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QUALITY CONTROL AND STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOL

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background of the Study

The importance of quality education in nation building can the important of quality education in nation building can not be over emphasized. There have been several calls on the educational managers on how to make the educational system to be more vibrant in the quality of its products after several quality of mass failure and half braked products from our various educational institutions in the country. These over the years have generated a lot of debate and argument among Nigerians on the Newspapers, Radio and Television programmed, including Parent's Religious Bodies and Non-governmental Organizations'. They often expressed their concern about the manner in which the system is loosing its confidence as regards to the effective and efficient nature of the system. Hence, there is the urgent need for effective quality control measures.

Quality control is a comprehensive practice that aims to promote the performance of organizations through the cultivation of sound quality culture. It is also the development of a set of values and convictions that make every employee aware of the fact that quality is the main goal of his organization. Quality control is a procedure or a set of procedures intended to ensure that a manufactured product or performed service adheres to a defined set of quality criteria or meets the requirements of the client or customer. Quality control is similar to, but not identical with quality assurance. Quality Assurance is defined as a procedure or set of procedures intended to ensure that a product or service under development (before work is complete, as opposed to afterwards) meets specified requirements. Quality Assurance is sometimes expressed together with Quality Control as a single expression like quality assurance and control (QA/ QC).

With regards to education, the international institute for educational planning (LLEP) views quality from different perspective. The first is from the internal criteria of the system such as profile expiration and the external criteria which are the fitness and relevance of such on education to its environment. Arikewyo (2004) views quality in education to be judged by both its ability to enable the students performs well in standard examinations and relevance to the needs of the students, community and the society as a whole. He finally concluded that quality severs as determination of gradations based on standard of excellence beneath which a mark of inferiority is imposed or adduced and above which grades of superiority are defined. However, quality assurance is related to quality control, but it functions in a rather proactive manner in the sense that quality control serves as series of operational techniques and activities used to fulfill that requirement are met. While quality assurance goes beyond that, because it extends the focus from outcomes or outputs to the process which produces them.

Quality control is a central feature of organizational performance. It is an essential part of management activities of people and directing their efforts towards the objectives of the organization. There must be an appropriate from of behavior to enhance performance. Akinboye ( 2005 ) defines quality control as inducing followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and the motivations, the wants and needs, the aspirations and expectations of both leaders and followers.

    The school Administrator is an implementor, facilitator and evaluator of education programmes. He is a synergist, teacher of teachers, an organizational designer, a political statesman and an accountability monitor. He must be aware of interpretations of equal opportunity, programme design, trends in curricular and personnel administration and of local community moves. In this view, the school Administrator is less a Bureaucrat and move of a leader and facilitator. He is expected to understand individuals and groups and to utilize their individual talents rather than just manage an organization with fixed positions to be filled by replaceable, standardized parts. This type of administrator needs more than training in scheduling classes, disciplining students, increasing efficiency and managing an organization. He needs professional assistance in identifying and interpreting differences and likeness among individuals and groups. Further, he needs to control and organize collective efforts toward positive ends so as to ensure quality in the system.

       The concern for quality has been at the core of the motivating forces for reforms in education. Ajayi and Adegbesan (2007) see quality as the total of the features of a process, product or service on its performance, in 'customers' or 'clients' perception of the performance. It is not just a feature of a finished product or services but involves a focus on internal processes and outputs and includes the reduction of wasted and the improvement or productivity. Taking a cue from the above definition, Fadokun (2005) characterized quality by three interrelated and interdependent strands; (i) Efficiency in the meeting of its goals, (ii) relevance to human and environmental conditions and needs, (iii) something more that is the exploration of new ideas, the pursuit of excellence and encouragement of creativity.

     According to Ijaiya (2006), the worth of any educational system as an investment lies in its capability to continuously serve its customers (students, parents, employers or labour, the society) better and remain relevant. Educational planners are therefore faced with two main challenges: providing for quantity and for quality. The school administrator or head teacher's role is to promote academic performance. He or she is the pivot around which many aspects of the school revolve. The success of what is done in the school is attributed to the quality of control of the head teacher. He or she is the person in charge of every detail of running the school be it academic and administrative. It is important that the performance of a school is appraised against the performance of the person who leads it.

