For the management of schools to continually be effective, there must be several periodic supervision of the school.
Supervision is aimed at keeping the various pillars of the school (like the teachers, facilities, or administrators) on track to achieve the nation’s educational objectives. This article covers the 6 purposes and several importance school supervision has to the school and teachers.
UBE Purpose of School Supervision
According to the Universal Basic Education program manual, the 6 purposes of school supervision are:
To improve teachers’ morale
To discover teachers’ abilities
To provide technical help to teachers
To encourage regular training and retraining
To promote the spirit of professionalism among teachers
To guide teachers in the use of instructional materials.
9 Importance of School Supervision & Inspection
The following are nine importance of school supervision and inspection
1. Improving the administration of schools
Without routine visits to schools, the administrators are without accountability or restraint to act in the best interest of the school and students.
But once they know that their school receives periodic supervision, they will employ all the human and moral resources available to keep the school effective.
For instance, they will pay teachers and meet all their needs on time even if only for not getting a bad name during supervision.
2. To ensure effective utilization of funds
For the government to determine how much funds education truly needs based on the structures available, it has to supervise schools periodically.
It is when they supervise schools they can find cases of mismanagement of funds and address them for the growth of the system. That is when they can confirm the shortage of supplies (facilities and manpower) and increase the allocation.
If these are not done, lots of funds will continually be pumped into the system with little or no progress toward the national educational goals.
3. For improvement of teaching and learning
Teachers will continue to act within the scope of their knowledge and the minimum standard laid out by the school administration until a new standard is set.
Supervision can serve as a platform for setting new standards for teachers.
The supervisors will identify outdated or ineffective teaching methods, point out the absence of instructional materials in instruction, and even recommend teacher retraining as the need may be.
All of these will help the teaching and learning process of the school get better
4. Needed for approval of new schools
By the year, more public and private schools are continually being established. The Ministry of Education must supervise these facilities and the systems they operate by before they are approved.
Similarly, before schools are accredited as examination centers like (WAEC and NECO), the regulatory bodies must inspect them to ensure they meet moral and structural standards.
5. It helps educational policy making
Another purpose of supervision is to make educational policies. Before reforms can be made, policymakers must get enough data and statistics about the issues and needs prevalent in schools.
For example, to make a policy on the scrapping of examinations from schools, they will need to visit schools and do an evaluation of how much benefit or disadvantage examinations are having on the educational process.
The use of this data is what makes their decisions informed.
6. To determine the general well-being of schools
Another importance of supervision is to ensure that every aspect of the school is functioning effectively and thriving. This is the goal of full inspection, for instance.
It covers teachers, non-teaching staff, students, health workers, academic facilities, and so on.
The overall health of the school is collective of all of these, so they must be at their optimum for the school to be at optimum.
7. To bridge the gap between the school and the government
In many schools what it feels like is that the government (Ministry of Education) is some foreign body doing whatever they like, and the schools are simply at the receiving end without any say.
But supervision bridges that gap.
When supervisors come to schools, it allows teachers to ask questions and give suggestions that may be implemented for the good of all. It also makes them know they are not forgotten.
The supervisors also get to update them with developments going on from the Ministry, and that gives everyone a sense of Inclusion.
8. For recommendations for grants and loans
From time to time governmental bodies and private organizations issue loans and grants to private schools in contribution to educational development.
Supervision is the best strategy to know which schools need this assistance the most. If schools are only asked to send reports and their proposals for grants, the schools that write the best proposals win, but they might leave out those who truly need them.
9. To assess the morale of the school
Many schools are functioning and doing only the minimum required to stay effective but have very low morale. This can be because of several challenges peculiar to their environment or even statewide policies.
Such schools will not go the extra mile in giving students the best. However, supervision can help the government identify such schools and see how they can be helped.
7 Functions of School Supervision & Inspection To Teachers
It presents teachers with ways of improving the teaching performance
It ensures that teachers manage their classes well and maintain discipline
It ensures that teachers do their jobs effectively
It provides up-to-date professional information to teachers
It provides teachers with assistance in the development and administration of teaching aids
It guides teachers to sources of instructional materials
It maintains high morale among teachers
Bottom Line
School supervision will continually be instrumental to the development of education in every nation and the attainment of educational goals and objectives.
However, there are several problems affecting the effectiveness of school supervision in Nigeria. Here are solutions to these problems
Olusegun Iyejare is a career coach and certified counselor. He helps individuals discover and maximize their potential to live satisfying lives regardless of obvious limitations holding them back.
