Abstract:

The need to ensure adequate security in the school system in Nigeria in particular and globally in general, cannot be over emphasized. Many cases of insecurity in schools have been and are being reported on regular bases with their impact on effective school administration and consequent effect on students’ learning outcomes. The global concern currently is on improving security in schools and Nigeria, specifically Enugu State, is not left out of this concern. The study, therefore, investigated the extent of community participation in the provision of security for effective administration of public secondary schools in Enugu State, Nigeria. To guide the study, one research question was posed and one null hypothesis was formulated. Descriptive survey design was employed for the study. The population for the study consisted of 290 principals and 6921 teachers, out of which 30 principals and 692 teachers where sampled, respectively, using proportionate and simple random sampling technique. This resulted in a total of 722 respondents that where sampled from the population of 7211 principals and teachers. The instrument used for data collection was a self-constructed questionnaire, which was subjected to face and content validity. A test-retest method was used to obtain reliability co-efficient of 0.71 using cronbach alpha co-efficient. The research question was analyzed using mean and standard Deviation while the hypothesis was tested at .05 level of significance using t-test statistics. The result revealed that extent of community participation in the provision of security in public secondary schools in Enugu State was low. There was no significant difference in perceptions of principals and teachers regarding the extent of community participation in the provision of security in public secondary schools in Enugu state of Nigeria. In view of these findings, it was recommended that there is need to increase awareness for community members to see the need to increase their participation in the provision of security for effective Administration in schools in their communities. Also, awareness should be created among the community members on how best to participate in the provision of security in public schools for effective Administration. The paper concluded by calling on the principals to get their communities more involved in the provision of security for the schools.

Keywords:

Community Participation, Secondary Education, Security.