COST REDUCTION STRATEGIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS SETTINGS.
Abstract
Institutions’ Administrators in Nigeria have over the years been
facing the challenges of meeting the huge financial and facilities outlay that
are involved in administration at their domain with the little financial
allocation from government. In view of this, there is need for the
administrators to devise means of utilizing the limited financial provision
from government to achieve the stated goals. This paper had therefore tried to highlight
the various measures that can be adopted by the secondary school administrators
to reduce cost in their various schools.
Introduction
The persistent economic
depression being witnessed in Nigeria
over the years can indeed by regarded as the ‘Achilles hills’ in meeting the challenges placed on her by the various
sectors of the economy. However, much as Government realizes the importance of
education for individuals and the nation’s development, the intense competition
for the limited available resources by these sectors has not been giving room
for education sector to receive significant percentage that can be used to meet
up the expenses involved.
The continued increase
in the demand for education occasioned by the social-demand approach of
government in providing education for the citizens in an attempt to ensure equity
and equally promote egalitarianism in the society has even been compounding
this problem. For example, the Federal Government’s introduction and
implementation of Free Universal Primary Education programme coupled this with that
of free education of the Western regional government some decades ago, had led
to an upsurge in enrolment and proliferation of schools. It had equally
increased cost relative to the available financial and material resources,
which eventually culminated in the gross under funding of schools.
Educational Cost
and Analysis
Cost of education
according to Lawrence
(1991) refers to the sum of the real resources used in the production of human
capital, which comes in form of educated manpower. This can indeed be classified
in different ways. Longe (1998) classified it on the basis of the individual or
group that bears it. Based on this therefore, cost of education can be
institutional (those borne by the various educational institutions in the
society), private or household (those borne by the individual whether the
students themselves or their parents/guardians) and social cost (those borne by
the society).
According to Olubor ((1997), institutional cost consists of
two components capital and recurrent. Aghenta (1993) says that considers
capital cost to relate to buildings and other durable items, which constitute about
20% of the educational cost. According to him, it can be delineated into repair
and replacement costs, cost of modifications and additions to existing facilities
/ equipment due to expansion. Recurrent cost according to Akangbou (1987) includes
those expenditure on salaries and allowance of teachers and non-teachers,
purchase of books, stationeries, transport, uniform and other consumable goods
and services.
From another different perspective, Lawrence classifies educational
costs into direct and indirect educational cost. Direct educational cost
according to him represents those costs that are directly incurred by the
education system while indirect cost refers to the value of output which a student
would have produced if they were not studying, which is otherwise known as the ‘earning
foregone’ by the students for taking decision to undergo educational training.
Akangbou further classifies direct
cost of education into social direct cost and private direct cost. While social
direct cost of education covers such items of expenditure as teachers and non-teachers’
salaries and allowances, expenditure on books, transport, building e.t.c, private
direct cost on the other hand covers expenditure as tuition fees (when charged),
books, transportation and uniform less scholarship and bursaries cost (if they
are used by the students).
Institutional Cost
Determinants
Cost in institution is
under the influence of various factors. With regards to the teachers and non-teachers
components of these costs, the number, qualifications and the experience they
possess are mostly predominant. When the number is high therefore, more money would
have to be expended on the payment of their salaries and allowances. The
qualification possessed by them, which shows the level of education attained also
dictates the level of salary and allowances payable. In Nigeria as a
reference point, analysis of the salary structure would reveal higher salary
and allowances for those with degree certificate when compared to those with
lower certificate like Grade II and Nigerian Certificate in Education (NC.E).
When a school is therefore staffed with more graduate teachers relative to non-graduates,
the salary cost of such school would definitely be higher. Apart from this, the
more experienced (in terms of the number of years already spent on the job) a
teacher is, the more would be the salary and allowances to be received monthly
Educational Cost Classification Chart
UNSPECIFIED
COST
SCHOLARSHIP
COMSUMABLE
ITEMS
NON-
TEACHERS
COST
TEACHER
COST
FURNITURE
COST
EQUIPMENT
COST
BUILDING
COST
TRANSPORT
COST
UNIFORM
COST
BOOKS AND STATIONARY
ADDITIONAL
LIVING COST
Source: H.N. Pandit (1981) from Adeyemi J.K. (1998). Cost
in Education in Educational Management for Sub-Saharan Africa,
Benin City:
NSEP.
In
Nigeria
as an example, each additional year spent by a worker in the service would qualify
him or her for a further step increment, which would confer some financial
benefit on such worker. However, when a worker must have spent some years on a particular
grade level (i.e. three and four in some cases), such worker is qualified to be
promoted to the next higher level. This would equally confer financial benefit on
the recipients, which is more in this case than that of step increment.
Moreover, capital aspect of
institutional cost is under the influence of the design pattern of such
buildings and also the type of materials used in their construction. In this
regard, the more sophisticated the buildings in a school are made to be, the
more would be the cost that would be incurred in their construction and maintenance.
When a school decides to build an architectural design building with expensive
facilities and installations, capital cost of construction would be higher than
when simple design buildings with local materials are constructed.
The ratio of teachers relative to
the students otherwise referred to as the teacher–student’s ratio also plays
significant role in influencing cost. When this ratio is high, which implies that
there are more teachers relatives to students in such school, cost would be higher.
This is because of the teaching of more students, which would go a long way in
reducing the cost of salary and allowances payment. However, when the ratio is
low, it implies that fewer teachers would be involved in the teaching of more students;
hence cost of salary payment would be high.
