The Effect of Corruption on the Educational System in Nigeria (Published)
Corruption universally plagues societies and its impact has disastrous effects on national development. It has been established by scholars that no sector is Immune from the fangs of corruption. Corruption however varies; across societies and countries but globally its impact on the educational sector undermines the national advancement of any country. In the Nigerian context, corruption has deep roots in the fabrics of the society, impacting virtually every aspect of the Nigerian economy. Scholars have highlighted the impeding impact on the technological, political, moral development of the country. In the educational sector, it causes infrastructural insufficiencies which leads to poor educational delivery and inaccessibility to education while impacting the empowerment of citizens within the society. This has left the citizens feeling frustrated, disgruntled and disenchanted and possibly inducing the rise in insurgency, kidnapping and militancy in the country. As such, the need to mitigate and tackle the growing trend of corruption in the educational sector because of impact on manpower and national development. The research makes a number of recommendations which include that; Accountability and transparency should be sensitized and imposed on every aspect of the Nigerian society in such a way those public officer holders, contractors, tutors and stakeholders view transparency and accountability as key aspects of carrying out projects and serving the people. Sensitization on the dangerous impact of corruption on education should be carried out by non-governmental agencies and religious bodies. An effective and reliable financial management system should be established to control and monitor the use of educational resources and supervision of programmes and projects embarked in the educational sector to mention but a few.
Keywords: Corruption, Education, educational development
Parenting Styles as Correlates of Students’ Attitude towards Examination Malpractices in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State: Implications for Counselling (Published)
Parenting styles refers to practices adopted by parents in rearing their children. A good parenting style is needed to develop in a child interpersonal relationship, capacity to take initiatives, self-reliance, motivation and to conform to societal acceptable code of conduct. Bad parenting style is counterproductive and may as well get children involved in antisocial behaviours including examination malpractices. This work is a correlational study intended to determine the relationship between parenting styles and students’ attitude towards examination malpractices. Three research questions and three hypotheses were designed to guide the study. The instruments for data collection were Students’ Attitude to Examination Malpractices Scale and Parenting Style Scale. These instruments were vetted by three experts in Educational Psychology. The reliability coefficient of Attitude to Examination Malpractices Scale measured through test-retest method and Pearson product moment correlation technique was 0.86. The reliability indices of sections of Parenting Style Scale established through Cronbach Alpha technique were 0.68, 0.81, 0.73 and 0.84 for sections A, B, C and D respectively. It was found that though, majority of the students showed negative attitude towards examination malpractices, a sizeable percentage of them showed positive attitude towards the malaise. Authoritative, authoritarian, permissive and neglectful parenting styles had a significant joint relationship with students’ attitude towards examination malpractices. Authoritative, authoritarian and permissive parenting styles each had individual negative relationship with students’ attitude towards examination malpractices while neglectful parenting style had a positive relationship with students’ attitude towards examination malpractices. Based on these findings, it is imperative for the counsellors to assist prospective couples through premarital counselling or marital counselling to adopt good parenting styles especially authoritative parenting style in nurturing their children. Appreciable number of counsellors should be employed by the government of Rivers State and sent to secondary schools to help maladjusted students acquire good value re-orientation that will enable them distinguish what is good from what is bad with a view to avoiding negative tendencies including examination malpractices.
Keywords: Authoritarian, Authoritative, Corruption, Examination, Fraud, Test, antisocial behaviour, cheating, malpractices, neglectful parenting styles, permissive
Dilemma of indiscipline in Secondary Schools: A Case Study of Toro Local Government Area Plateau State Nigeria, Implications for Corruption and Terrorism (Published)
This research was prompted by the dilemma of indiscipline in secondary schools in Toro local government area of Plateau state. The essence of the study was to identify risk factors of indiscipline, its effects on students’ academic performance, its’ implications for teacher effectiveness and relate its’ potentials for corruption and terrorism. The purpose was to come up with more effective alternative ways to address the phenomenon. The study had six objectives. Ten research questions guided the study. The theoretical anchor was Ivan Pavlov operant conditioning theory which explains maladjusted behavior. The sampling frame was made up of 102 secondary schools, 2887 teachers and 31604 students. The survey design was adopted. The convenient sampling technique was used. The simple percentage and averages were utilized to analyze the data. The sole instrument used was a structured questionnaire. The basic suggestion advocates a rethink of the effectiveness of the teachers and the state of school environment. The government should provide scholarships at secondary and tertiary levels for deserving students, implement free education, and also explore avenues of providing lucrative jobs for graduates as motivating factors. Disciplinary cases should be referred to juvenile courts. The system of education should provide differentiated curriculum.
Keywords: Corruption, Dilemma, Implication, Indiscipline, Secondary Schools, Terrorism