Factors Affecting the Growth and Development of Sports in Secondary Schools in Nigeria

Factors Affecting the Growth and Development of Sports in Secondary Schools in Nigeria

CHAPTER ONE

Objective of the Study

The purpose of this study is to examine the constraints to development of sports in secondary schools in Ibadan city.

Specifically, the study seeks to find out the constraints associated with:

sports personnel for development of sports in secondary schools in Ibadan Education Zone.
government policy on development of sports in secondary schools in Ibadan city.
funding of sports for development of sports in secondary schools in Ibadan.
facilities and equipment for development of sports in secondary schools in Ibadan.
sports programmes for development of sports in secondary schools in Ibadan city.
development of sports in secondary schools in Ibadan city according status.

CHAPTER TWO

Content Summary

Review of Related Literature

This chapter presents the review of related literature which is organized under the Conceptual Framework

Sports and sports development

Constraints and constraints to sports development.

Theoretical Framework

Theory of Constraints (TOC)

Empirical studies on constraints to sports development

Summary of Literature Review

Conceptual Framework Sports and Sports Development

Sports denote an aspect of social life in which people show interest and concerns. Hornby (2001) defined sports as outdoor or indoor game, competition, or activity carried on by rules and needing bodily effort and skill. Onifade (2003) views sports as an institutionalized competitive activity that involved vigorous physical exertion or the use of relatively complete physical skills by individuals. He also defined sports as a game occurrence, a structured and institutionalized activity that involves vigorous physical exertion that has the components of competition and prowess on a continuum between play and work. According to Ogu & Umeakuka (2005) sports are organized athletic activities played individually or in teams. The Encyclopedia Britannica sees sport as a recreational or competitive activity that involves some amount of strength or skill.

Sports is very popular the world over. This is because many nations and societies have realized that it is the key to a healthy development of the citizens. When students participate in sports, they are likely to acquire certain training knowledge that may guide them in future in the society. In line with the above view, Coakley (1994) noted that through sports participation; students gain many qualities for effective citizenry. Sports has become globally acknowledged as a potential tool for national and economic development Awosika (2003) describes sports as unifying factor in Nigeria and views it as an essential ingredient for nation building Nations of the world therefore endeavour to utilize the potentials in sports to enhance the attainment of their respective development activities in Nigeria, despite the abundance of human and material resources, the country is yet to optimize its full potentials in the event of sports as obtainable in the secondary schools. Sports in this study refer to the various Physical Education activities that are engaged in during meets.

Sports development in Nigeria has witnessed a lot of metamorphosis from the colonial pre-independence to independence eras (Morakinyo and Aluko, 2009). The Federal Republic of Nigeria Sports Development Policy (1989) defined sports development as the process of continuous improvement of the sport structure, institutions and programmes in order to create a societal condition conducive to physical fitness for all and the effective functioning and self-actualization. This document under reference, categorize sports development under the following components; International Sports, Indigenous Sports, stadium management, Institutional Sports and sports federations. The secondary school sports development is an aspect of the institutional sports component of sports development. This claim is reinforced by the Report of the vision 2020 National Technical Working Group on Sport Development (2007) in which statutory provisions to enhance sports development in schools and communities was identified as a scope of Sports Development. Collins (1995) defined sports development as a process whereby effective opportunities, processes, systems and structures are set up to enable and encourage people in all or particular groups and areas to take part in sport for recreation or to improve their performance to whatever level they desire. He described sports development to also be much about people and connecting communities.

Explaining the concept of sports development, Hylton, Brxamhan, Jackson, and Nesti (2002) place the accent on development and in agreement with Sheitima (2005) claim that development must involve a movement from the old to the new and implies that this is progressive. In other words, sports development is about creating new and better ways of doing things in sports.

CHAPTER THREE

Methodology

Research Design

The cross-sectional survey design was used in the study. The most commonly seen survey uses the cross-sectional design, which asks questions of people at one point in time.

O’Connor, (2011). Gay (1981) explained survey design as being useful for studying a variety of problems involving data collection for either testing hypothesis, answering questions concerning present status of subjects. He also agreed with the view of Weber and Lamb (1970) that this design permits the description of conditions as they exist in their natural setting. Other authors such as Morakinyo and Aluko (2008), Omolawon and Arogbonio (2008), among others had successfully used this design in similar studies. The cross-sectional survey design was therefore considered appropriate for studying the constraints to development of sports in secondary schools in Ibadan city of Oyo state

Population for the Study

The population for the study consisted of all the principals, physical education teachers and the game prefects in all the state government owned secondary schools in Ibadan city of Oyo state. The physical education teachers are those who by their academic qualification are professionally trained to teach physical education and also double as game masters and mistresses in secondary schools. They are those directly faced with the responsibility of administration of sports in the secondary schools. They are here in this study referred to as game masters and mistresses. According to the annual statistics of the post primary school management board of Ibadan city, (2011 ), there is 61 principals, 56 physical education teachers and 45 game prefects in the 61 state government owned secondary schools in Ibadan city of Oyo state. The total population was 162.

