DEVELOPING A FRAMEWORK FOR PROMOTING INTERNAL EFFICIENCY OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Abstract

Internal efficiency of schools owes itself to the proper and effective use of all inputs simultaneously. However the non-availability and /or improper use of some of the inputs do not make the internal efficiency of schools possible. It is generally believed that most of secondary schools in public sector are not internally efficient. It was one of the considerations that required a systematic research in this area, to identify what factors made the school internally inefficient and what were the weaknesses of the system that could be addressed for remedial solution. It is a descriptive study that explored the current status of efficiency in Government boys’ secondary schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan, with a view to identify gaps and their causes for remedial solutions. This also required the development of a framework within which the gaps, causes and suggestions for improvement are to be given. The literature review facilitated the study to find out indicators for improvement of internal efficiency and to place them under specific categories for the development of an opinionnaire/questionnaire. The following key questions were framed for this study: 1. What is the current scenario of internal efficiency of Government boys’ secondary schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan? 2. What are the indicators for promoting internal efficiency in Government boys’ secondary schools? 3. What are the gaps in the internal efficiency of Government boys’ secondary schools of the province that can be focused for remedial solution? 4. What implementable framework can be suggested for improving the internal efficiency of boys’ secondary schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province? The purpose of the study included a consideration of unbiased assessment of the current status of internal efficiency in boys’ secondary schools; exploring indicators on the basis of literature review and identification of gaps for development of a framework. The target population of the study was 1229 principals/heads of boys’ secondary v schools and 4201 senior school teachers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. The sampled population of the current study was 297 principals/ heads of Government boys’ secondary schools and 1433 senior school teachers in five districts randomly selected from five divisions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. (Source KP EMIS 2010-11). The sample of the study was adequate because 75 (25%) principals and 359 (25%) senior school teachers were included in the study from the five districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. Stratified random sampling technique was used to ensure its representativeness. The primary source of data collection was closed-ended opinionnaire/ questionnaire, which were personally handed over to 75 principals and 359 senior school teachers of sampled boys’ Government high schools. They were also collected back in person. The secondary sources of data included a study of documents, office records and review of relevant literature. The data were quantified in terms of figures and percentages. However, qualitative data were given different treatment. They were described and discussed for drawing inferences from them. For authenticity of results appropriate statistical measures (Chi-square test) were applied. The gaps identified by the study included low allocation of financial resources to secondary education; low retention of students in schools and absence of proper check on repetition; dropouts and wastage of resources (time, men, materials and money). Moreover adequate access to secondary schools and poor quality of instruction always remained the concern of the stakeholders of education. The study also found that the internal efficiency was adversely affected by incompetent principals/heads of the schools and poorly trained and non-committed teachers. The study made a number of recommendations for promoting the internal efficiency of Government boys’ secondary schools in public sector, which included proper training of teachers and principals as well as availability of basic facilities for school improvement. These recommendations were further supplemented by a framework, which incorporated gaps, causes and suggestions for improvement.