Computer Modeling Approach to Evaluating the Impact of Parents to Public Secondary School Educational System in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper proposes nine (9) performance indices of some factors that define parents’ contributions to secondary school education in Nigeria and a tool for evaluating them. Four Hundred and Eight Three (483) secondary schools that spread across the six geo-political zones in Nigeria were surveyed by administering questionnaires and holding meetings with their principal officers. The data obtained from the survey were subjected to factor analysis by principal components using Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS). From the analysis, three factors; namely support for school development, support for students’ academic development and relationship with teachers and school management were extracted and the percentage contribution of each factor to secondary school system in Nigeria was estimated. It was discovered that the total sum of the percentage contribution of all the factors was less than 100. This showed that some extraneous factors exist whose related performance indices were not considered in the research instrument, which were likely to contribute in no small measure to the current performance of the secondary school system in Nigeria. Such extraneous factors include but not limited to support for school discipline, government policies, custom and tradition and literacy level. Moreover, a factor scores coefficient matrix that can be used for the estimation as well as the ranking of the assessment of each respondent to parents’ contribution to the current performance of secondary school system in Nigeria was generated.

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