The extent of political intervention in public secondary schools as perceived by school principals and its effect on schools’ performance: The division of Iloilo experience

Abstract

The performance of school is one of the bases to measure its effectiveness. School’s performance relies on many factors, such as the performance of: students, teachers and staff, as well as of that of the school administrators. Likewise, school performance also depends on how the school and the community relate with each other and how its stakeholders support with the school programs.

Here in the Philippines, politics in education system does not only play a major role in the decision making related to the approval of the budget, but is likewise crucial in deciding matters related to the implementation of school programs in the areas of physical development of schools, staff development, curriculum development, student development, and personnel actions. It is in this light, that this study was conducted to determine the extent the extent of political intervention in public secondary schools as perceived by school principals and its effect on the performance of public secondary schools in the Division of Iloilo.

Specifically, the study attempted at finding answers to the following questions: 1) what is the profile of the school in terms of location, type, and manpower? 2) To what extent does political intervention occur in public secondary schools on the following areas: a) student development, b) staff development, c) curriculum development, d) physical development, e) personnel actions; 3) to what extent does perceive political intervention influence the decision-making and program implementation of public secondary schools; 4) what is the performance of school in the national achievement test (NAT); 5) is there a significant relationships between each of the following: type of school, location, manpower and perceived extent of political intervention in the areas of student development, staff development, curriculum development, physical development, and personnel actions; 6) is there a significant relationship between perceived extent of political intervention in these five areas and its perceived influence in the decision making and program implementation of public secondary school; 7) is there a significant relationship between the perceived extent of influence of political intervention in the decision-making and program implementation and school performance; 8) is there a significant relationship between perceived extent of political intervention in the areas of student development, staff development, curriculum development, physical development, and personnel actions and school performance; 9) is there a significant relationship between each of the following: type of school, location, and manpower and perceived extent of influence of political intervention in the decision-making and program implementation in public secondary school; and 10) is there a significant relationship between type of school, location, and manpower and school performance.

The results of the study revealed that the majority (63.4 percent) of the schools being studied was under the category of old nationalized high schools; less than one-fifth (19.5 percent) belonged to the category of newly nationalized high schools and the remaining proportions (17.1 percent) from newly legislated schools.

The result of the study showed that ten out of forty-one schools (24.4 percent) being studied are situated in the fifth congressional district of Iloilo; nine out of forty-one (22 percent) are from the first congressional district; eight out of forty-one (19.5 percent) are from the third congressional district; and the remaining fourteen schools are equally from the second and third congressional district. Less than majority (41.5 percent) of the respondents came from public secondary schools with employees between 41-80; more than one-third (34.1 percent) of the respondents from schools with more than 80 personnel; and 24.4 percent of the respondents came from schools with 40 and below employees.

The study further revealed that there is no association between type of school, location and perceived extent of political intervention in the areas of student development, staff development, curriculum development, physical development, and personnel actions. The study further showed that the school’s manpower was significantly related to the perceived extent of political intervention in the area of student development, curriculum development, and physical development.

Results of the study also revealed that perceived political intervention is significantly related to the perceived extent of influence of political intervention in the decision-making and program implementation of the school in all five areas. The greater the perceived political intervention in these areas, the greater also the chance, that the decision-making and implementation of school programs in public secondary schools be influenced by the political intervention.

The study further showed that there is no significant relationship between the perceived extents of influence of political intervention in the decision-making and school performance in ail areas except in the area of personnel actions where it was negatively related to each other. Likewise, extent of influence of political intervention in the implementation of physical development program and personnel actions was negatively related to the school performance.

The study also revealed that in all five areas, it was only m the area of personnel actions where perceived extent of political intervention and school performance was significantly related. The greater the perceived political intervention in the selection, hiring, appointment, and promotion of school personnel, the lower the performance of school in NAT becomes.

The study further showed that type of school, and location were not significantly related to the perceived extent of influence of political intervention in the decision making and program implementation in all five areas. Study also showed that in the area of curriculum development, manpower and perceived extent of influence of political intervention in the decision-making was significantly related with each other. Likewise, manpower was significantly related to the perceived extent of influence of political intervention in the implementation of school programs related to student development and curriculum development.

The result of the study further revealed that there is no association between the type of school, manpower and school performance. The study also showed that there is a significant relationship between location of school and school performance.

Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions are drawn:

1. Type of school, and its location were not significantly related to the perceived extent of political interventions in the areas of student development, staff development, curriculum development, physical development, and personnel actions. This means that, irrespective of school classification and location, perceived extent of political intervention is only little.

2. Manpower and perceived extent of political intervention were significantly related to each other in the areas of student development, curriculum development, and physical development. This means that big schools tend to have greater political interventions on these three areas than that of the small schools.

