THE INCIDENCE AND CAUSES OF SCHOOL DROPOUT IN SELECTED PRIMARY SCHOOL, IN CALABAR SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Primary education forms the basis of entire system of education. Its importance lies in the fact that it serves as the foundation stone on which the subsequent edifice of the education system is raised. The immense contribution it makes to the overall development of the country is indicated by the research studies undertaken in both developed and developing countries including Nigeria. Dropping out from school occurs after a child has previously gained access to school.  A major problem in many developing countries, dropping out is often obscured within statistical data and the emphasis on initial access.  This study was concerned with children who have not completed a cycle of basic education, which depending on the compulsory age of enrollment, should generally encompass children from the ages of five or six to fifteen years. dropout means once enrolled pupils but leave education before completing a given circle while the third is a broader definition which embraces those who do not even enroll (e.g., some street children, handicapped children, children in remote rural areas) and cover the entire school career until legal school leaving age. Dropout in its narrowest sense is referred to enrolled pupils who stay away from school for more than a given number of days without migrating with their parents. Any Child who enters into primary school but does not complete the 6 years cycle whatever the reason will be considered as dropout. Umoh (1986) view dropout as a pupil who because of unseen circumstance cannot complete a school program which she/he originally was enrolled for.

           However, today education has become the contemporary creed and about the surest way to attain self-reliance and economic growth and development. This was why the federal Government of Nigeria established the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Programme in 1999 to primarily:

(1) Provide a compulsory, free and universal basic education, for every Nigerian child of school age (2) Reduce drastically the incidence of dropout from formal school system through improved relevance, quality and efficiency (3) Ensuring the acquisition of the appropriate level of literacy, communicative and life skills as well as the ethical, moral and civil values needed for lying, a solid foundation for lifelong learning etc.

But what we discover is dropout among primary school pupils especially in Calabar South. The society at large helps to contribute to the dropout problems in the sense that society cherishes wealth and honour wealthy men. The poor man has no place at all. The importance the society attaches to wealth lure the young boys and girls to pursue wealth rather than education which is of life lasting value and legacy.

         In Calabar South, thorough observation and careful study reveals that children of school age go in search of quick money by performing odd and menial jobs such as bus conductors, selling along the road and in the market places, wheelbarrow pushers, mechanic apprentice etc. The notion of these boys is that, to stay and complete primary six especially those who started late is a waste of time, money and energy. What they do is quietly withdraw from school and pursue wealth no matter how hard and rough the road is to acquiring it. Second observation is as a result of instability of the school system due to frequent strike action and regular changes in government, thereby resulting in inconsistent policy on educational matters such changes in school curriculum textbooks and policies in school administration. This has lead many pupils mostly females into teenage pregnancy and early marriage while the boys go into joining of gangs that are deviant in nature and eventually stay away from school. The phenomenon of dropout in primary schools has dire consequences on educational system. It leads to wastage on one hand and under utilization of facilities on the other for instance if a school does not have sufficient enrolment, we can say there is a wastage of school capacity hence Fafunwa (2003) says that Dropout is a major problem that continue to be-devil the educational system since the beginning of Western education in Nigeria in the mid 19th century to the present. It is also worth noting that the phenomenon of dropout is not only common to Nigeria, but also high in other parts of the countries of the world Schwartz, (1995). He argues that dropouts are of a physiological type and it has become quite relevant in both Primary and Junior Schools.

        In Nigeria, the case of Calabar South Local Government is not different from what is obtains from the outside world. In order for the individual to be self-reliant, he has to be educated. Education is considered to be important to mankind hence the Nigeria Government got involved in the management of education right from the time of Arthur Richard constitution of 1946. However, there is wastage as earlier mentioned in the form of not meeting its desired or anticipated result at a scale considerably lower than it has set for itself, repetition and failure at the end of a course. If this is the case, why is it that many pupils in the primary school system do not want to go to school? Why do they encourage wastage of resources on the part of the government and their parents? What are the factors responsible for this act?

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Impact of Private Sector Stimulation through Marketing Strategies (A Case Study Orange Group Limited, Owerri Imo State)

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

Background of Study

Marketing strategy is the result of decisions being made about how a particular product or service will be promoted to its target customers. Marketing strategies are used to increase sales, launch new products and generally provide profit for a company. Strategies involve the construction and implementation of the marketing mix. Marketing practices have existed as long as commerce has, but marketing did not become a formal discipline until the 1950s. At this point, businesses began to investigate how to be better serve and satisfy their customers and deal with competition. Consequently, marketing became the process of focusing business on the customer in order to continue providing goods or services valued by consumers. Marketing includes a plethora of decisions that affect consumer interest in a company: advertising, pricing, location, product line, promotions, and so forth. The majors concerns of marketing are usually referred to as the "four Ps" or the "marketing mix": product, price, place, and promotion.

