Violence in the NBA Essay Example for Free

Violence in the NBA Essay Violence in the NBA is spontaneous as well as erroneous. Due to its competitive and physical style of play, players usually get involved in altercations which eventually lead to a free-for-all brawl which is unbecoming of a sport that is known to produce gentlemen of finesse and prestige on and off the court. Each ruckus is always in focus of the meticulous and keen eyes of the media as well as the public. Arguably, it is reflective of what the sport of basketball wants young fans to emulate without the violence of course. Yet violence within the league is rampant amidst the guide of game officials, which are always on the forefront of any untoward incident that tends to spoil the spontaneity and momentum of the game. Due to the spontaneity that is in the nature of the sport, nobody can predict may it be a fan or a referee whenever an imminent brawl is about to take place. Some basketball analysts say that this aspect of the game is what draws fans from all walks of life to the game itself. Violence is exciting as much as athleticism is. Thus, making the sport of basketball a game where masculinity is exemplified and where violence is considered a norm. Players display fits of anger and sparks fly which sometimes involve irate fans. In most recent memory, â€Å"basketbrawls† were instigated by young and raw players which are considered the future of the NBA. Basketball is more than a game of brawns. It is a sport that is fueled by strong emotions that lead to spontaneous violence. Basketball Officiating: Boon or Bust? Being a referee in the NBA is not â€Å"a walk in the park† job at all. Referees are expected to have a rational and sound judgment in every call they make. Each decision of a referee is a crucial part of his job and whenever he makes a call or decision, not only players will react but fans will retaliate in every call as well. Referees are not highly considered to have a vital role in the NBA yet they act as a shock absorber in every loophole that the game has. They are always lambasted by players and fans alike yet they are there to stabilize the pace of the game and performing the task of mandating the rules of the game. Some might say that they are simply doing their job for the betterment of the game but recently there has been an official that was involved in a gambling issue over at Las Vegas. With this in mind, some fans have really lost their complete trust on referees. And fans don’t really care about referees or game officiating at all, fans flock the arenas to watch their home team win and not to be victimized by mediocre officiating. Fans have meticulous and keen eyes when it comes to bad calls as much as referees are also sharp on making calls on players. However, some decisions made by a referee are not favorable to a home team which creates a ruckus among the fans, this happens whenever a call is made and fans don’t like it which results to an unpleasant feedback among the fans. At some instances, fans sometimes instigate â€Å"basketbrawls† and before the referees know it some guy has a fist on his face already. This creates a self-defeating image for the NBA. Remember that this is not ice hockey or football where athletes wear protective gears that will protect them from imminent injuries that result from abrupt and unexpected altercations during the game. An example of â€Å"bad† officiating happened recently when rookie Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks unintentionally hit Toronto Raptors guard T. J. Ford when the latter was driving towards the basket. This created an eclectic plethora of feedbacks around the league. For the fact that Ford has been hampered with injuries since he entered the league which some experts say that Horford’s foul wasn’t intentional yet it was made one because Ford is frail and has a history of serious injuries. Now, this is not objective officiating per se, Basketball is a contact sport and it’s a reality as well as a conviction that is shared by players. Reputation and a player’s salary is always at stake in every call a referee makes. Though Horford was fined and suspended for a couple of games, the Atlanta Hawks rookie showed sportsmanship by visiting and attending to Ford at the hospital, a deed of a suspended player which does not usually happen and simply shows how some kids in the NBA show class and finesse which is good for the image of the league. Hoopsworld. com correspondent Jason Fleming has this to say about the incident: â€Å"But does anyone out there think Horford intentionally tried to hurt Ford? He felt horrible about it after it happened and even went to the hospital to spend time with Ford in Atlanta. He explained the foul, too, to anyone who would listen after that game on Tuesday. † (Fleming, J. 2007. p. 1) When it happened with a minute and a half left, we were still down by eight [92-84], Horford said. He got the steal. I just tried to go and block the shot. When he went up, I went up too. He tried to use the rim and I thought he was going to stay on [one] side so I went up and tried to hit the ball and I hit his head. † (Fleming, J. 2007. p. 1) He just made a good move and fooled me. Horford said. (Fleming,J. 2007. p. 1) â€Å"That quote has been seen repeatedly. And, if you ask the Raptors, they also wont say it was intentional. Heck, even T. J. Ford understands it wasnt intentional. † (Fleming,J. 2007. p. 1) It wasnt a dirty play at all, Ford said. I think I just kind of tricked him with the move and he got caught in a bad spot. Hes a good kid. I told him Im not holding anything against him. (Fleming, J. 2007. p. 1) â€Å"During those hours in the hospital, where Horford talked to Ford, it was Ford picking up Horford. I know that Horford feels awful about it, Colangelo said. He spent a couple of hours at the hospital with (T. J. ) last night and, true to T. J. s form, he was probably doing more of the consoling. I think the kid (Horford) was pretty shaken up about it. He felt awful. I dont think there was any intention to do harm. (Fleming, J. 2007. p. 1). â€Å"So, with these multiple accounts of no intent of harm on the record, again, why did Al Horford receive a one-game suspension? Is it because of how bad it looked? Is it because of the fragility of Ford given his past issues with his neck and spine? Is it because this could have been much worse than it was? Honestly though, thats going to be true going forward too. No matter what anyone says, basketball is a contact sport. Sure, contact is regulated by the calling of personal fouls, but players get fooled all the time. To be real clear here, this is no different than a player going for a steal on a dribble and accidentally hitting the player with the ball in the groin. It happens. Fouls are called. Basketball moves on. Sometimes players have to leave games with injuries. † (Fleming, J. 2007. p. 1). Basketball