Community Participation in Decision-Making in North West Zone Basic Schools, Nigeria: The Need for Revitalizing School-Based Management Policies

Abstract

This study examines community participation in decision-making in North West Zone basic schools, Nigeria. The study used descriptive survey research design. The population for this study comprise of 21220 UBE schools and their SBMCs. Simple random sampling technique was used to select four states (Jigawa, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara States). A sample of 370 basic schools were selected from Jigawa, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara States using proportionate, stratified and systematic random sampling method at different stages. In each of the selected school, six SBMC members were selected to respond the questionaire. The members selected include the chairman, the secretary, the teachers’ representative, the students’ representative, the women leader, and any other member available. Validated Community Participation Questionnaire (CPQ) was used in this study. Pilot test was conducted and test-retest method was used to determine the reliability index of 0.79 for the CPQ. Descriptive statistics of percentages and mean scores were used to analyze the research questions. The level of community participation in decision-making in North West Zone basic schools was found high. It was also found that, community participated in identifying projects to be executed in North West zone basic schools, Nigeria. The paper therefore recommended that the SBMC policies should be frequently evaluated to identify areas of improvement regarding how community should participate in decision-making in basic schools. Also, the SBMCs at school level should on their part endeavour to work harder in mobilizing members of their community to participate in decision-making. This will make community members feel the complete ownership of their school and get most committed.