Educational Decentralisation and the Management of Public Primary Schools by Local Councils in Cameroon

Purpose: The main focus of this paper was to examine the influence of educational decentralisation on the management of Public Primary schools in the North West, South west, Littoral, West and North Regions of Cameroon. The Study was guided by two objectives: To examine the influence of organization of instructions on the management of public primary schools in Cameroon: Determine the influence of resources generation on the management of public primary schools in Cameroon. Materials and Methods: The ex-post-facto design employing both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection was used in this study. Data were collected from 156 Councillors, 295 Primary school Teachers. Questionnaire and semi-structured interview guide were the instruments used for the study. The instruments consisted of both close and open-ended questions. The reliability coefficient for Councillors was 0.938 while the reliability coefficient for Teachers was 0.891 which was above the recommended threshold of 0.7 thus, implying that the instrument was also valid and reliable for the study as the teachers to a greater extent were objective in their responses. Data from close ended questions were analysed using SPSS 23.0, with the aid of descriptive and inferential statistical tools while opened ended questions were analysed thematically. Findings: Findings show that Councillors’/teachers’ quality (R = 0.628**, P = 0.000), Resources Generation (R = 0.576**, P = 0.000), strongly, positively and significantly affect the management of Primary Schools with all P-values <0.001, far < 0.05 with results from the Anova statistics predicting an effect of 54.1%. Despite this relationship, a significant proportion of respondents indicated that lack of a strong political will for the implementation of decentralisation law, limited resources and administrative bottle neck were the challenges identified hindering the effective implementation of the decentralisation laws in Cameroon. Findings showed that teachers and Municipal Councillors do not significantly differ in their opinion as a majority of the teachers 80.3% and Municipal councillors 77.9% disagreed that Municipal councils organize instruction for primary schools within their jurisdiction. Findings showed that teachers and Municipal Councillors do not significantly differ in their opinion as a majority of the teachers 80.3% and Municipal Councillors 71.4% disagreed that Municipal Councillors generate resources for effective management of primary schools within their jurisdiction. Findings showed that teachers and Municipal councillors do not significantly differ in their opinion as a majority of the teachers 87.5% and Municipal Councillors 80.4% disagreed that Municipal councils managed personnel for primary schools in their jurisdiction. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: To remedy this challenges that have led to new Decentralisation laws, the text of application on the management of schools by local authorities and the regional assembly should be put in place, ensure accountability, new school Boards be introduced for Primary schools, curriculum planning should be more inclusive to enable effectiveness in the management of Primary Schools.