Fans versus Athletes Basketball is inherently a physical and competitive sport. Suffice to say that the sport exudes hints of violence due to the physical nature of the game. Yet sometimes the physicality of the game goes overboard and results to chaotic brawls which include players and fans alike. At some instances, these spectators are usually the linchpin to instigate basketbrawls. The heat of the game overwhelms everyone in the stadium and before you know it beer bottles, stadium paraphernalia and other objects are being thrown at the arena and add more tension in an already brewing commotion among players. There are numerous instances that players are overwhelmed by their emotions and retaliation is always imminent on the part of these players. We have to consider that due to the competitive nature of the game, these athletes have high testosterone levels that result in extraordinary aggressive behavior. Which leads us to a behavioral disorder called Intermittent Explosive Behavior which is imminent in these athletes. Intermittent explosive behavior is described as a disorder as having extreme expressions of anger and uncontrollable rage which is inappropriate to a certain situation. George Orwell, author of the book Shooting an Elephant: The Sporting Spirit has this observation about the role violence plays in every sport aside from basketball: Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence: in other words it is war minus the shooting. (Orwell. 1950. ). This quote tells us that no sport has an inherent sense of fair play. And every sport is fueled by athleticism and sportsmanship camouflaged by arrogance as well as a certain sadistic nature in terms of watching it for the sake of the gratification brought about by violence. In the NBA, there are numerous basketbrawls but nothing compares to the infamous Pistons-Pacers brawl that happened on November 19, 2004 at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan, The incident that is better known as â€Å"The Malice at the Palace† sparked a myriad of negative feedbacks from the media to the public. This was arguably the most notorious basketball incident in recent memory since the â€Å"Bad Boy Days† of the Detroit Pistons of the late 80’s. The incident generated repercussions throughout the league and legal authorities as well. The incident involved Indiana forward Ron Artest and Detroit center Ben Walllace. Wallace was on his way for a fastbreak lay-up when Artest abruptly grabbed the former with his two arms causing Wallace to fall in an awkward manner. Wallace then retaliated by shoving Artest causing the latter to almost hit the bench. After this, chaos followed and players from both teams left the bench to join the fray and Piston fans joined the ruckus as well. Punches were thrown be it player against player or player against spectator. It was an embarrassing moment for the NBA and generated speculations about the conduct of players in the league. Each player in the NBA was placed under public scrutiny and is considered responsible for each deed he commits on the court as well as off the court. Sadly, media attention focused on Ron Artest which was suspended for a season, there was a debate regarding Artest rushing to the stands to hit a fan who threw a cup of beer on him, commentators said that it was not a valid excuse to rush to the stands and retaliates in order to hit the fan. The media heavily blamed the players for instigating the melee which was a huge upset for the entire league. Speculations of hooliganism in the league were fueled by the incident and Piston fans were placed in close public scrutiny. The Pistons had defeated the Pacers in a tight Eastern Conference Finals series five months prior to the incident, which eventually paved the way to their first championship since the Bad Boys Era. The game on November 19 was televised nationally on ESPN as well as locally on select Michigan television stations including Detroits NBC affiliate WDIV-TV (Channel 4) and statewide across Indiana through the Central Indiana bureau of FSN Midwest (which was later spun off to FSN Indiana), would be the first rematch between the two rivals since the Eastern Conference Finals. And emotions found its way to run high on either team (Wikipedia Pistons-Pacers Brawl. 2004. p. 1). Let us take a closer look on what transpired after the infamous incident: Players and spectators who were part of the incident are deemed to be subjected to criminal charges and will be thoroughly investigated by The Auburn Hills Police Department as well as the Oakland County Prosecutors Office. Two spectators filed and claimed monetary damages. The final legal actions of the incident for those involved may take months to determine (Wikipedia Pistons-Pacers Brawl. 2004. p. 1). â€Å"On November 30, Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca announced that he will seek charges against all players involved in the melee. † â€Å"Whoever was involved in fisticuffs will be charged, regardless if they were wearing a jersey. Its obvious there were several Pacer players and fans that dealt blows. †(Wikipedia Pistons-Pacers Brawl. 2004. p. 1). When Basketball Rears its Ugly Head Players are always at risk whenever they display unruly behavior on the court yet most players dont really care about the consequences that will be brought about by such behavior. Players dont really care about consequent suspensions as well as fines for their misconduct. Players are not really concerned that they are being watched by people around the world and each action they make is a mirror image of the NBA. These athletes are only there to perform their best because that what they are paid for and does not really mind if they are playing â€Å"prison rules† basketball in a prestigious league such as the NBA. What is surprising about the violence which is apparent in the NBA is that people couldnt care less about it. Arguably, NBA afficionados are used to the competitive and physical style of play wherein players thrive upon. And whats contradicting is that these players are deemed responsible for their actions on the court yet sometimes they themselves enjoy a little fistfight once in awhile. Since the incident in Detroit which was called â€Å"The Malice at the Palace†, some basketball analysts bluffed that having a resident psychiatrist in every team in the NBA will help each player as much as a physical condition trainer helps a player with regards to physical health, so why not consider mental health as well? One of the most penalized game altercations after the infamous Pistons-Pacers brawl would be the Knicks-Nuggets brawl which happened on December 16, 2006 which resulted to the suspension of seven players from both teams and a fine of $500,000 dollars each. The fine was arguably stiff due to the fact that Commissioner Davide Stern was trying polish the leagues image since the Pistons-Pacers