CHAPTER FOUR

Result and Discussion

The findings of the study and their discussion are presented in this chapter. The findings are presented according to the research questions and hypotheses which guided the study.

Results

The results are hereby presented in tables as they relate to the research questions and hypotheses. The research questions and hypotheses are hereby presented as follows:

Research Question One.

What are the constraints associated with sport personnel for development of sport in secondary schools in Ibadan city? The data answering this research question are contained in Table 1.

CHAPTER FIVE

Summary, Conclusion, and Recommendations Summary

The purpose of the study was to examine the constraints to development of sports in secondary schools in Ibadan city in Oyo state. In pursuance of the purpose of the study, six specific objectives were stated and six corresponding research questions were posed. In order to further give direction to the study, one null hypothesis was postulated and verified at .05 level of significance. Literature pertinent to the study was reviewed under the following sub-headings;

Conceptual framework
Theoretical framework
Empirical studies

The conceptual framework was based on the concept of sports and sports development and the concept of constraints and to sports development. The theoretical framework was based on the Theory of Constraint (TOC). It was clearly shown from the literature reviewed that no study on constraints to development of sports has been carried out in secondary schools in Ibadan city of Oyo state, hence the need to fill this gap.

Data were collected from a population of 162 respondents comprising of 61 Principals, 56 Game masters/mistresses, and 45 Game prefects in all the schools in Ibadan Educational Zone of Oyo state. Consequently, there was no sampling in the study.

A forty-one (41) item questionnaire, Constraints to Development of Sports Questionnaire (CODESPQ) (see appendix II) developed by the researcher was the instrument for quantitative data collection, with a reliability index of 0.87 which was determined using Spearman Brown prophecy formula. The researcher administered the instrument personally to the respondents in their respective schools after validation and due permission from the school authority. The data generated were analyzed using percentages to answer the research questions while chi-square statistic was used to test the null hypothesis at .05 level of significance. The following major findings were made:

Lack of opportunities for conferences workshops and seminars (74.41%), lack of regular in-service training for sports personnel (75.2%), inadequate number of sports personnel (65.2%) and lack of specialist training for sports personnel (63.4%) were the major constraints associated with personnel for development of sports. These are contained in Table 1.
Lack of development and maintenance of school sports facilities by the Federal Government (80.1%) and lack of adequate motivation and incentives in the form of scholarship, training grants, awards, etc to outstanding athletes /officials (78.3%) were the major constraints associated with the government policy, followed by lack of encouragement to the development schools. These are contained in Table 2.
Major constraints associated with funding of sports were: Lack of appropriate funding of school sports programme (82.0%), insufficient allocation of fund to school by the government (78.9%) and lack of financial support from philanthropic individuals, organization and agencies (76.4%). These are contained in Table 3.
The major constraints associated with the provision and availability of sports facilities and equipment were: lack of facilities and equipment (81.4%), inadequate facilities and equipment (75.8%) and poor maintenance of available facilities and equipment (65.8%), and poor construction of sports facilities (65.2%).
Inadequate facilities, equipment and supplies for school sports programme (77.0%), poor organization and implementation of school sports programme and lack of funding to implement outlined school sports programme (68.3%) respectively, were the major constraints associated with sports programmes. These are contained in Table 5.
Constraints associated with personnel for development of sport according to principals, game masters/mistress and game prefect were: Lack of opportunities for conferences, workshops and seminars (Principals = 78.3%, Game masters/mistresses = 67.9%, and game prefects = 84.4%); Lack of regular in-service training for sports personnel (Principals = 71.7%, Game masters/mistresses = 69.6%, and Game prefects = 86.7%); Inadequate number of sports personnel (Principals = 70.0%, Game masters/mistresses 51.8% and Game prefects = 75.6%); and Lack of specialist training for sports personnel (Principals = 65.0%, Game masters/mistresses = 51.8%, and game prefects = 75.6%). These are contained in Table 6.
Constraints associated with government policy for development of sports according to principals, game masters/mistresses and game prefects were: Lack of development and maintenance of school competitions for all sports (Principals = 86.7%, Game masters/mistresses = 67.9% and Game prefects = 86.8%). Lack of adequate motivation and incentive in the form of scholarships training grants, awards, etc to outstanding athletes/officials (Principals = 81.7% Game masters/mistresses = 67.9% and game prefects = 86.7%); Lack of encouragement for the development of physical education and sports on schools (Principals = 75.0%, Game masters/mistresses = 62.5% and Game prefects = 75.6%) and poor formulation and review of the national sports policy by the federal government (Principals = 73.3, Game masters/mistresses = 55.4% and Game prefects = 75.6%). These are contained in Table 6.
Major constraints associated with funding for development of sports according to principals, game masters/mistresses and game prefects were: Lack of appropriate funding of school sports programmes (principals = 91.7%, Game masters/mistresses = 69.6% and Game prefects = 84.4%). Lack of dependable sources of fund (Principal 81.7%, Game masters/mistresses = 84.4% and Game prefects = 82.2%). Lack of financial support from philanthropic individual, organizations and agencies (Principals = 71.7%, Game masters/mistresses = 69.6% and Game prefects = 48.4%). Lack of dependable sources of fund (Principal 81.7%, Game masters/mistresses = 48.4 and Game prefect = 82.2%). Lack of financial support from philanthropic individuals, organizations and agencies (Principals = 71.7%, Game masters/mistresses = 67.9% and Game prefects 93.3%). Insufficient allocation of fund to school sports by the government (Principals = 73.3%, Game masters/mistresses = 75% and Game prefects = 91.1%). These are contained in Table 6.
Constraints associated with facilities and equipment for development of sports according to principals, game masters/mistresses and game prefects were: Inadequate facilities and equipment (Principals = 85.0%, Game masters/mistresses = 69.6% and Game Prefects 91.1%). Lack of facilities and equipment (Principals = 73.3%, Game masters/mistresses = 60.7% and Game prefect = 62.2%). Poor utilization of available sports facilities and equipment (Principals = 70.0%, Game masters/mistresses = 37.5% and Game prefects = 73.3%). These are contained in Table 6.
Constraints associated with sports programme for development of sports according to principals, game masters/mistresses and game prefects were: Inadequate facilities, equipment and supplies for school sports programme (Principals 78.3%, Game masters/mistresses = 71.4% and Game prefects = 82.2%). Poor organization and implementation of school sports programme (Principals = 76.7%, Game masters/mistresses = 50.0% and Game prefects 80.0%), Lack of funding to implement outlined school sports programmes (Principals = 71.7%, Game masters/mistresses =60.7%, Game prefects = 73.3%). Other constraints were, Lack of professional expertise to design effective school sports programmes (Principals 66.7%, Game masters/mistresses = 55.4% and Game prefects = 71.1%) and Poor motivation of student during school sports programme (Principals = 60.0%, Game masters/mistresses = 58.9% and Game prefects = 73.3%). These are contained in table
There is no significant difference in the constraints to development of sports according to principals, game masters/mistresses and game prefects. These are contained in Table 6.