Marketing strategy is a conscious approach to achieve organizational goal and objectives. Strategy can be formulated by individuals, groups, and organizations. The organizations can be families, corporations, nations, or groups of nations. In modem times, strategy can be formulated by complicated and sophisticated programmed software operating on computerized systems, personal computers, or computer networks.

    Marketing strategy is a term generally refers to a company plan that allocates resources in ways to generate profits by positioning products or services and targeting specific consumer groups. Marketing strategy focuses on long-term company objectives and involves planning marketing programs for companies to realize its goals. Companies rely on marketing strategies for established product lines or services as well as for new products and services.

Marketing strategy has its roots in the basic concepts of marketing and strategy. Marketing strategy was probably used the first time that two humans engaged in trade, i.e., an "arm's-length" transaction. Certainly, early civilizations, such as the Babylonians, the Chinese, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, and the Venetians, had developed marketing strategies for their trading activities. They probably discussed appropriate strategies for given situations, and even taught these strategies to friends, family members, and subordinates. The actual function of marketing, i.e., the distribution function, was performed whenever exchange occurred. Business strategy is usually discussed and developed in the context of competition. It is associated with a struggle for scarce resources. The aim of the "aggressor" organization is to improve its position vis-à-vis "competitors." The competitors, i.e., "defenders," can be other organizations, suppliers, distributors, or customers. The competition is the enemy. Words such as "campaign," "attack," "battle," and "defeat" are frequently used. This, of course, is also the operating framework for individuals, families, groups, countries, and alliances when formulating political or military strategy.

           Hence, marketing involves establishing a company vision and implementing policies that will enable a company to live up to its vision or maintain its vision. Marketing strategy is the process of planning and implementing company policies towards realizing company goals in accordance with the company vision. Marketing strategies include general ones such as price reduction for market share growth, product differentiation, and market segmentation, as well as numerous specific strategies for specific areas of marketing.

Again, competition was more or less unknown in the immediate past banking era, there was little or no need for marketing strategy which include, innovation, product development, public relation, promotion, and marketing research. The banks then concentrated mainly on advertising as their only marketing strategy. The trend in the banking industry in recent times provides an interesting example of a service industry that has in the past paid very little attention to the development of strategic marketing for marketing banking services.

        However, Competition is the primary motivation for adopting a marketing strategy. In industries monopolized by one company, marketing need only be minimal to spur on increased consumption. Utilities long enjoyed monopolized markets, allowing them to rely on general mass marketing programs to maintain and increase their sales levels. But most companies face some form of competition, no matter what the industry, because of deregulation and because of the globalization of many industries. Consequently, marketing strategy has become all the more important for companies to continue being profitable.

What, then, is the key to a consistent proactive marketing strategy? First and foremost it is a philosophy that dedicates resources of the firm to ensuring that the wants, needs, and demands of the customer are the firm’s focus. This customer-focused mentality is the foundation of the strategy that makes up the entire marketing process.

Second, it is a plan, supported by the firm’s philosophy. Once the philosophy is in place, a plan can give direction, guidance, and a structure for proactive strategies that will increase sales and improve business relationships. Often firms find themselves dedicating resources to marketing activities—from trade shows to flyers—and spending money on marketing that is not targeted to the right audience at the right time. This is reactive marketing with a shotgun, rather than a rifle. Conversely, a proactive, focused marketing plan can provide guidance for targeting the right audience at the right place and at the right time, which in turn maximizes the return on investment and increases revenues. Third, marketing is a process of creating value for the customer. It is a set of activities to educate, communicate with, and motivate the targeted consumer about the firm’s services or the company’s product and services.

Traditionally, this set of activities, the “marketing mix,” is represented by four parts, the well-known “4 P’s of Marketing”: price, product, placement, and promotion. But to create a marketing strategy and plan that touch on all areas necessary to position a product in the market to maximize sales revenues, there are multiple areas to be tackled. A firm’s strategic goals are based on both internal and external knowledge, insight, and in-depth analysis. Without a strategic plan, resources are spent on events, activities, and functions that may not generate revenue. To make the most of each naira earned by the firm, all functions must work together to create a well-oiled machine. The marketing plan, which is based on a full understanding of the market, the firm, and the customer needs, dovetails directly with the strategic plan to provide a road map for the firm. This road map is the ultimate tool for guiding leaders toward making decisions that will provide sustainable growth to the company.

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SELECTIVE INVENTORY MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES AS A TOOL FOR COST REDUCTION AND PROFITABILITY (A CASE STUDY OF NIGER FLOUR MILLS, CALABAR)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

To management, inventory is an aggregate or total number of goods; it serves the function of making a company's internal operation relatively stable, while providing service to customers. It is possible to reduce inventory by purchasing more frequently, in smaller lots. However, the processing of many small orders to the distributor's vendors and the increased receiving load would be likely to result in serious disruption of operations.

