ABSTRACT
The study investigated Teachers’
knowledge of education law and the management of primary school pupils’
disciplinary problems. The study specifically examined the level of teachers’
knowledge of education law; school rules and regulations; teachers’ knowledge
of education law and school rules and regulations; disciplinary problems
teachers experienced in school among others. A survey research design was
adopted for the study. The population comprised two thousand, six hundred and
ninety six (2,696) teachers in the two hundred and twenty five(225) public
primary schools in Edo Central senatorial district. Two hundred and seventy
(270) (10%) teachers were sampled from the population using stratified sampling
technique. The questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents.
Data collected were analyzed using mean to answer research questions raised and
Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient to test the hypotheses. The
analysis found out that: teachers were not well acquainted with education law;
there are formulated rules and regulations in school; teachers experience
pupils’ disciplinary problems in schools; they managed pupil’s disciplinary
problems with positive discipline, suspension, expulsion, detention,
deprivation of privilege, moral punishment and others. The study also found out
a positive correlation between teachers’ knowledge of education law and their
method of managing pupil’s disciplinary problems in schools. Based on the
findings of the study, it was recommended that: education law should be made
compulsory like the teaching practice in all teachers’ education programmes,
the course should be split in line with the duration of the programme in order
that the trainee teachers to be well acquainted with it; members of quality
assurance should include the assessment of teachers’ management of pupils’
disciplinary problems in their inspection activity.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Education
is the transmission of ideas and values through formal, informal and non-formal
teaching and learning for the development of the ‘whole’ man in relation to the
dynamic needs of the society. It is an important sector in every country hence
the immense relevance of education in national development cannot be over-emphasized.
In realization of this, the Federal government of Nigeria adopted education as an
instrument par excellence for effecting
national development based on the five main national objectives as listed in
the National Policy on Education which are the building of: (a) a free and
democratic society; (b) a just and egalitarian society; (c) a united, strong
and self-reliant nation; (d) a great and dynamic economy and (e) a land full of
bright opportunities for all citizens (Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN),
2004).
Nigeria’s
philosophy of education believes that education is an instrument par excellence
for national development and the fostering of the worth and development of the
individual. To this end, Nigeria’s philosophy of education is based on the
development of the individual into a sound and effective citizen; the full
integration of the individual into the community; and the provision of equal
access to educational opportunities for all citizens of the country at primary,
secondary and tertiary levels both inside and outside the formal school system.
The transmission of these national goals from which the philosophy of education
are drawn is carried out by teachers who are the key actors in the education sector. Teachers
in the school organization perform the function of teaching, record keeping,
supervision, counselling and maintaining discipline among pupils. The teacher
is of paramount importance in the education system. The teacher is the
custodian of knowledge and instructor of instruction. This is why it is often
said that no nation can grow above the quality of its teaching force (FRN,
2004).
In
Nigeria, the administration of the education sector is at national, state and
local government levels by statutory authorities. In the administration of education,
the system operates at four levels: the pre-primary, primary, post primary and
tertiary levels. In all these levels, the child is seen to be at the centre
hence education is said to be child centred. Primary education plays an
important role in the life of an individual as well as the nation as a whole.
The National Policy on Education (NPE, 2004) refers to the education at this
level as the education given in institutions for children aged 6 to 11 plus.
The document added that since the rest of education system is built upon it,
the primary level is the key to the success or failure of the whole system. To
achieve these, all teachers to whom the responsibilities and care of their
pupils are entrusted, are expected to be knowledgeable in the laws of education
so as to impart to the pupils all that education entails for the optimal
educational advancement of the pupils, the school and society at large.
Today we are living in a highly litigious society and more so than ever
before, our citizenry is quite keen on their individual rights and very
prepared to advocate for those rights. Technological advances especially with
respect to the use of the internet and the media in general have facilitated
individuals becoming informed as to what those rights are and what they should
do if they perceive those rights to have been violated. School is a collection
of individual persons who bring with them daily into their classrooms an array
of highly complicated issues, ranging from low self esteem to peer pressures
regarding drugs and sex, just to mention a few. It is little wonder that many
of those happenings evoke and often necessitate legal or quasi-legal responses
from teachers and school administrators. Thus teachers need to be acquainted
with the knowledge of education law to manage pupils‘ misconduct.
Education
law is the name given to the branch of civil law that covers the laws and
regulations that govern federal and state education, including the
administration and operation of educational institutions, school athletics,
instruction methods, programmes and materials. According to Omoregie (2009),
education law is an aspect of the system of social control. It centres on those
areas of control which look at or focus on educational activities such as the
operation of public and private schools (primary, secondary and post
secondary). Education law covers a wide range of subject matter including the basic
fields of contract, properties, torts, constitutional law and other areas of
law, which concern education. Therefore, education law can be seen as a set of rules or guides
formulated to ensure peace, stability and order in schools. It regulates the
general discharge of teachers’ responsibilities in school, especially the
aspect that deals with pupils’ behaviour.