brawl. The altercation started when Denver guard J. R. Smith was on a fastbreak and was about to dunk when suddenly New York rookie Mardy Collins strangled him when he the former was in mid-air causing Smith to fall hard on the floor. New York guard Nate Robinson rushed to them then pushed Smith in order to break the fight. The three players were surrounded by the team mates and officials who were trying to restrain the altercation. Yet this didnt help restrain the imminent on-court fight which was further escalated when Denver forward Carmelo Anthony strangled Robinson. At this time, New York forward David Lee was holding back Smith but the latter broke free and tackled Robinson then slammed Smith on the courtside resulting spectators and media to depart from the scene. Again, chaos overwhelmed the hardwood and more fighting followed. More pushing and shoving followed as well then eventually cooler heads prevailed and order was restored. Yet the seemingly restrained fight was inflamed again when Anthony made a cheap shot on Collins, The Nuggets star sucker-punched the Knicks rookie which had Knicks players chasing after him while he was leaving the court (Wikipedia Knicks-Nuggets Brawl. 2006. p. 1) The media has speculated that Knicks General Manager and Head Coach was the main culprit for the brawl which generated the notion that was Thomas dire attempt to revive the physical and rough brand of play which was reminiscent of the Detroit Pistons â€Å"Bad Boys Era† for him to inspire his team and give them the confidence boost they need in order to overwhelm a sense of inferiority against upper echelon teams. Criticisms surfaced as well due to the fact that Commissioner Stern didnt hand Thomas a suspension for his verbal provocation on Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony, telling the latter not to enter the paint which suggested that the Knicks were planning mayhem right at the start of the game itself. Denver Head Coach George Karl said that this was a mediocre attempt on insulting his friendship with former Knick coach Larry Brown who was fired by Thomas and had a tumultuous relationship with after Browns departure from New York (Wikipedia Knicks-Nuggets Brawl. 2006. p. 1) George Karl was furious the next day and made a harsh comment on Thomas saying: â€Å" Thomas made a bad situation worse. Hes a jerk for what hes trying to do. My team has blown 10-point leads, 11-point leads with two minutes to go. I watched Utah blow a 12-point lead to Sacramento two nights before that with four minutes to go in the game and youre telling me that Im running the score up? Hes an asshole † (Karl. 2006) The comments made by Carl was scrutinized and criticized by media men speculating a brewing bad blood between Carl and Thomas which dates to Thomas firing of Larry Brown who happens to be a close friend of the Nuggets mentor (Truehoop. com. 2006. p. 1) With this in mind, violence in the NBA does not start from players alone. One cannot help on being skeptic on how coaches think and manipulate their players. In the aftermath of this Knicks-Nuggets brawl, speculations on coaches surfaced on how they motivate as well as manipulate their players. Specially players who are raw and new to the league. Prior to this incident, New York Knicks GM and Head Coach Isiah Thomas was being accused already to display provocative tactics as well as unruly behavior among these are: ? The pre-season game versus New Jersey Nets on October 27 was glimpse of things to come. Thomas confronted Nets assistant coach Tom Barisse after a potential on-court brawl that resulted from a hard play which involved a Nets player and three Knicks players. Nets head coach Lawrence Frank didnt acknowledge or responded to the bickerings of Thomas. Thomas exclaimed that: The better teams dont like when the teams on the bottom give them a hard time Sometimes they get a little upset with that. We have to give them a hard time and I hope they dont take it personally. (Thomas. 2006) ? In a game against the San Antonio Spurs on November 11, Thomas appeared to instigate a fight against Spurs forward Bruce Bowen, which Bowen accused Thomas of yelling at his players to â€Å"break his foot! † In retaliation how Bowen used his legs on when Knicks guard was attempting a jumpshot. Other than that, Thomas started shouting match against Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. Thomas said: I was trying to stoke a little fire. We were playing three games in four nights against a pretty tough opponent in a getaway game. We were almost ready to pack our bags. (Thomas. 2006. p. 1). He later mentioned his Bad Boys Era in Detroit and exclaimed that if ever someone tried that on him, â€Å"I would murder him† (Thomas. 2006. p. 1) Thomas actions and innuendos were unbecoming of a hall of famer and a team general manager. This lead to a bevy of feedbacks about his conduct not only as a team official but a person as well. Perhaps this was a result of the job pressure he was receiving from the media and fans who wanted him out in New York. Thomas was considered to bring the unfavorable atmosphere in Madison Square Garden. Final Analysis The imminent violence that thrives in the NBA will always be part of the game. People have to accept the fact that every sport will be dealt with the consequent physicality and relative competitiveness that is a crucial part of every sport that is played. The NBA should do its part in assessing each brawl accordingly so as to be fair to the players. Players have should be responsible for their actions on court and off court as well. Its a good thing that the league has started having a dress code in order to polish the image of its players. Yet it doesnt end there and players should always carry with them a sense of sound conduct amidst the strong emotions that is always at play during games. Sportsman-like rivalry coupled with a sense of camaraderie will always overwhelm the hint the ugly notion of prison rules basketball. But players will always be true to their game which comes along with their passion for the game that makes the notion of violence a norm in each game played. References Fleming, J. 2007. Horford’s Suspension Unfair. p. 1. Retrieved December 13,2007 from Hoopsworld. com Levesque, J. 2004. Violence part of NBAs history. Retrieved November 23,2004 from Seattlepi. com Celizic,M. 2004. Fans as much to blame as players. Retrieved November 22,2004 from MSNBC. com Wikipedia. 2007. Violence in Sports. Retrieved December 20,2007 from Wikipedia. com Wikipedia. 2007. Pistons-Pacers Brawl. Retrieved December 22,2007 from Wikipedia. com Wikipedia. 2007. Knicks-Nuggets Brawl. Retrieved December 26,2007 from Wikipedia. com ESPN News Services. 2007. Raptors guard Ford injured after flagrant foul in victory. Retrieved December 11,2007 from ESPN. com Orwell, G. 1950. The Sporting Spirit, Shooting an Elephant. p. 153 New York: Harcourt, Brace, Co.

