CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
It is the duty of government to make and
implement policies that will see to the betterment of its people. It is
their duty to create order and an enabling environment for the
flourishing of its people and cater to the future of the said people. In
time, the government and society at large would be delineated into bits
of structures which ideally should work together for common goal.
However, as society grows and the
complexities of governance and particularly policy making widens,
certain policies aimed at strengthening a section of governance and
general well-being of people begin to distort the aims of the others and
vice versa. Using the Nigeria society as a case study, one easily
recognizes that one of the major, of not the major, problems of Nigeria
is unity especially among the various ethnic groups that make up the
country. To combat this the central government and the state governments
make policies that attempts to close the gap of differences and foster
unity. One of such is universities having to adopt a quota system for
candidates from other ethnic groups to encourage them to come to school
in zones that are not there’s and to boost the literacy level in parts
where it is lacking deeply. A policy such as this, while encouraging
unity more often than not negatively affect the educational quality of
the universities and consequently affecting their activities.
Other times it is uninformed policies
like fund distribution that affect academic activities. When lecturers
and non academic staff members are owed salaries they go on strikes
which directly affect the academic activities in the universities within
that state.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
It might not directly look it but
educational policies on say funding, appointments, admissions, research,
etc, come under political ratification. This is because even though the
educational sector works on a system, government has to habitually make
and remake policies in running it. And like everything under an outside
influence, some of the policies directly or indirectly related to the
educational sectors impact both positively and negatively on its
activities.
This is problem that has called the
present research work into being- to study the impact of government
policy on Academic activities in Ondo state of Nigeria.
1.3 Research Questions
1.3.1 Do government policies
directly affect academic activities in the state or are they merely
remote causes of some of offsets.
1.3.2 What are these policies that impact
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The purpose of this research work is to
adequately and satisfactorily study the impact of government policy on
academic activities in Ondo state. This is carried out with the aim of
designing ways of reducing it’s negative impact on the academic
calendar.
Again, the findings and recommendations
that are proffered in this word are informed by the hope of giving
government workable measures to put in place in this regard so as to
ensure a smooth and undisrupted sessions which are hardly the situation
in Ondo state and Nigeria in general.
This work aims also at developing
materials that will help lobby government into establishing a commission
mandated to checking and reducing undesirable impacts of government
policies on academic activities in the state.
1.5 Significance of the Study
However government policies impact on
the academic activities of schools in the state, it is usually a result
of positive aims in view. So that what is needed is a deep study of
these impacts which would present to policy makers safest ways to
manoeuvre through them.
Before now, the question that has
brought this work to light has not been grappled with, at least not in
the way that is proposed to be done here. Therefore, this work is of
importance to other states and schools outside Ondo state.
1.6 Research Hypothesis
The working assumptions upon this research work is begun includes:
- That government policies directly and indirectly impact upon the academic activities of schools in the state.
- Often times these impacts are more negative than positive
1.7 Scope of the Study
The focus of this study is on the
academic activities. In the case of universities, the impacts of
government policy on non academic departments would not be treated in
anyway but may be made reference to.
The instances and working hypothesis
will be limited to that of schools and school boards in Ondo state
Nigeria and more emphasis will be laid on the kinds of impacts that are
peculiar to the state while those shared with other Nigerian states will
be discussed after.
1.8 Limitations of the Study
The major limiting factor in the course
of this research is in the coalition of the research data. In order to
gather adequate material for the study, the present writer has to go
through the various schools within the state and
1.9 Definition of Terms
Policy
This refers to a course of action and procedures formulated for use in an organization for particular issues.