MENACE OF INDISCIPLINE AMONG NIGERIAN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

CHAPTER ONE

1.0       INTRODUCTION

1.1       BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

            Education is a critical tool for the transformation of the individual and the society. Secondary education in Nigeria is aimed at preparing the individual for useful living within the society and preparation for higher education. For individual to be able to live a useful life in his society and contribute towards the social, economic and political development of the nation, the relevant skills, values, attitudes, knowledge and competencies must be impacted. Recent times have witnessed tremendous growth in the incidents of indiscipline in Nigerian secondary schools. Indiscipline has been a major and continuous administrative problem among secondary schools in developing countries. Denga (1999) in his study identified indiscipline problems such as stealing, truancy, sexual offence, vandalism and cheating as destructive practices.

In many urban and rural areas of Nigeria, the percentage of students who drop out of school is much higher. Such students develop and exhibit deviant behaviour and may never fulfill their potentials. They become burdens to the society. Nigerian educators, administrators and parents are concerned about the increasing rate of indiscipline in Nigerian secondary schools. This observation should disturb the mind of any patriotic Nigerian because the children are the future leaders of the country. As a result, any attempt to control or eliminate the existence of indiscipline in schools will be acceptable to the government, educators, parents and school administrators. The man thrust of this study is to investigate indiscipline in Secondary schools in Nigeria and identify the common types, causes and proffer possible solutions.

Several authors have defined the term discipline. According to Adesina (1980:108), discipline is to teach the students to respect the school authorities, to observe the school laws and regulations and to maintain an established standard of behaviour. From this definition the school has a role to play in inculcating discipline on the students. Egwunyenga (1994) defined discipline as the training that enables an individual to develop an orderly conduct and self-control, restraint, respect for self and respect for others. Discipline according to Abubakar (2000) is the ability and willingness to do what one ought to do without external control.

Hence one can say discipline is internally motivated within the individual. It is voluntary and an individual deliberately makes efforts to conform to an established code of conduct. However, Aguba (2009) while emphasizing Douglas mc Gregor’s theory x, maintained that discipline is externally induced in individuals who do not succumb to established rules and regulation out of personal volition but out of fear of punishment or sanction. Rosen (1997) sees discipline as a branch of knowledge, training that develops self-control, character, orderliness or efficiency, strict control to enforce obedience and treatment that controls or punishes and as a system of rules according to Slee (1995), discipline involves teaching and self-control. The united states department of Education 1993:1 in Rosen (1997) acknowledge that maintaining a disciplined environment conducive for learning requires an ethics of caring, that shapes staff-students relations.

Public accountability presupposes that schools are places that turn out productive and useful school leavers. Agbenyega (2006) maintained that good discipline is one of the main attributes of effective schools and many failing schools have been blamed on lack of discipline. Indiscipline on the contrary, is any act that deviates from societal norms and values. It is a violation of school rules and regulations which is capable of obstructing the smooth and orderly functioning of the school system (Edem, 1982). An undiscipline child is an uncontrollable child and can do any damage in school when he did not get what he wants. Every school administrator requires a good measure of discipline in his school.

Indiscipline is causing a menace in all parts of the world in relation to children’s affairs. In some parts of the United Kingdom, the rates of absenteeism, vandalism and delinquency are above average. More worrisome is reported cases of high incidence of drug and related crimes that some parts of Britain are described as “no go areas” (KenReid, 2000). In Ghana, Danso (2010) decried the high rates of indiscipline and lawlessness in educational institutions. He observed that not a single day passes without a report of an act of indiscipline perpetrated by teenagers of primary and secondary schools. He lamented over the causes of drug abuses, rape armed robbery, abortion and even murder in the educational institutions. Meaningful teaching and learning geared towards the attainment of school goals is unattainable if the teachers and students are not disciplined. Aguba (2009) noted that discipline is needed to produce a breed of well cultivated youths who will develop not only respect for themselves but also for others in the school and society.

1.2       STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Achievement of the goals of secondary school education largely depends on the positive disposition of students in their academic work and the instructional performance of teachers. A major task facing educational administrators is the continuous existence of the problem of dropout, deviant behaviours, examination malpractice, lateness and poor academic performance among students. Records showed that most of the students involved in cultism in higher institutions started it in their secondary school days.  The need has therefore arisen for school administrators, teachers, parents and the general public to eliminate indiscipline in schools. Nigerians cannot remain complacent when large human and material resources are wasted, indiscipline is rampant, and an atmosphere of insecurity, frustration and instability are created in schools leading to ineffective learning.

1.3       PURPOSE OF STUDY

The study has three objectives to achieve three goals namely:

1.      To identify the common types of indiscipline in Nigerian secondary schools.

2.      To identify the causes of indiscipline in Nigerian secondary schools.

3.      To proffer possible solution to the problem of indiscipline in schools.

1.4       RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The study is guided by five questions as follows:

1.      What are the common types of indiscipline among secondary schools in Nigeria?

2.      What are the student based factors that cause indiscipline in Nigerian secondary schools?

3.      What are the school based factors that cause indiscipline in Nigerian secondary schools?

4.      What are the societal based factors that cause indiscipline in Nigerian secondary schools?

5.      What are the possible solution to the identified causes indiscipline in Nigerian secondary schools?

1.5       HYPOTHESIS

The two hypotheses formulated and tested are:

There is no significant difference among principals students, teacher in their views on the identified causes of indiscipline in Nigerian secondary schools.

There is no significant difference among principals, students, and teachers in their views on the identified possible solutions to indiscipline in Nigerian secondary schools.

1.6       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will be useful to educational administrators and teachers as well as parents as it will suggest other strategies that can be used to reduce indiscipline among students in secondary schools. It will also contribute to the existing body of knowledge and literature on ways of reducing indiscipline in schools

1.7       SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This project work will critically examined the act of menace of indiscipline among Nigerian secondary school. But due to the limited time, this project will be restricted to some selected secondary schools in Imeko/ AfonLocal Government Area OgunState.

1.8       DEFINITION OF TERMS

Menace: A dangerous or possibly harmful thing or someone who causes trouble

Indiscipline: It refers to misbehaviour or devience or any form of indiscipline behaviour that displays disobedience to authority and failure to follow set rules of conduct.

Secondary School: Is a school which provides secondary education, between the ages of 11 and 16 or 11 and 18, after primary school and before higher education.