Employee performance appraisal theories and techniques

Employee performance appraisal theories and techniques Performance appraisal is to assess and evaluate the performance of employees towards the objectives of the organisation. Performance appraisal has now become a very important part of human resource management. Performance appraisal is the basis for other personnel programs in many of the organisations like counselling, salary administration, or personnel planning. With the decline of careers in organisation, HRM techniques such as performance appraisal has become more important in motivating and controlling the workforce. Appraisal is now seen by some commentators as being much more significant in maintaining employee loyalty and commitment than in directly managing performance (Bowles and Coates, 1993). Use of performance appraisal gives the manager opportunity to change corporate values which are important instrument in control process. Thus we find a growing use of appraisal systems for non-managerial employees that are based on social, attitudinal and trait attributes (Townley, 1 989). Employees are now being appraised not only on objective measures such as attendance, productivity and quality but also on subjective measures such as flexibility, loyalty etc. performance appraisal helps in increasing the efficiency of workforce which in turn helps in achieving the objectives set by an organisation. Performance appraisal is one of the most important components in the systematic approach of Human Resource Management. Performance appraisal is the process of assessing and evaluating the performance of employees according to the objectives of the organisation. Performance appraisal is defined as a procedure which involves the regular use of recorded assessment of an individualà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s performance and potential (Phil Long (1986). Performance Appraisal Revisited. 2nd ed. London: IPM Information and Advisory Services. 5.). A primary aim of the performance appraisal is to measure the performance of an individual against the given objectives. Performance appraisal includes the employees, management, supervisors and the units those are most responsible in the organisation. Manual staffs such as skilled employees and employees with technical duties are also subject to appraisal. Many organisations use performance appraisal even for other personnel programs, like counselling, sal ary administration, promotions or personnel planning etc. It acts as a means of communication between the boss and the sub ordinates required by the company or organisation. There are many possible uses of performance appraisal, but a wise user of the technique will choose among the possibilities and confine performance appraisal to those activities that will meet limited, specific goals (Patricia King (1984). Performance Planning and Appraisal. New York: McGraw-Hill. 7.). Performance appraisal system helps in measuring the performance of individuals against the set objectives of the organisation and the tasks provided to an individual, and rewarding them accordingly. It is also the basis for recruiting the new people, provide feed back, increase motivation, identify potential, study the skills of the employees, training to be provided according to the objectives and the work given and let people know that what is expected from them against the organisation and solve the job problem s. A change in payment systems has also helped in growth and development of performance appraisal. Reward systems and increased use of merit and performance have been associated with the development of performance appraisal. It would be clear that performance appraisal practices those are operating from past ten years or so may be effective in many organisations today. New developments has reduced the role of performance appraisal, they now are being used as a measure to achieve organisational objectives, considerable experimentation and innovation. In fact performance appraisal has become more wide spread. New forms of appraisals have also been developed. Development of performance appraisal: Informal system of performance appraisal exists as long as people work together; evaluation of employees at work is the universal tendency. The history of formal system of performance appraisal is short. With the new developments performance appraisal has become an important element of human resource management. Wide ranges of methods are used to conduct the performance appraisals such as from ranking schemes and competency based systems to complex behaviourally anchored rating schemes. Performance appraisalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s nature is mostly based on the objectives of management and the available resources for commitment. Simpler ranking and rating schemes are adopted by the small organisations with limited HR expertise, where as schemes such as competency based and 360o appraisal are adopted by the larger organisations. Most of the managements use only one type of appraisal system. Some organisations provide the choice for employees about methods in how they should be appraised. F ew organisations adopt multiple systems to separate reward and non reward aspects of appraisal and different systems to different occupational groups and different parts of the organisation. Appraisal Systems: Appraisal system formulates the review part of the performance cycle. Appraisal systems are designed on a central basis by personnel function, each manager evaluate the performance of their staff on an annual, six-monthly or even quarterly basis. Traditionally appraisal system has been applicable to the staff those are in higher management and supervisory positions, but with new developments it has also applicable even to the clerical staff and secretarial staff. Appraisal systems are been applicable in all the parts of the organisation for the better performance of the employees. It tends to assess the performance of the employees and reward them accordingly. Appraisal system can be used to identify the problems and improve current performance, provide feedback. It also can be used to set the organisation objectives, provide information to the HR personnel, selection process and as a reward or