PROPRIETORS' POLICY COMPLIANCE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF PRIVATE PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS IN OYO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The low Academic Performance (AP) of primary school pupils in Nigeria in external examinations persists, especially in Oyo State despite the inclusion of Facility (FN), Instructional Resources (IRN) and Personnel (PN) Norms in the Primary School Benchmark Minimum Academic Standard (PSBMAS) in the state. Previous studies on AP considered mostly home and teacher-related factors in public primary schools with little attention given to private primary school Proprietors Policy Compliance (PPC) with the PSBMAS in the state. This study, therefore, was designed to investigate the contributions of PPC with FN, IRN and PN to AP of private primary school pupils in Oyo State, Nigeria, and examine the influence of Policy Comprehension (PC), Willingness and ability of proprietors to PPC with FN, IRN and PN. Stufflebeam's CIPP Evaluation Model provided the framework, while survey design was used. Multi-stage sampling procedure was adopted. Cluster sampling technique was used to select 17 out of 33 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state. Simple random technique was adopted to select 296 registered private primary schools from the LGAs. Proprietors' Compliance with PSBMAS Checklist (r = 0.88) and Compliance Factor Questionnaire (r = 0.74) were used to collect data, while the: very low (1.0-1.4), low (1.5-2.4), high (2.5-3.4) and very high (3.5-4.0) norm was adopted. The average score of pupils per school in the 2017 Common Entrance Examination was calculated using data obtained from school records. These were complemented with 12 sessions of Key Informant Interviews with six each of chairmen of Association of Proprietors of Private Primary Schools at the LGA level and secretaries of Local Government Universal Basic Education Authority (LGUBEA). Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlation and Multiple regression at 0.05 level of significance, while qualitative data were analysed thematically. The average AP of private primary school pupils (78.0%) was good. Proprietors' PC =2.15) was low, while willingness =2.88) and ability =2.95) were high. The PPC with FN =3.09) and IRN =3.30) were high, while PN =3.61) was very high. The PPC with FN, IRN and PN (adj. R2 =0.55; F(3, 292) =120.71) made significant contribution to AP and contributed 55.4% of variations in the dependent variable. Proprietors' compliance with FN (r=0.45) and IRN (r=0.39) had significant relationships with AP, while PN did not. Proprietors' compliance with FN ( =0.36), IRN ( =0.25) and PN ( =0.28) contributed to AP, while policy comprehension, willingness and ability did not contribute to compliance with FN, IRN and PN. Financial constraint was the major challenge for PPC. Enforcement of FN, IRN and PN by the officers of the LGUBEA was the major event by which high PPC was achieved. Proprietors' compliance with Primary Schools Benchmark Minimum Academic Standard influenced academic performance of private school pupils in Oyo State, Nigeria. There should be enforcement of total compliance with facilities, instructional resources and personnel norms to enhance pupils’ academic performance.