Class size, which represents the
number of students occupying a class in a school at a particular time, also
affects cost. A high class size implies that fewer classrooms and buildings
would be needed in the school, which entails lower capital cost with respect to
cost of buildings. However, when this is low, more classrooms and buildings
need to be provided for effective teaching of the students, which therefore implies
more capital cost.
Enrolment capacity also influences
cost. When the population of a school is high, such school would have to make
provision for more buildings and facilities to cater for the students hence
more cost would be incurred. When enrolment is however low, more facilities and
buildings need to be provided hence cost would be lower.
Wastage rate, which represents the
rate of repetition and drop out in a school, also goes a long way in
influencing cost. When students repeat years in a school, extra provision has
to be made by such school for such students in repeating the class. The higher the
level of wastages in a school therefore, the higher would be the cost to be
incurred.
Strategies for Reduction of Cost in
Secondary Schools
Reduction of cost in
secondary schools can be achieved through several approaches. With regard to
capital costs of building, the design of such building(s) can be made to be
simple. Instead of constructing buildings with complex architectural design and
multiple stories, single story or those with lesser stories and simple design
can be constructed.
A school can equally set aside a
separate place to be designed as store where damaged equipments can be
temporarily stored prior to their repair. The principal of a school with the
assistance of the other staff can cultivate the habit of making routine visit to
classrooms, staff quarters etc to assess the state of installed equipment.
Cost of purchasing new equipment especially
in the sciences can be reduced through improvisation. In this regard, the
students can be guided by the science teachers to make use of the locally available
materials to construct some of the equipment. There is however the need for the
Principal to cooperate as regards the release of the fund that may be needed to
achieve this.
This cost of constructing additional
buildings in a school can be minimized by increasing the number of students per
class (class size). However, care must be taken not to over stretch this so as
not to jeopardize qualitative learning of the students in class.
With regard to teacher’s salary and
allowances component of recurrent cost, a school can adopt a system whereby
teacher with lesser qualification instead of those with advanced qualifications
are procured. Although this can come mainly through government policy, the Principal
of schools can make recommendations through the approval of the Board of Parent
and Teachers Association (P.T.A). Principals can appoint part-time and PTA
teachers to augment the teaching staff quantity in their schools. As these categories
of teachers are not on the pay roll of government, the principal can negotiate
their salary and allowances directly.
When there are excess teachers in some subjects in a school
relative to other subjects, a school Principal can utilize some of them in the needy
areas. For example, a teacher with degree in Engineering can be co-opted to
teach Physics in the lowest Senior Secondary (SSS) class and Mathematics in the
Junior Secondary (JSS) classes. This can be adopted instead of opting for
part-time teachers, which entails additional cost.
As the world is currently in
computer age, a school can respond to this by computerizing its records. Although
the cost of procuring a computer is much, this can be obtained through the
assistance of government and the wealthy ones among the parents. With this,
there would be reduction in the number of non-teaching staff and unnecessary
daily procurement of stationeries and typewriters and duplicating machines
accessories.
A school can further adopt the
policy of vocationalisation. In this regard, the Agricultural Science
Department of a school can embark on large scale agricultural practices, which
include: planting of crops, rearing of cattle, breeding of fishes in pond e.t.c.
Some of the proceeds from these can be bought directly at cheaper price by the
school and used to feed the students especially those in the boarding schools.
Some may also be sold to members of the public thereby serving as source of
revenue for the schools. However, if these are to be practiced, care must be
taken so as not to sacrifice the student’s academics for work.
In addition, a school can team up
with other neighbouring schools for direct purchase of food items and
stationeries. This would not only help in reducing transportation / carriage
cost but also the cost that would have to be borne due to inflation of prices
by the middlemen. The cash discount that may possibly be granted for buying in
large quantities is an added advantage.
The number of students to be taught
per teacher in a school can be increased. This will go a long way in reducing
to the minimum, the number of teachers in the school hence a reduction in the
cost that would have to be borne on the payment of salaries and allowances.
A school can opt for the reduction
in its enrolment capacity as this will go a long way in reducing the facilities
that needs to be provided the sustenance of the excess students. Above all, as
wastage constitutes a waste of the limited financial resources in a school, a
school can initiate policies that will help in its control. In this regard,
teachers in the school can be guarded to be dedicated to work through adequate
motivation through the provision of better working environment, e.g. purchasing
of more chairs, tables, teaching aids for their usage. Also regular meeting of
staff with parents to discuss students’ welfare; introduction of extra
curriculum activities to engage students after class-work, regular counseling
of the students go a long way in controlling this.
Summary
Cost in secondary
schools from the above, can be reduced through several ways, which includes a
reduction in class size, an increase in teacher-pupil/students ratio, reduction
in enrolment, joint and direct purchase of items, direct labour project implementation,
computerization of records, adoption of simple design and use of local
materials in building (s) construction, improvising of equipment and above all
a control of wastage rate.
Conclusion and
Recommendation
The need for reduction
of cost at institutional level at this period of poor education financing cannot
be over–emphasized. Having therefore analyzed the strategies that can be adopted
in achieving this, it is believed that if the various secondary school
principals/administrators adopt them, not only would cost be reduced, there
would be an improvement in the internal efficiency. Government can assist in
achieving this by making policies that would favour their adoption especially
those that border on teachers and students recruitment, number of students per
class (class-size), number of students per teacher (teacher– students ratio)
e.t.c.
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