punishments. Appraisal can be divided into three categories, reward reviews, potential reviews, and performance reviews, and the appraisal system should satisfy at least one of those. Manager should be very careful in reviewing the primary purpose of the appraisal system. Source: www.rose.edu/faculty/bperryman/f6.pdf Performance Appraisal Methods and Techniques: The techniques to evaluate the performance appraisal can be grouped into three categories: Comparative, Absolute and Outcome or Result-oriented. Comparative Methods: These techniques help in evaluation the performance of the employees in a work group. Three main procedures which are used in performance judgements are paired comparisons, raking and forced distribution. Paired comparisons: In this method appraiser compares the pair of individuals, rating which employee is better. This could be based on the overall performance of the job or one specific trait. A rank order is obtained from the number of times each individual is selected as the better of a pair (Phil Long (1986). Performance Appraisal Revisited. 2nd ed. London: IPM Information and Advisory Services). Ranking: Rater requires listing the group of individuals and ranking them according to the merit from best to worst. In this procedure a single performance trait is used to evaluate the overall performance of employees towards the objectives. Forced distribution: This procedure combines both paired comparisons and ranking methods. Individuals receive a rating and also assigned to categories according to predetermined distribution. Absolute Methods: This method evaluates the performance of an individual by reference to standards of performance. Techniques include narrative approach, graphic or trait rating scales, critical incidents and behavioural anchored rating scales. Narrative Approach: This method describes the individualà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s work performance and behaviour in the words of appraiser. The appraiser describes the strengths, weaknesses and potential of an individual and also suggest for improvements that are required. Appraiser can explain in the form of essay or written report. Narrative procedures have the benefit that they can explain and provide information regarding the individualà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s performance. Trait Rating Scales: This is highly structured scale which consists of a list of personality traits. The appraiser should indicate the performance of an individual on a numerical scale for which individual is being appraised have these traits. A variation of this is the graphic rating scale which requires the rater to evaluate the individual on each of several defined qualities along a line containing a variety of objectives from very high to very low (Phil Long (1986). Performance Appraisal Revisited. 2nd ed. London: IPM Information and Advisory Services). Critical incident techniques: In this method rater explains the positive and negative behavioural events which have been observed within a review period. It is more suitable for performance feedback discussions. Behavioural Anchored Rating Scales (BARS): BARS is one of the prominent behaviour scaling techniques which determine the behaviour ratings and actually constitute job performance. This methodology is carried out using typical BARS instruments which constitute of series of vertical scales. Each scale determines performance dimension based on job requirements and past observations. The behaviour anchors observed determines the work performance of the individual. Results-oriented Methods: These methods are mostly based on specific accomplishments and outcomes of job performance rather than behaviours. Assessment is based on how the objectives have been achieved. Objectives being jointly agreed between the superior and subordinate and standards are set by discussion and negotiation. As the standards are known the procedure can be corrected as they develop. To study the role of performance appraisal, different appraisal systems, models and how are these helpful in evaluation of employee performance in order to achieve the organisational objectives. To study about performance appraisal systems, methods and techniques. How the appraisal systems are developed and implemented in the real context to achieve the objectives. To study the advantages and disadvantages of different performance appraisal methods. This data has already been published and while using this data the researcher should be very careful about the validity and reliability. Researcher should get the data which has been recently published as it will be more applicable to the present scenario. The data used by researcher in this report is mostly from books, electronic journals, and websites and research journals. Secondary includes both quantitative and qualitative data, and they can be used in both descriptive and explanatory research. Types of secondary data: Documentary data, Survey-based data, and those compiled from multiple sources. Documentary secondary data includes written documents and non written documents. Written documents include books, journals, magazine articles, newspaper and internet. Non-written documents such as pictures, drawings, television programme. Multiple-source secondary data can be based entirely on documentary or any survey data, or can combination of the two. Data collected will be analysed with the help of diagrams, graphs, pie charts and etc. Qualitative data collected from all the possible sources will help in achieving the objectives of dissertation. Saunders et al (2003) claims that there is no standard approach to analyzing qualitative data but discuss one technique where the data are disaggregated into meaningful categories that are subsequently rearranged and analyzed for related data and key themes. The dissertation will be presented in written form meeting the requirements laid down in the Individual Research Dissertation Handbook. And soft copies will be provided in the desirable standard format. Dissertation Time Plan (what are the key times) Meet the appointed lecturer and start with dissertation Finish the introduction and literature review Analyze Data and Interpret data using different data analysis tools and techniques Update Literature Review Complete dissertation by drawing conclusion Submit Dissertation Phil Long (1986). Performance Appraisal Revisited. 2nd ed. London: IPM Information and Advisory Services Patricia King (1984). Performance Planning and Appraisal. New York: McGraw-Hill. Tom Redman, Adrian Wilkinson (2001). Contemporary Human Resource Management. London: Prentice Hall. 57-95. Derek Torrington and Laura Hall (1995). Personal Management. 3rd ed. London: Prentice Hall. 316-331. Stephen Pilbeam and Marjorie Corbridge (2002). People Resourcing HRM in Practice. 2nd ed. London: FT Prentice Hall. 258-283. John P Wilson (1999). Human Resource Development. London: Kogan Page. 153-162. http://www.businessballs.com/performanceappraisals.htm www.rose.edu/faculty/bperryman/f6.pdf

