School Characteristics and Enrollment Trend in Upper Basic Schools in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria from 2008-2016

Abstract

The study investigated school characteristics and enrolment trend in upper basic schools in Akwa Ibom State Nigeria from 2008-2016. Two research questions were answered while two null hypotheses were also tested. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. Census technique was adopted in selecting all the 227 public upper basic schools in the area of study. An instrument tagged "School Characteristics and Enrolment in Upper Basic Schools Checklist (SCEUBSC)" was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics (percentages) was used to summarize data relating to the research questions, bar chart was used for illustrations of the enrolment pattern while independent t-test was used to test the two null hypotheses at .05 alpha level. Findings revealed that enrolment in upper basic schools in Akwa Ibom State was high in single-sex schools and boarding schools, while it was low in mixed-sex schools and day schools. Based on the findings, it was concluded that there was an upward trend in enrolment in all the schools from 2008-2013 and a downward trend from 2015-2016. It was recommended among others that research allocation in terms of personnel and infrastructures should be evenly distributed across the state as these will reduce rural-urban migration.

Embracing Diversity in the Educational Landscape: Resource Supply and Inclusive Education in Secondary Schools

“…This result is in line with what previous studies have discovered. In different studies (e.g., Cornelius-Ukpepi & Opuwari, 2019;Ekaette et al, 2019;Makoelle & Burmistrova, 2020), poor funding or inadequate provision of financial resources was a major weakness in militating against the implementation of inclusive education implementation. The result may mean that inclusive education is not properly budgeted for or that there is an embezzlement of funds earmarked for the policy by administrators and government officials.…”

“…Eleweke identified several significant challenges to implementing inclusive education in those countries, including the absence of support services, insufficient training programs for personnel, inadequate funding structures, and enabling legislation. Similarly, other scholars (such as Ekaette et al, 2019;Omede, 2016) have documented instances of poor implementation of inclusive education and associated it with factors such as a lack of equipment and facilities, insufficient funding, absence of trained specialists, inaccurate data, irregular staff training, limited accessibility of the program for students, and misinformation. These findings support the outcomes of research questions 1, 2, and 3, which established the inadequate availability of resources necessary to implement inclusive education fully.…”

“…For example, Fuandai (2010) observed that children facing learning difficulties did not receive sufficient support regarding essential resources, physical infrastructure, and specialised equipment to meet their specific needs, unlike their peers in mainstream schools. Similarly, other researchers have noted that lack of equipment and facilities, poor funding, lack of trained specialists, lack of accurate data, irregular staff training, inaccessibility of the programme by students, and misinformation are impediments to the full implementation of inclusive education in Nigeria (Ekaette et al, 2019;Omede, 2016).…”

“…Scholars worldwide have blamed the inadequate supply of financial resources for the poor implementation of inclusive education. For example, reports have indicated that most of the emerging educational policies in developing countries fail due to a poor supply of funds to support their effective implementation (Cornelius-Ukpepi & Opuwari, 2019;Ekaette et al, 2019;Makoelle & Burmistrova, 2020). In teachers' colleges in Zimbabwe, the implementation of inclusive education faced considerable obstacles due to a scarcity of financial resources, material resources, infrastructure, and human resources (Hlatywayo & Mapolisa, 2020).…”

Statistical Trends of School Size, Location and Enrolment: An Evaluation of Public Junior Secondary Schools for Sustainable Development

“…The revised National Policy on Education specified a maximum of 40 students in class in secondary schools (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004). Some researchers believe that enrolment in schools, especially in secondary schools should be based on the school size and locations among others (Arop et al, 2018;Ekaette et al, 2019;. No matter how laudable an educational programme may be, if the number of facilities needed to carry out the programmes is inadequate, the programme will not be as good as expected (Adeyemi & Adu, 2010).…”