3. There is a significant relationship that exists between the perceived extent of political intervention and its influence in the decision-making and program implementation. This means that the greater the extent of political interventions in the areas of student development, staff development, curriculum development, physical development, and personnel actions, the greater the possibility that the decision-making and program implementation of public secondary schools be influenced by political intervention as well.

4. Perceived extent of influence of political intervention in the decision-making of public secondary schools was not significantly related to the school performance in NAT in all five areas except in the area of personnel actions. Findings revealed that extent of influence of political intervention in the decision-making related to personnel actions negatively affect the performance of school in NAT.

5. Perceived extent of influence of political intervention in the implementation of public secondary schools programs was not significantly related to the school performance in NAT except in the area of physical development and personnel actions. Schools with great extent of influence of political intervention in the implementation of school program in these areas, have lower performance in NAT compared to the schools where there was no political intervention or extent of political intervention was only little.

6. Perceived extent of political intervention and school performance was not significantly related to each other in all five areas except in the area of personnel actions where there was a negative relationship that exists. This means that the greater the perceived political intervention in the selection, hiring, and appointment of school personnel in public secondary schools, the lower is the performance of school in NAT.

7. Type of school and its location were not significantly related to the perceived extent of influence of political intervention in the decision-making and program implementation in all five areas. This means that irrespective of school classification and location, perceived influence of political intervention in the decision-making and implementation of school programs was only little.

8. Manpower and perceived influence of political intervention in the decision making was not significantly related to each other except in the area of curriculum development. Big schools had greater influence of political intervention in their decision-making in the area of curriculum development than that of their counterparts.

9. There is a significant relationship between manpower and perceived extent of influence of political intervention in the program implementation in the areas of student development and curriculum development, but none in the areas of staff development, physical development, and personnel actions. Schools with more number of employees were greatly influenced by political intervention in the implementation of their school programs in the areas of student and curriculum development than that of the schools with less number of school personnel.

10. Type of school and performance were not significantly related to each other. This means that irrespective of school classification (old nationalized, newly nationalized, newly legislated), performance in NAT does not differ.

11. There is a significant relationship between location of school and school performance. Schools from 1st congressional district got a higher score in NAT compared to schools in other districts in the province of Iloilo. This was supported by the record of the Division of Iloilo in their search for Outstanding Secondary Schools where more schools from the 1st district belonged to top 10 as compared to other schools in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th district.

12. Manpower and school performance were not significantly related to each other. This means that schools with less number of personnel was not academically disadvantaged from that school with more number of personnel.

In the light of the conclusions of the study, the following recommendations are presented:

1. Considering that manpower was significantly related to the perceived extent of political interventions as well as its influence in the decision-making and program implementation in public secondary schools; the school administrators (especially in big schools) should have enough knowledge about the DepEd policies and should establish a good rapport with the politicians and LGUs in their town in order that school plans and programs in relation to student, curriculum, and physical development will be fully supported by the later.

2. Since perceived political intervention was significantly related to its perceived extent of influence in decision-making and program implementation in all areas in public secondary schools, school heads must know their priorities and must identified their school values, mission, vision, and objectives so that they will have a guide in implementing their school programs. They too must share these plans and programs to the politicians including LGUs so that they can work hand in hand for the improvement of their respective schools. They must have their School Improvement Plan (SIP) and copies of this SIP must be furnished to the office of the mayor, governor, and congressman, so that any political intervention that they may be doing will be in line with the immediate needs of the school.

3. Considering that extent of political intervention and perceived extent of influence of political intervention in the in the decision-making as well as in the implementation of school programs on personnel actions is negatively related to the performance of school in NAT, guidelines in hiring, selection, appointment, detailing, transferring, and promoting of school personnel should be properly and strictly observe. Politicians should do av/ay recommending applicants and should not interfere in the personnel actions process so that civil service and DepEd laws, policies, and guidelines in relation to this will be properly implemented.

4. Since perceived extent of influence of political intervention in the implementation of physical development programs is negatively related to school performance in the area of personnel actions physical development, school administrators should exercise visionary leadership responsive to the need of their students, teachers and other stakeholders. Politicians are encourage soliciting ideas from the school heads and should respect their decision on what physical development should be prioritized first.

5. Considering that location of school has a significant relationship with the performance of school in NAT, school administrators from 1st Congressional Districts especially those who are on top in their school performance are encourage to share their strategies, techniques, resources, materials and the like to other school administrators from other from other districts. It is also recommended that another study will be conducted to determine some of the factors that contribute to the high performing schools in public secondary schools.

6. The Department of Education is encourage to conduct an intensive training on leadership so that these school administrators can gain additional insights in managing their schools efficiently and effectively even they are pressured by some politicians.

7. Lastly, there should be a regular consultative meeting between the school heads, LGUs, and politicians so that they can work hand-in-hand in the development of the education system in their respective communities.