Nikolai Aleksandrovich Romanov: The Last Tsar of Russia Essay

:Nikolai Aleksandrovich Romanov, the last standing Tsar of Russia officially known as Tsar Nicholas II, autocrat of Russia. Nicholas II was born on 18th May, 1868 in Tsarskoe Selo, Russia. Nicholas II was the eldest son of Alexander III and his Empress Marie Romanova. Nicholas was eldest of six children. He had three younger brothers, Alexander, George, Michael and two younger sisters, Xenia and Olga. Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917, his reign saw imperial Russia go from being one of the foremost great powers of the world to an economic and military catastrophe. Tsar Nicholas II influenced and sought change in the historical events of Russo - Jap War, Bloody Sunday, October Manifesto, The First Russian Revolution, World War One and the abdication of the throne. Thus bringing about change in Russia and the autocratic system of ruling that lead to the downfall of the Romanov Dynasty. Nicholas firmly believed in the same traits as his father, Tsar Alexander III. After the sudden death of his father in 1894, Nicholas II was crowned Tsar of Russia, and left to rule without any knowledge and training of leadership skills. The state of Russia’s economy and military was in the fate of Nicholas II. As he was unprepared for the new and challenging role to govern the extensive Russian empire. Nicholas II complained to his brother-in-law stating that, ‘I am not prepared to be a Tsar. I never wanted to become one. I know nothing of the business of ruling’. Nicholas II was different compared to that of the past Tsars, Nicholas’ II early interests did not revolve around political matters. His father, although wanted him to be tough but his personality was the exact opposite. Soon after the death of his fath... ... factor within it self that contributed to the downfall of the Romanov dynasty. As a result the impact of World War One and tensions that arose in Russia, Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicated by the Duma. As the primary source, ‘At Last’ –Brisbane worker, 22nd March 1971, indicates that the majority of the people did not want a Tsar ruling Russia thus the need for the a revolution. The big hand, in the source represents the size of the people and the forcible removable of the Tsar as it burst through chair. By the second revolution the Romanov dynasty has ended due to the execution of the Romanov’s. The fall of the Russian Empire was a result of a complex web of factors. The ultra conservatism and political inexperience of Tsar Nicholas II greatly contributed to the fall, as did the huge socio-economic changes, modernisation, industrialisation of the period.

Capital Punishment Essay: Should Execution of Inmates be Televised?

Should the Execution of Death Row Inmates be Televised?      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On discussing the appeal of the highly-rated CBS television show, "Survivor," host Jeff Probst said the "appeal of the show lies in the idea that it is truly a human experience" (Mason par. 3).   Now imagine a show in which American television viewers are permitted to watch the live execution of a Death Row inmate.   Would broadcasting a live execution have the same "appeal" as "Survivor"?   Or would televising an inmate's execution have horrific and harmful consequences on the American public, putting the issue of capital punishment, as well as their ethical standards, in jeopardy?      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Televisions are present in 98-99% of American households, (comma splice) basically they are present in every American house.   American viewers watch televisions frequently and for a long duration of time, regarding what is seen on television as the most "credible, complete, intelligent, and unbiased source of news" (Leighton par. 10).   Therefore, because of this fact, proponents of televising executions believe that in doing so, the public creates a deterrent, allowing the whole process of the United States criminal justice system to play out in front of the American public via the most popular medium for doing so, the television ("Debate Lives On" par. 3).   A deterrent is a notion that the pain of punishment, (in this case, the pain of execution), will prevent human beings from committing crimes.   Therefore, if the American public could bear witness to the execution of a convicted man or woman, the image would be so shocking t o that viewers mind that the ability or desire of that person to commit a "death penalty" crime would decrease.   In essence, proponents of te... ... 2 June 2000.   Online.   Internet.   Available:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/06/02//fpl13sl-csm.shtml Miller, Matthew.   "Forget Conventions-televise executions."   Los Angeles Times Syndicate.   29 June 2000.   Online.   Internet.   Available:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.reporter-news.com/opinion/forgetconvensions/exe.htm Shapiro, Andrew L.   "State Killing: America's New Spectator Sport?"   Salon Magazine.   28 July 1997.   Online.   Internet.   Available:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.salonmagazine.com/mediacircus.html   "State Killing is Not the Answer."   Amnesty International-USA.   Press Release.   Guatamala.   26 June 200.   Online.   Internet.   Available:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.rights.amnesty.org/ainews.html White, James.   Contempory Moral Problems.   Fifth Edition.   West Publishing Company.   Minneapolis, 1997.