         The dictionary meaning of inventory is a “detailed list of goods, furniture etc.” Many understand the word inventory, as a stock of goods, but the generally accepted meaning of the word ‘goods’ in the accounting language, is the stock of finished goods only. In a manufacturing organization, however, in addition to the stock of finished goods, there will be stock of partly finished goods, raw materials and stores. The collective name of these entire items is ‘inventory’. Therefore, the term ‘inventory’ refers to the stockpile of production a firm is offering for sale and the components that make up the production. Inventories occupy the most strategic position in the structure of working capital of most business enterprises. It constitutes the largest component of current asset in most business enterprises. In the sphere of working capital, the efficient control of inventory has passed the most serious problem to the flour mills because about two-third of the current assets of mills are blocked in inventories. The turnover of working capital is largely governed by the turnover of inventory. It is therefore quite natural that inventory helps in maximize profit and occupies the most significant place among current assets.

There is need for installation of a proper inventory control technique in any business organization in developing country like Nigeria. According to Kotler (2000), inventory management refers to all the activities involved in developing and managing the inventory levels of raw materials, semi-finished materials (work-in- progress) and finished goods so that adequate supplies are available and the costs of over or under stocks are low. Rosenblatt (1977) says: “The cost of maintaining inventory is included in the final price paid by the consumer. Good in inventory represents a cost to their owner. The manufacturer has the expense of materials and labour. The wholesaler also has funds tied up”. Therefore, the basic goal of the researchers is to maintain a level of inventory that will provide optimum stock at lowest cost. Morris (1995) stressed that inventory management in its broadest perspective is to keep the most economical amount of one kind of asset in order to facilitate an increase in the total value of all assets of the organization – human and material resources. Keth et al. (1994) in their text also stated that the major objective of inventory management and control is to inform managers how much of a good to re-order, when to re-order the good, how frequently orders should be placed and what the appropriate safety stock is, for minimizing stock out.

Thus, the overall goal of inventory is to have what is needed, and to minimize the number of times one is out of stock.

         Drury (1996) defined inventory as a stock of goods that is maintained by a business in anticipation of some future demand. This definition was also supported by Schroeder (2000) who stressed that inventory management has an impact on all business functions, particularly operations, marketing, accounting, and finance. He established that there are three motives for holding inventories, which are:

i.    Transaction motive

ii. Precautionary motive

iii. Speculative motive

The transaction motive occurs when there is a need to hold stock to meet production and sales requirements.

A firm might also decide to hold additional amounts of stock to cover the possibility that it may have under estimated its future production and sales requirements. This represents a precautionary motive, which applies only when future demand is uncertain. The speculative motive for holding inventory might entice a firm to purchase a larger quantity of materials than normal in anticipation of making abnormal profits. Advance purchase of raw materials in inflationary times is one form of speculative behaviour.

          The British Institute of Stocks Management (1988) defined the concept as the management process, which integrates the flow of supplies into, through and out of an organization to achieve a level of service which ensures that the right materials are available at the right place, at the right time and at the right cost.

According to Alasi (1993), inventory management is “the aspect of industrial management which is concerned with all the activities involved in acquisition and use of all materials employed in production of the finished product. It is clear that planning without control is eventually hopeless and waste of time and resources. Thus planning is not enough, it must be accompanied by control. Control is the process of comparing predetermined performance with the actual performance with the aim of taking corrective measures to achieve set standards.

        Considering the trend of economic in Nigeria, where companies are being closed down as a result of high cost of importation of raw materials, devaluation of the currency, high exchange rate, inadequate stock control, etc. One is forced to ask “how do the manufacturing companies that are presently in operation being able to keep floating and maintain their stands despite the economic turbulence? The reasons are not far-fetched. The management of some critical success factors in the company operation. One of these critical success factors is the inventory control/management as its importance to all sectors of the economy. It involves the use and control of inventory. This is influenced by the ability of management to carefully and efficiently decide on when to increase or maintain stock level based on stock usage in order to achieve the targeted output.

    However, considering manufacturing companies, inventory is seen as raw material, work-in-progress and finished goods. Decision in relation to management of inventory could be seen as one of the many strategic decisions of a company because it affect the operational efficiency and to a large extent determine the future prospects of the company. Thus, a company must maintain a suitable level of inventory because its excess or shortage could be detrimental to the company. Inventory management is an important aspect of business especially in a manufacturing concern because it provides the most general case embracing production, marketing, and general administration function. Farmer (1977) defined inventory management as a concept that concerned with the management of flow of material into an organization to the point where these materials are converted or used up in the production of the company’s end product. He added further that the management aspect may require the collaborations of persons in charge of materials components, designers and purchase specifications which include the search for and location of supply logistics and transportation, goods receiving, inventory control and in some cases the internal handling and utilization of materials.

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