Appraisal Of The Inspection Of Secondary Schools

Unfortunately, such lofty missions seem to remain on paper for it is rare to find these missions accomplished. A possible explanation for this unfortunate situation in the North West Region may be partly because of the careless selection of inspectors, the lack of tools and facilities, the lack of inspectorial skills etc. In an interview with the Coordinating Inspectors for the Human Sciences and that for Sciences (2007) of the Regional Pedagogic Inspectorate for secondary education Bamenda, they revealed that budgetary allocation for secondary school inspectors for the academic year 2006/2007 like the preceding years provides for only eight days of out of station per semester for say more than eight inspectors in their different inspectorate. In another interview with the Divisional Pedagogic Advisers of secondary education for Mezam and Boyo Divisions, (2007) they revealed that in the budget to run the Divisional Delegations of Secondary Education for the financial year 2006/2007, no allocation is given for the services of Pedagogic Advisers who are equally expected to visit schools. Some principals have noted that even when some of the inspectors visit their schools; their visits end just in their offices gathering statistics.

Since adequate funds are not provided, it would appear that inspection of secondary schools in the North West Region is concentrated only in the towns where the Regional Pedagogic Inspectorates is located. Thus insufficient funds, insufficient out of station allowances, the lack of honorarium, and means of movement seems to suggest why inspections are concentrated only in the schools around the Regional Inspectorates.

Regional Pedagogic Inspectors of the North West Region before going out on inspections receive information about schools from the principals that will guide them in their tasks. Principals provide the inspectorates with the situation of teachers according to subjects, the individual and general timetables of teachers, and the relevant documents of the school. They are the ones to receive inspectors in their schools. According to Mbappe (1994), Minister of National Education, Republic of Cameroon, pedagogy is the raison d’etre of every educational institution and that where poor results have been diagnosed; heads of institutions may organize in-service training in their institutions, and possibly invite National or Regional Pedagogic Inspectors. On a similar note, Mbappe (1996) reiterated that principals are the pedagogic managers of secondary schools who stimulate pedagogic activities and student’s creativity.

The different types of inspections carried out in secondary schools like full inspection, advisory inspection, pre-opening of school inspection, inspection for promotion of teachers etc, are sparingly carried out in the North West Region. Common among the inspectors especially around where the inspectorate is located is the subject-based inspection. This therefore indicates that many schools, teachers and students are left on their own.

Inspectoral services are indispensable units in any educational system. Thus the need for careful selection of inspectors, regular training, the provision of necessary facilities and equipment cannot be overemphasized. Agreeing with this is the Office for Standards in Education Britain (OFSTED 2005), which noted that inspectors are properly trained and assessed to specified standards with their initial training lasting for several months. It further noted that even when they have been recruited, they still engage in continuous professional development to improve their inspection skills and be abreast with educational developments. In the North West Region of Cameroon, it is common to find government secondary schools opened at almost every village without taking into consideration the availability of students, staff, and facilities. New subjects like computer studies, citizenship and others are also being introduced without appropriate provisions. Situations like these lead to falling standards especially with the vast majority of schools in the suburbs which makes one to think that the job of pedagogic control is probably not well done. This study therefore is an appraisal of inspectoral effectiveness and competence in the North West Region of Cameroon and explores strategies for improving it. Appraisal according to Babylon (2010) is an estimation of value or assessment.

Statement of the Problem

An inspectoral service is key to the successful implementation of any educational system. The place of inspection in the teaching-learning process cannot be overemphasized. Inspectors for instance, ought to track school processes, talk to staff, pupils and others in the school, inspect teachers and programmes etc. Where such tasks are inadequately done, a smooth teaching- learning process is hampered.

Secondary school inspectors are expected to investigate, judge, innovate and check if all is in order according to prescription but this is not the case as one will notice that most often, Regional Pedagogic Inspectors of the Region visit schools only to gather statistics on enrolment and available facilities. In the North West Region of Cameroon, there are increasing incidences of indiscipline among the students and teachers leading to strikes by the students, dismissals of students, and it is common to find teachers who are unable to teach certain classes and also, of ineffective principal ship. These may be as a result of lapses in inspection which gives the impression that inspectors are probably not skilled, trained or were not amongst the best teachers before their appointments as inspectors. What is more, it would seem as if the appointment of some secondary school inspectors has become a political tool for political office holders. The different types of inspection necessary for secondary schools such as full inspection, follow up inspection, pre-opening of school inspection, inspection for promotion of teachers, subject based inspection etc are rarely being carried out. Inspection reports are rarely published or made known to stakeholders and the notion of inspection is still considered a nightmare. In line with this, Manga (2006) reporting for the Postnewsline, remarked that the relationship between inspectors and teachers in schools in Cameroon is one of suspicion and hostilities in which the inspector usually breezes into the classroom, ensconces him/herself in a seat usually at the back of the classroom, scribbling and monitoring the teacher. Regional Pedagogic Inspectors appear to move round some schools only to ascertain the proper opening of the academic year, a new term and gather statistics on facilities and equipment. Such attitude towards inspection may be due to the indiscriminate and careless selection of secondary school inspectors or none provision of a comfortable atmosphere for inspectors.

In Cameroon and the North West Region in particular, three quarters of the schools are rarely inspected as the inspectorate complains of insufficient staff in relation to the number of Secondary Schools and teachers, the lack of transportation to cover the wide and difficult terrain of secondary schools in the Region. For example, with a total number of 258 government secondary grammar and technical schools and a total number of 5229 secondary school teachers, only a total of 61 RPIs and 7 Pedagogic Advisers do exist (Awuro 2006). What is more, the inspectorates are not equipped as not even a single car is kept at its disposal to assist in this tedious and very demanding task. Nsom (2009) Pedagogic Adviser Secondary General Education for Boyo then sums up that with such difficulties; much was left undone in the domain of regular inspection and supervision in Boyo Division of the North West Region. With this therefore, it is obvious that when inspectors are not carefully selected and trained; facilities or tools not provided, inspection procedures and various types of inspection not employed; educational goals are hardly achieved.

Since there are proven cases of neglect in this domain leading to  mediocre performances of schools , it therefore becomes pertinent to appraise secondary school inspection in the North West Region of Cameroon so as to give profound solutions that will go a long way to improve upon secondary schools in Cameroon. In other words, since the accounts and extent of these loopholes are sometimes speculative and sometimes observable, there is therefore the need to document and quantify these lapses with a view to suggesting remedies. Consequently, the problem of this study is to appraise the inspection of secondary schools in the North West Region of Cameroon with a view to suggest possible solutions.