Stakeholders Participation in Funding of Public Secondary Schools in Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined stakeholders’ participation in the funding of public secondary schools in Rivers State, Nigeria. Two research objectives, two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. The area of the study was public secondary schools in Rivers State. The population of the study was 7,693 respondents comprising 7,425 teachers and 268 principals in all the 268 public senior secondary schools in Rivers State. Sample size of 380 respondents drawn from the population. A structured instrument titled‟ Stakeholders Participation in the Funding of Public Secondary Schools Questionnaire (SPFPSSQ)” was used to elicit data from the respondents. The instrument was validated by experts in educational research. The reliability of the instrument gave a Cronbach Alpha index of 0.78 and 0.88 which was considered reliable. The data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation in answering the research questions while the null hypotheses formulated were tested using z-test at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that adequate budgeting of school funds and proper utilization of school funds are the factors that will encourage stakeholders’ participation in the funding of public senior secondary schools in Rivers State. Based on the findings, the researcher recommended that, school administrators should not rely only on what is coming from the government, but should partner other stakeholders as a way of alternative sourcing of funds to add up with what government is bringing.