Prevelence, Causes and Management of Indiscipline in Public Secondary Schools: Ilorin Metropolis in Focus

As at 1966, there was a high degree of harmony in Nigerian secondary schools, but as a result of the quality of discipline inherent in the school system. However, after the end of Nigerian civil war, all forms of gross indiscipline began and has eroded the peaceful terrain of the school community. The study therefore explored the prevalence, causes and management of indiscipline in public secondary schools in Ilorin metropolis, Kwara state. The study adopted the descriptive research of a survey type of design. Stratified random sampling technique was used for the selection of 306 research subjects from 18 sampled public secondary schools. Data was collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation was used to analyse the data collected. Result showed that, the prevalent level of indiscipline among teachers and students in Ilorin metropolis was moderate (grand mean value 2.58 and 2.87 respectively). The study also discovered that enforcement of school rules and regulations that guide against immoral behavior (mean values 3.91) was the major strategy adopted for managing indiscipline amongst students, while enforcement of time-book for teachers; and ensuring regular attendance of lesson by teachers (mean values 3.61, and 3.52 respectively) were mostly used in managing indiscipline among secondary school teachers in Ilorin metropolis. The study concluded that although, strategies were adopted for the management of indiscipline, indiscipline among teacher and students’ in public secondary schools in Ilorin metropolis was still prevalent and has the tendency to increase drastically. Thus the outcome of this study will serve as a baseline for education stakeholders (government, planners, administrators, counsellors, teachers etc) in formulating strategies, techniques and policies aimed at improving positive disciplinary behaviour among teachers and students that will eventually improve effective functioning of secondary schools