Is John Stewart Mill a racist Essay

Is John Stewart Mill a racist? That is a very strong charge against someone that promotes the sovereignty of the individual over that of the race/community/state. Many critics run the gamut on this issue. Some believe that he is because the list of those entitled to personal autonomy excludes those that live in â€Å"backward societies. † Other critics argue that he is not because he acknowledges the achievements of other civilizations and trace any social defects to improper governance or depressed circumstances rather than physical characteristics, and he acknowledges the dark ages of Europe. Others read his work and pronounce him a British Nationalist (Varouxakis, p. 5-6). If he were racist, it would prove to be more symbolic than overt. Symbolic racism manifests in indirect ways; in the United States, many whites are not directly racist toward blacks, however, they are strongly opposed to affirmative action and busing black children to better schools (McConahay & Hough). On another level, whites are very reluctant to give away any of their power to other racial groups and offering more opportunities to minorities diminishes that power, and they know this on at least a subconscious level. Either way, he is acknowledged by many to be one of the most important figures of modern liberal thought. On Liberty was also one of the most famous books exploring the subject—mainly advocating the moral and economic emancipation of the individual from the state. The free and liberal state has only one rule: that each individual can do as he pleases as long as his actions do not harm others. However, if someone makes a conscious decision to harm himself only, it is not the role of society to stop him because it would interfere with his autonomy. For example, many people wanting the government to legalize drugs will use this argument, â€Å"Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign† (Mill). However, many critics believe that these rights do not extend beyond the realm of Europe and the West, looking to interventionist actions taken by the US and the UK in the past decade, â€Å"The right to non-intervention, like the right to individual liberty, only belonged to those capable of using it, that is, to those ‘mature’ enough to think and judge for themselves and to develop unaided†(Parekh, p. 88). This paper seeks to assess how nineteenth-century liberalism furthered the imperial ambitions of European countries, its inherent disdain for other ways of life, and review some of the erroneous assumptions that led to the exploitation of colonial subjects. We will also examine some of its better premises and how they will apply in certain societies, and will try to definitively answer the question of his racism. In Mill’s time, Great Britain possessed one of the largest empires in the world. The crown had granted independence to small colonies like Ceylon during his lifetime. However, when the subject of independence for India was raised in parliament, Mills argued strongly against it (Parekh, p. 90). Perhaps he felt that they were not ready for independence because in his opinion, they were â€Å"backward. † If rumors of his nationalism have merit, then he might have feared that his country was losing power around the world. The idea of relinquishing rule might have been based on the assumption that other nations will grow to supplant Britain as the main superpower on earth. Also, if other nations with more backward beliefs were to possess resources that would make them wealthier and powerful than the civilized nations â€Å"The sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection†(Mill). If this is taken in terms of global relations, allowing others to wield power would be seen as a direct threat to Britain’s position, and abdicating their holdings would be tantamount to putting themselves in the inferior position. In his own social context, Mill believed in the freedom to pursue activities, even immoral ones, provided that its pursuit does not harm anyone. The most obvious example of this is taking drugs. In Mill’s paradigm, a person smoking marijuana should not be punished for this action. Instead, society should only punish him if his actions under the influence lead to the injury or death of another person. On the grey areas of morality, scholars often dispute what it means to cause harm. For example, post-colonial theorist Bhiku Parekh argues that liberalism takes an intolerant, missionary, dogmatic slant to life. As a critic of J. S. Mill, Parekh picks apart liberalism in great detail, particularly the liberal’s paternalism or outright scorn toward non-liberal communities that do not value materialism or ambition He argues that liberals believe that their path is the only legitimate one and that non-liberal societies do not have the right to decide the course of their existence, or even the right to decide to exist at all independent of the dictates of a â€Å"superior civilization. â€Å"In order to justify the inherently unequal and exploitative colonial rule, liberals needed to show that the British had something to give to their colonies that the latter badly needed, were unable to acquire unaided, and which was so precious as to compensate for whatever economic and political price they were required to pay†(Parekh, p. 86). In the case of the British colonies, they brought civilization. India was considered civilized but stagnant, and needed British rule to move forward (Parekh, p. 88). The political actions on part of the British imply that there is only a small list of ideological, philosophical, and religious beliefs that can be considered civilized. In fact, according to Parekh, Mill resisted every parliamentary effort to grant India some measure of independence because he did not believe the nation was ready to stand on its own. Perhaps, Mill believed that the Indians would unintentionally harm themselves or others without interference, because that was his only justification for intervention. That is the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will†(Mill). Though India was recognized as civilized by the West, it was a civilization in its infancy, not yet ready for self-determination. Most of the â€Å"East† did not embrace capitalism and laissez-faire governments. The primary emphasis of each citizen was the community and the family rather than the individual. However, the European vision was spread throughout the world via colonialism. Had the Chinese or Indians taken over every continent on earth, the prevailing global norms would be quite different, and a new standard of values would be spread. In fact, Parekh raises the point that if one was to critique the West using non-liberal philosophical systems, it might be found lacking. â€Å"If we took the Indian, the Chinese or the Islamic views of man as our standard, it is the self-centric and even self-obsessed liberal societies that would appear inferior†(Parekh, p. 99). In the United States and Western Europe, there is a sharp separation between church and state, and strong social pressure to have the biggest, newest, and best products on the market. Other cultures value achievement much as well, but consumerism very little. Economic freedom in the West is greater than in China or India. â€Å"The tendency to homogenize the West and to view liberalism as its sole authentic voice is also evident in the way many contemporary liberals ground their moral judgments. Take the frequently invoked and philosophical dubious concept of moral intuition. Although liberal philosophers admit that moral intuitions are fallible and often confused and contradictory, they assign them an ontologically privileged status and view them as more or less authentic indicators of our cultural