, 2000). School inspection, was perceived as a form of accountability in education (Neave, 1987). However it is stated that there were also other forms of accountability in education which included the market choice as practiced in United States, UK and New Zealand. (Friedman, 2005).

Accountability is the obligation that one part gives an account on the work performed to the other (Wilcox, 2000). The underlying idea towards accountability in education is to make the providers of education accountable to the people who pay for the education of their children (the taxpayers) (Neave, 1987; Ehren & Visscher, 2006; Davis & White, 2001; Richards, 2001; Sergiovanni & Starratt, 2007). In the English system of Education (England and Wales), accountability of teachers was based on the pupils’ performance in the National examination (Neave, 1987; Hoyle & Wallace, 2005). This means, teachers’ salaries were paid based on performance of the pupils in the national examinations especially in 1870s (Neave, 1987; Levin, 1991). The ideology behind this practice was to make teachers more committed towards the task of educating the pupils and contributing greatly towards their school achievements and excellences. External evaluation in education through school inspection by national governments is not new in the education system. It is stated that the first school inspection/supervision originated from France under Napoleons regime at the end of 18th century (Grauwe, 2007). Later, the idea spread to other European countries in the 19th century (Wilcox, 2000; Grauwe, 2007). In the United Kingdom (UK), the first inspection services were carried out by Her Majesty‟s Inspectorate (HMI) in 1839 (Learmonth, 2000; Wilcox, 2000). School inspection, was conceived as one of the forms of accountability in education (Neave, 1987). Other forms of accountability in education include the market choice as practiced in United States, UK, Australia and New Zealand. Also, the school voucher system in America, Chile, Colombia, and in England (Friedman, 2005; Lee & Wong, 2002). Inspectors tell the school what it does well and what it needs to improve.

Inspectors judge whether or not the school has improved compared to the last inspection report on quality of teaching, how well pupils learn, how well teachers assess pupils’ work and how they use the assessment of pupils work to plan and set targets for meeting needs of individual pupils as well as groups (Hargreaves, 1995). The general function of school inspectors in Nigeria is to ensure adherence to set policy, laws, regulations and standards of education in the school system (MOEC, 2005). In order to achieve this function, school inspectors are required to achieve these functions; first to inspect all schools and write report with a purpose of advising the commissioner of Education on matters which require decision making for improvement, second to inspect, educate and advice owners, managers, school boards or committees and teachers on good implementation of schools. Third is to initiate and conduct education research and disseminate information for the purpose of improving teaching standards in schools. The fourth function is to act as a link between the school and other institutions and the ministry, the fih function is, to take part in book writing, book reviews and production of handouts as well as articles for various academy subjects. Sixth function is to pursue personal, professional and academic development and seventh function is to conduct in-services training for teachers and finally to carry out supervisory visits to improve quality of teaching in schools (MOEC, 2005). In most developing countries, school inspections are likely to be contributing in any way to quality Education. Inspectors are limited by transport facilities while the quality of inspection itself is limited by expertise of inspectors. For example in Lesotho most inspector visits were not found to include evaluation of the quality of education, they provided little information of quality to the school or ministry (MOE, 2002). In Ghana, inspection had become visualized to the point where it involved only an inspection of lessons (Hedges, 2002). It could mean that teachers would only prepare lesson notes, but would be free to teach or not teach.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

School inspectors play a valuable contribution in provision and control of the quality of primary school education. Several studies have been conducted focusing on effectiveness of inspection in primary schools but no study has focused on specific schools or region/district/ward. However, studies conducted include effectiveness of inspection training program (Saburi, 2002) and implementation of inspectors’ recommendations in secondary schools (Swai, 1982). Other specific issues related to inspection of primary schools for quality practices such as teaching, reading materials, library and many others remain largely not researched in Nigeria. The Education Ministry assumed that perhaps school inspection was not achieving its goal of supporting and helping schools improve in the educational quality. The government realized that Head teachers were not involved in the preparations of the inspection process; school inspection seemed to have lacked relevant feedback mechanism. Sambirige (2009) found school inspection not only to be threatening and stressful to the teachers but also judgmental in nature.