Human Resource Management Practices for Quality Assurance in Adult Education Programmes in South-East, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated human resource management practices for quality assurance in adult education programmes in South-East, Nigeria. The study was guided by seven specific purposes, seven research questions, and seven corresponding null hypotheses. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study while the population of the study consisted 4,140 respondents comprising five directors, 95 unit coordinators and 4,040 facilitators of adult education programmes in the five South-East states of Nigeria. The sample size for the study was 755 respondents, in selecting the sample composition, the entire population of five directors and 95 unit coordinators were used due to their manageable size while multi-stage sampling techniques were adopted to select 655 facilitators from the total population of 4,040. The instrument for data collection was a researcher`s 63-items structured questionnaire titled “Human Resource Management Practices for Quality Assurance Questionnaire” (HRMPQAQ). The instrument was face and content validated by three experts. Reliability scores of 0.76, 0.70, 0.88, 0.86, 0.80, 0.79 and 0.77 were obtained from the seven clusters of the instrument while its overall reliability coefficient of 0.93 ascertained using Cronbach`s Alpha method was an indication that it was highly reliable. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The data analyses revealed among others that: personnel recruitment and selection practices for quality assurance in adult education programmes include: advertising widely job vacancies in various media to attract sufficient suitable applicants; subjecting successful candidates to oral and written interviews to ascertain their competencies and short-listing candidates for various vacant positions objectively without fear or favour. That team teaching; continuous training through workshops; seminars; refresher courses; job rotation exercises among others were the personnel training and development practices for quality assurance in adult education programmes. The data analyses also revealed the personnel motivational, supervisory and performance appraisal practices for quality assurance in adult education programmes. It further revealed that inadequate motivational practices; mismanagement of funds; nonchalant attitude; political interferences; administrative apathy; bribery and corruption were the challenges militating against the effective human resource management practices for quality assurance. It also showed that transparency in personnel recruitment and selection; adequate payment of personnel`s salaries and other allowances; adequate provision of instructional materials and sponsorships to training programmes were the strategies for enhancing human resource management for quality assurance in adult education programmes. It also revealed that there were significant differences in mean ratings of the directors, unit coordinators and adult education facilitators as regards the seven null hypotheses that guided the study. Based on the findings of the study, some recommendations were made amongst which were that; the Ministry of Education through NMEC, the various SAME, International Organizations like (UNESCO) and NGOs should effectively collaborate towards enhancing the working conditions of adult education personnel and their management generally.