Conclusion

On the basis of the findings and discussions of the study, the following conclusions were made:

Sports personnel lack opportunities for conferences, workshop, seminars, regular inservice training and specialized training, and are also inadequate in number.
Lack of development and maintenance of school sport facilities by the federal government, lack of adequate motivation and incentives in the form of scholarship, training grants awards, etc to outstanding athletes/officials and lack of encouragement for the development of physical education and sports in schools as obtained in the National Sports Development Policy are the constraints to development of sports with regards to government policy.
Constraints to development of sports with respect to funding are lack of appropriate funding of school sport programme, insufficient allocation of fund to school by the government and lack of financial support from philanthropic individual, organization and agencies lacked facilities and equipment.
Inadequate facilities and equipment, poor maintenance at available facilities and equipment and poor constructions of sports facilities are constraints associated to sports facilities and equipment for development for development at sport.
Constraints to development of sports associated with sports programmes are inadequate facilities, equipment and supplies for school sports programmes, poor organization and implementation of school sports programme and lack of funding to implement outlined school sports programmes.
There is no significant difference in the constraints to development of sports according to principals, game masters/mistresses and game prefects as associated with personnel, government policy, funding, facilities and equipment and sport programmes.

Recommendation

Based on the findings, discussions and conclusions of the study, the following recommendations were made:

Various school authorities should ensure that all personnel who assume professional responsibility for sport must have and be provided with appropriate qualification and training. All secondary school sports personnel should be carefully selected in sufficient numbers and given preliminary as well as further training to ensure that they reach adequate levels of specializations.
The federal government should ensure that there is a functional and effective sports development policy which statutory provision will be duely implemented so as to accommodate the needs, interests and aspiration of sports participants.
Government should enmark funds for sports in secondary schools. Also school authorities should involve private sector participation, sponsorship and business partnership to run effective school sports programme.
Public authorities, schools, private agencies and government at all levels should join forces and plan together so as to provide adequate and sufficient facilities and equipment and also make optimum use of facilities and equipment in order to meet the needs of intensive and safe participation in both in-school and out-of-school sports programmes. The facilities and equipment available should be regularly serviced and maintained by all the bodies concerned.
Sports programmes should be properly outlined, funded and implemented so as to meet the needs of the participants and bring about desired development in sports.

Limitation of the Study

One major limitation of the study was the paucity of literature on the five identified constraints to development of sports.

Suggestion for further studies

A similar study should be conducted at the primary school level.
Similar studies should be conducted in other educational zones and the state at large.

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