     Both the government and parents expect teachers to perform better at their present levels of training. One of the core functions of schools to take human raw materials (that is, students) and converts them to valuable adults. It is therefore of paramount importance to manage teachers properly, the absence of which will lead to low productivity on the part of the teachers (republic of Kenya, 1988). School administrators are schools' executives who are charged with this daunting task of managing teachers among other school resources. For this reason, Ayot and Briggs (1992) are of the view that input-output studies should be done using learning achieved as seen from student's performance. The impact of school management is an essential element in such studies. The quality of control makes the difference between the success and failure of a school.

     In the contemporary world, improvement in students' achievement is recognized as the foremost objective of school reforms and restricting efforts. With this objective in mind, many different reform packages are being implemented while key focus of the reforms is more or less the same. The legislation: every child counts' signed into law in 2008 in Nigeria is one of the prominent and visible actions taken by government towards achieving this goal. In the meantime, many scholars have acknowledged that the quality of control of school is one of the most significant in enhancing school performance and students' achievement. (Fisher and Frey 2002, Mulford 2003, Dinham 2004, Janerette and Sheretz 2007, Gamage 2009).

     In the past 10 years, quality control has no significant influence on educational process (learning/ teaching).due to the relaxing or completely removing quality control, this has resulted to fall in educational standard. The effect of supervision and inspection on the academic development, improvement and performance cannot be over emphasized. Even though, Nigeria educational system is alleged to be examination. Oriented student academic performances as reflected in various senior school certificate examination results do not seem to justify the quality control being adopted into the system. This research work is to explore the literature to examine whether there is sufficient evidence to sustain this claim. The results of the senior school certificate examination will be the basis of evaluation.

1.2Statement of the problem and research question

Quality control is a retroactive action used to determine the quality of a system after processing and during which wastages would have occurred and what if left is to reject and/ or battle with rectification. It is however, better, more rewarding and less costly to take steps to prevent failure and wastage before they happen hence, the need for quality assurance which is preventive rather than corrective. This research work is set out to look into the relationship between quality control in education and students' academic performance in Ojo Local Government secondary schools. In doing this, the researcher addressed the following questions:

(a)          Is there any relationship between teacher quality control on student academic performance.

(b)         Is there any relationship between principal leadership behaviour and student academic performance.

(c)          Would there be any relationship between student academic performance in internal examination and student academic performance in external examination.

(d)         What is the relationship between head teachers as supervisors and principal as supervisors on student academic performance.

1.3   Purpose of the study

The most cases students' academic performance is a kind of measure for weighing the standard of education. Although it has been asserted that there has been a fall in general level of education (Fisher and Grey 2002), the measure of supervising the performance of learning is very vital, not to learning situation alone, but also to the improvement of its effectiveness and efficiency in education activity in general.

The broad purpose of this study, however, is to investigate the effort of quality control on teachers' effectiveness and students' academic performance in Ojo Local Government Secondary Schools.

1.4   Significance of the study

In this study, is assumed that with proper quality control, school administrators, teachers will bring about positive effect on the ability of students involved. The result of the findings of this work is hoped to be useful in different people in the society who are interested in the academic performance of students of secondary schools.

In addition, it serves as means of improving the academic performance of the school though effective quality supervision. Also, the study will serve as a drive to gear up various concern with the issues of supervision in carrying out the roles expected to each of them. Moreover, it will guide parents in determining the roles expected of them in helping their children's performance and ways of improving their standard. This study will be of tremendous assistance to the government and those saddled with the administration of secondary schools, in identifying areas that require their contribution towards enhancing better quality control in schools.

Furthermore, this study will also guide further research in the field of education, especially educational management on the relationship between quality control and students' academic performance. Finally, the result of this study will ensure that both school administrators and teachers know that for any high quality in education to be attained and taken place, such an effort must be beaked up with good quality control.

1.5   Scope of the Study

This study covers secondary schools in Lagos State. The study therefore involves selected secondary school like Aocoed international school as well as some selected secondary schools in the urban areas of Ojo local government Area.

1.6    Definitions of Terms

The following terms are defined operationally in this study to avoid ambiguity as follows:

SUPERVISION: The act of overseeing both teachers and students.

STANDARD: This is the quality of educational achievement.

STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: This refers to the level of accomplishment of the students in senior secondary school certificate examinations.

QUALITY CONTROL: This is the supervision and inspection of all aspects of educational system so that a high degree of goodness in education is

achieved and the set standard met.

INSPECTION: This is a process involving regular visits to school to cheek that everything is satisfactory and that rules are being obeyed by principals, teachers and students.

EDUCATIONAL ORDINANCE: This is an order made by government concerning education.

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