While
education law is evolving to meet the demands of society and the needs of
schools, how well educators, in general, are keeping themselves informed about
relevant legal issues is questionable. However, school-based administrators
cannot claim ignorance of the law since statutes and legislation provide the
framework for most of the administrative decisions they make; their decisions
must also be based on legal principles, (Brien 2004). Teachers should know the
law as it applies to education in order to be aware of their own rights and
responsibilities, and to be able to act confidently when making decisions which
relate to legal issues in their practice. Furthermore, a solid foundation of
relevant legal knowledge relating to education is an essential aspect of their
accountability to pupils, staff, and community.
Pupils
are priceless assets and most essential elements in education. It is absolutely
necessary to direct pupils to exhibit acceptable attitude and behaviour within and outside the
school. In an attempt to achieve an organised and peaceful school environment
and maintain law and order, school management specifies rules and regulations
to guide the activities of members of the educational organisation.
Pupils’
discipline is a prerequisite to almost everything a school has to offer pupils.
Discipline is related to the culture and climate of a school. In order for a
satisfactory climate to exist within a school, a certain level of discipline
must exist. In schools where discipline is a serious problem, for example, where
pupils bully others, parents can transfer their children to “better” schools. According to Nakpodia (2010), pupils’
indiscipline seems to be ubiquitous in the 21st century in Nigerian
schools. Child’s discipline is a part of socialization. With the recent increase
in school enrolment, pupils’
disciplinary problems are bound to accentuate and cause ``more burdens on
teachers and school administrators. Pupils’ indiscipline has plaqued schools
leading to series of unrest. It is observed that pupils resort to using
unconstitutional measures in channelling their grievances and teachers have
been blamed for the awkward and uncivilized behaviour demonstrated by the pupils.
This situation has been a major concern to parents and those in the school
community who suggest that disciplinary strategies be applied by teachers and
that rapport be created between pupils and teachers as a systematic way to
solving the problems.
In
Nigerian law, the human right principles which also apply to pupils as citizen of the country are prescribed in
sections 30-40 of the 1999 constitution. Rules and regulations for legal
enforcement must be tailored along these sections of the constitution. For in
the infringement of the rights of the individuals, unless such practices are
proved reasonable and justifiable in the eyes of the law, the individual may
disagree and challenge disciplinary measures. Due
to the peculiar nature of the school, there are many areas a teacher has to
conduct disciplinary matters. The rules and regulations are thus made to cover
many grounds affecting the pupils’ school attendance, use of uniform, personal
appearance of the pupil, use and misuse of school property, pupil-pupil
relationship, pupil-teacher relationship, class regulations and
test/examination. A teacher involved in handling any of the above school
matters must do it within the limit of the law.
In
most Nigerian schools, especially at the elementary level, administration of
punishment cannot be ruled out in the
control and discipline of pupils. The right and authority of a teacher to
inflict punishment on pupils for offences of breaking school rules and
regulations, is enhanced by section 34, sub section (1) of the constitution of
the federal republic of Nigeria (1999) which specifies peoples’ right to
personal liberty, and instances in which a person who has not attained the age
of eighteen may be deprived of his rights to personal liberty, specifically, for education and welfare
purposes. However, punishment must be reasonable and properly meted out to the
pupils on account of the offence committed, it should be moderate and
commensurate with the offence committed.
Children’s
social behaviour can be modelled positively when teachers see themselves as
role models for pupils and expertly create deliberate interactions in
classrooms in such a way as to foster satisfaction than frustrations. Under
such an environment, cooperation, efficiency, cohesion, trust and mutual
identification is most likely to result since it is believed that teachers are
also aware that classroom experiences provide opportunities for children to
mature socially and acquire knowledge. According to Ofoyuru and Lawrence
(2011), when disciplinary measures are used excessively they frustrate pupils.
Statement of the Problem
The
purpose of discipline in schools is to promote learning. Schools are
established and maintained so that pupils will learn. In order to learn, certain standard of behaviour must be in
place. Pupils show disrespect
head-teachers and class teachers, spend their times doing all sorts of
disrespectful acts violating the rules
and regulation guiding school system.
In
the course of addressing these school problems, most teachers tried in their
various capacities by adopting punitive and other related measures in managing
their pupils’ disciplinary problems. Unfortunately, their efforts seem not to
have yielded positive result, as the punitive measures have landed some
teachers in litigations. For instance, Olupohunda (2013), reported that, in
Awka, Anambra State, Chidinma Ukachukwu, a pupil of Saint John of God Secondary
School was flogged to death by her teacher, Mrs. Njideka Imoko, for not doing
her assignment. In Osun State, Joshua Ajayi a pupil of Geometry International Group
of Schools was allegedly beaten to death by his teacher over a case of truancy.
In Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, it was also reported that a 13 year old pupil
of Shiloh Hill Remedial and Advanced College was allegedly flogged till he
slumped and died by his principal, Mr. Chudi Nwoko. According to Olupohunda
(2013), these killer teachers are facing trials in the various court of law.These
evidences of litigations have not change the attitude of teachers in management
of pupils’ disciplinary problems in primary schools, as most teachers still use
punitive measures without considering the rights of pupils.
The question is how knowledgeable
are teachers of public primary schools in Edo Central Senatorial District,
Nigeria of the content of education law? It is against this backdrop the researcher
decided to investigate teachers’
knowledge of education law the
management of pupils’ disciplinary problems in public primary schools.
Research Questions
The
following questions were raised to guide the study:
1. Are
teachers in public primary schools acquainted with education law?
2. Are
there established rules and regulations guiding the conduct of public primary
schools pupils?
3. Is
there any relationship between teachers’ knowledge of education law and their
establishment of rules and regulations guiding the conduct of the pupils in
public primary schools?
4. What
pupils’ disciplinary problems do teachers experience in public primary schools?
5. What
are the methods used by teachers in
managing pupils’ disciplinary problems
in the public primary schools?
6. Is
there any relationship between teachers’ knowledge of education law and their
methods of managing pupils’ disciplinary problems in public primary schools?
Research Hypotheses
The
following hypotheses were formulated and
tested at 0.05 level of significance.
1. There is no significance relationship between
teachers’ knowledge of education law and their establishment of rules and
regulations guiding the conduct of the pupils in public primary schools
2. There is no significance relationship between
teachers’ knowledge of education law and their methods of managing pupils’
disciplinary problems in the public primary schools.
Purpose of the Study
The
main purpose of the study is to investigate teachers’ knowledge of education
law and their management of primary school pupils’ disciplinary problems in Edo
central Senatorial District. The specific objectives were to:
* examine if teachers in public primary
schools are acquainted with education law
* examine if there are established rules and
regulations guiding the conducts of public primary school pupils
* find
out if there is any relationship between education law and the established
rules and regulations guiding
the conduct of the pupils in public primary schools
* examine
pupils disciplinary problems teachers experienced in public primary schools
* examine the methods teachers use in
managing the pupils disciplinary problems in the public primary schools and
*
find out if there is any
relationship between teachers knowledge of education law and their methods of managing pupils
disciplinary problems in the public primary schools.
Significance of the Study
The
findings of the study will be beneficial to the government, teachers, pupils
and parents. It will be of great benefit to the government irrespective of the
level, as the study will bring to the notice of the teachers the best way to
manage pupils disciplinary problems in schools and facilitate pupils academic
achievement, which in turn will lead to the overall development of the country.
It will be of help to the teachers, as the study
will bring to their notice the necessary sections of the law that is backing
their disciplinary actions in the classroom which in turn will save them from
taking laws into their hands.
The
findings will be of benefit to the pupils as teachers effectiveness in the
management of discipline occasioned by the knowledge of education law will put
an end to disruptive behaviour in the classroom, which in turn will enhance
their academic performance and make them useful in the society.
Lastly,
the findings of the study will be of great help to the parents, as teachers
effectiveness in the management of classrooms will boost pupils’ performance,
thus facilitating parents rate of returns in terms of the money invested in
their children’s education.
Scope of the Study
The
study was restricted to public primary
schools in Edo Central Senatorial District of Edo State. Teachers in the schools
formed the respondents of the study. The content of
the study covered teachers’ knowledge of education law,
establishment of rules and regulations in public primary schools, the
relationship between teachers’ knowledge of education law and the establishment
of the rules and regulations, pupils’ disciplinary problems experienced by teachers in schools, methods of managing the pupils’
disciplinary problems, and the relationship between teachers’ knowledge of
education law and their methods of managing the pupils’ disciplinary problems
in schools.
Operational Definition of Terms
Education Law:
In this study, education law is a set of rules or guides formulated to ensure
peace, stability, and order in school.
Knowledge of Education Law: This refers to the extent teachers is
acquainted with the rules and regulations that guide all schools’ activities.
In other words, it refers to the level of teachers’ awareness of the rules and
regulations that guide school activities.
Disciplinary Problems:
This refers to the problems that result from the violation of rules and
regulations.
School Discipline:
This is the system of rules, punishments, and behavioural strategies
appropriate to the regulation of children or adolescents and the maintenance of
order in schools. Its aim is to control pupils’ actions and behaviours.
Methods of managing Disciplinary
Problems: This refers to the techniques employed
by school administrators to correct the violation of rules and regulations by
pupils.
================================================================
Item Type: Postgraduate Material | Attribute: 95 pages | Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word | Price: N3,000 | Delivery: Within 30Mins.
================================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment