Foreword
The concept of School-Based Management (SBM) emerged from the recognition that a genuine collaborative approach to Basic and Secondary Education delivery is essential not only fo the success of the education programme but, very importantly for sustainability of good practices.
Indeed, the global reform of education of the 1990s and 2000s as a result of poor education delivery provided the impetus for the Nigerian Council on Education (NCE) at its 52nd meeting directed that all schools should establish School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs) to ensure the participation of the communities in school decision making process.
In very practical terms SBMCs are set up to ensure the success of community participation in Basic and Secondary Education and to the extent that school administration and mechanisms are decentralised thereby giving school constituencies viz: Principals, Administrators, Head teachers, teachers, parents, community members and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) greater control over the day to day activities in the school.
The SBMCs of Federal Ministry of Education are a statutory and non-political committee of members who are ready to serve and actively support the schools and host communities. The main objective is to identify areas of challenges, determine their effects on learners and how they prevent school administrators from effective performance of their roles. SBMCs provide good governance to the schools in line with Government plans and policies and in building good relationships with the communities.
The institutionalisation of SBMCs concept informed the need for the development of National School-Based Management Policy (NSBMP) to fast-track the realisation of qualitative education in Nigeria. Consequently, the NSBMP was initiated and developed by the Federal Ministry of Education in collaboration with its Parastatals, especially the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA). The initiative was supported by the Department for International Development – Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria ) DFID-ESSPION). The success of the policy was achieved due to broad constultations with professionals and experts in the field.
