5. CHAPTER FIVE: DATA PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION
5.4 Theme Two: Availability, Adequacy and Management of Resources
5.4.4 HODs Perspectives on Maintenance of Resources
Statements
N
Not at All Little Extent High Extent Very High Extent
f % f % f % f %
Regular monitoring of teaching and learning materials
32 - - 1 3 23 72 8 25
Refurbishing premises and buildings every five
29 3 10 12 41 12 41 2 7
127 years
Regular monitoring of all assets and facilities for the department
30 - - 6 20 20 67 4 13
Careful
management of textbooks
31 - - 2 7 18 58 11 36
School laboratories are well equipped
31 1 3 9 29 12 39 9 29
Department workshop are well equipped
27 - - 8 30 12 44 7 26
All required text book for teaching and learning are available
32 - - 10 31 16 50 6 19
Improvising for educational resources with available from the local environment
32 - - 8 25 20 63 4 13
A total of 31 (97%) participating HODs indicated that they performed regular monitoring of teaching and learning resources in the departments to a very high or high extent. A total of 29 (94%) of the participants reported that they take care of text books through careful supervision. Another 24 (80%) reported that they make regular monitoring of all assets and facilities for the departments. Only 15 (51%) HODs monitored the refurbishing of premises and buildings in the schools may be because they felt it was the responsibility of the HT to do that.
One area of general agreement among HODs regarding resource maintenance was that they kept stock book records. In this regard, one HOD had the following to say:
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We keep records of all resources/facilities in our department through the stock book.
(Malta HOD 3).
Another HOD said:
We use a stock book and cupboards to keep our resources. (Mass HOD 1).
Another HOD also highlighted the following:
Text books are maintained by use of stock books where we record the number of books issued to each teacher and number of teachers. Check at the end of the year if they are all in good condition then submit to the principal. We also keep records of the resources, perishables like tonners, papers and non perishables like computers.
We keep records of our materials in store rooms. (Miko HOD 3).
Other HODs reported that they taught learners how to use and take care for the resources in the department. One participant HOD had the following to say:
In my department we teach learners how to take care and use of resources like refrigerators which is part of the syllabus. (Mega, HOD 8).
Adding to the same point, another HOD indicated:
We see to it that learners take good care of the school furniture, because if they do not do so, there is little hope of getting new furniture soon. (Masiko HOD 6).
Mango school HODs explained that they maintained resources as follows:
When facilities need repairs and maintenance, they are reported to the administration. The administration then hires a company from outside that deals with maintenance to repair facilities. (Mango HOD 1).
Another perspective form HODs FGIs was how faulty and outdated some assets were. This is what one HOD said:
Faulty assets are kept in the government stores department at Matsapha. We give a full account about the asset, especially those that are not repairable in the school for government to have records. (Miko HOD 4).
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Interview data suggests that HODs practiced some amounts of resource management including monitoring their use and keeping records. But the „story‟ was incomplete before I studied some of the relevant documents.
I discovered that five out of the six schools kept records of the stock books for resource maintenance. Only one school did not have records of inventory because they were reported that these were misplaced. The HT of Masiko school explained that official books including the stock books were mislaid because of renovations that were in progress in the school at the time of this study. I found this to be quite bizarre.
He explained:
Most resources of the school are too old and I’m starting a lot of things afresh. The stock books were lost among other things while putting a lot of facilities in order. We will start keeping proper records afresh as soon as all things are in place and renovations are over. (Masiko HT).
The inventory books I analysed from the other five schools were under the custody of HODs as previously indicated in this chapter, (Section 5.4.3 and 5.4.4). In all the five schools, these books showed the following information for the year 2015. The name of the subject, name of items purchased, date of purchase, price of items bought quantity, total number, name of supplier and signature of the buyer. However, there were some differences among the stock books in the schools. Some HODs did not submit the stock book records to the HT for checking and signing at the end of each school term, therefore the school stamp did not appear in some of the inventory books. Some stock books did not provide for missing resources, broken materials, warranty, insurance cover of resources, sustainability plan of resource maintenance and the date of physical stock taking.
In analysing the documents, it seemed to me that maintenance mainly focused on material resources with little evidence about physical ones. According to Mestry and Bodalina (2015) effective maintenance protects capital investment, ensures the health and safety of learners and supports educational performance. On the other hand, the negligence of physical resource maintenance planning may cause capital investment to be squandered when the assets and equipment deteriorate or warranties become useless. Therefore, failing to maintain both physical and material resources is likely to discourage future investment in the education system (Onuoha-Chidiebere, 2011). This suggests that more standardised sets of practices,
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highly fluid structures, interactional and deeply dependent maintenance guidelines that may bring success to schools were needed. Thus, a comprehensive maintenance plan may serve as a blueprint for here and now use and as a road map to the future, involving all concerned stakeholders in resource upkeep, safety and efficiency.
As I reported earlier, one dynamic that emerged regarding the availability, adequacy and management of resources was the slow turnaround for government to replace resources.
Schools seemed to neglect the refurbishing of school premises and buildings, the disposal of obsolete resources and the repairing of worn out ones in the schools. As I reported in the systems theory (Vide Chapter 3, Section 3.4) the components of the education system need coordinated management in order to yield best results. Castillo (2014) adds that the systems approach involves interactions between inputs in the education system which result into better learning outcomes. The quality of resources (inputs) available for a school determines the type of result (outputs). Therefore, there is need for schools to maintain effective interpersonal relationships with the community and its external agencies in order to improve on teaching and learning processes and yield best results. As I argued in theme one of this chapter, there seemed to be a problem with the system of education in availing resources and inability to maintain resources in schools. The culture makes schools relax and leave everything to the government.
5.5 Theme Three: Factors Influencing Resource Generation and Management