identity and expressive of our deepest moral being†(Parekh, p. 100). Mill embraced the ideal that each person was autonomous and needed to live according to his inclinations. Those living in societies that sublimated Mill’s fundamental law of human interaction needed to be guided toward the â€Å"truth† which lent his writing a feeling of religious certainty rather than racist sentiment. While Parekh saw liberalism as a system of thought that promoted racism and intolerance, Georgios Varouxakis argues differently. Although Mill was a man of his time, he was not a racist as he judged the merit of a culture by its technology and philosophy rather than the physical appearance of the citizens. While accepting vaguely that racial origin is one of the factors influencing the formation of national character, Mill went further to establish that racial predisposition in itself could prove nothing and was liable to be modified out of any recognition through the agency of circumstances such as institutions, historical accidents, and human Effort†(p. 43). For example, those dwelling at the bottom rungs of society often have no interest in working and try to do as little as possible because there is no genuine incentive for them to invest themselves in any way. Any race would be indolent and idle, he stressed, if the arrangements under which they lived and worked resulted in their deriving no advantage from forethought or exertion†(Varouxakis, p. 45). Examples of this include enslaved and oppressed African-Americans, the Irish under England, and the Dalits in India. Most members of an underclass lack ambition, not because they lack the intelligence, but because they believe that the hard work ahead of them will not amount to anything as they lack a stake in society. Parekh argues that liberalism is inherently European in character. He is correct in this assertion because in Western European culture, a significant portion of identity is derived from profession rather than through family unlike much of the world. Western Europeans also value rugged individualism much more than other cultures. This affection for personal independence existed prior to formalizing it into a philosophy. Varouxakis also shows evidence that liberal philosophy blurs the borders between nations, as it had gained the admiration of many people on earth. Mill’s own countrymen described him as an â€Å"extreme radical and ‘un-English’† before acknowledging his contribution to political theory (p. 1). Therefore, while liberalism is European (or English) in origin, it has grown far beyond its borders to inspire people in other countries to leave their homes and live a more ‘liberal’ and individualistic lifestyle. In sum, even though the people of Europe and Asia belong to different racial groups, the liberal devaluation of their culture is by no means racially motivated. Liberal ideology disdains all systems that subject the individual to the state, the group, or God. For example, while liberals were often contemptuous of the East and tribal cultures in general, they often did not think any better of the Fascists, Communists, and Socialists in their midst. Parekh is correct in arguing that contemporary liberalism does not allow for much variability in thought and belief, â€Å"In spite of their emphasis on choice and diversity then, most contemporary liberals are hostile to non-individualist forms of life. They aspire to a culturally homogeneous world in which all alike are wedded to the narrowly defined values of autonomy and choice†(Parekh, p. 101). The true liberal way of life would be broad enough to encapsulate everyone and prompt an exchange of ideas in order to continually reach for better solutions in this rapidly evolving world. Non-individualist cultures will not impose their views on those that do not follow their path, and individualists will live and let live.

Education Finance Essay

1. 1Background to the Study The importance of education particularly in the 21st century to the total development of an individual is increasingly being over emphasized. This is due to the fact that an uneducated individual has little or nothing to offer the society; in terms of acquired wisdom. It is therefore not surprising that most parents are now developing keen interest about the education of their children, a situation that leads them to want to know more as well as partake in what goes on within the school system. In all countries of the world, education is recognized as the cornerstone of any structure for sustainable development of any nation. It is a fulcrum around which the quick development of economic, political, sociological and human country revolves. In Nigeria, the demand for popular education is so high because education is not only an investment in human capital, but also pre-requisite as well as correlated for economic development (Adeyemo 2000). The belief that education is an engine of growth rests on the quantity and quality of education in any country. In fact, the National Policy on Education (1981:6) states that education is the greatest investment that the nation can make for the quick development of its economic, political, sociological and human resources. It further adds that education shall continue to be highly rated in the national development plans because education is the most important instrument of change and that any fundamental change in the intellectual and social outlook of any society has to be preceded by educational revolution. Education, from the pragmatics perspective could be seen as the organization of experience into a holistic social intelligence for dealing with future experiences. The idealists see education as the cultivation of the desirable state of mind. Sociologically, it is seen as the dissemination of culture to the young generation. In other words, education is the â€Å"process by which the individual acquires the many physical and social capabilities demanded of him by the group into which he is born and within which he must function†,(Ohikhokhai, 2002 :154). A Similar definition by Fafanwa states: It is the aggregate of all the processes by which a child or adult develops the abilities, attitudes and other forms of behaviour which are of positive value to the society in which he lives, that is to say it is a process of disseminating knowledge either to ensure social control or to guarantee rational direction of the society or both. (Fafanwa, 1972: 8) There is no gainsaying the fact that Nigeria’s educational system at every level (Primary, Secondary and tertiary) has been experiencing a down turn in the last few years. One of such reasons could be attributed to the under financing of the educational sector. The success of a child in education depends largely on what the child is taught in primary school. In other words, primary school education is a foundation upon which all other levels of education are built. Many researches have revealed that good teaching particularly at the primary level, lay a solid foundation for higher studies and can make a lot of difference in pupils learning and ability to cope with other life challenges (Adepoju 2001). In order words, since the rest of the education system is built upon primary education, the primary level is the key to the success or failure of the whole system. Apart from home as the first agent of socialization, primary school is the first place that introduces formal education or literacy to the children. The National Policy on Education [2004] defines Primary Education as the â€Å"education given in institutions for children aged 6 to 11 plus† for a duration of six years. This definition is also supported by the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) which states that, â€Å"Primary Education (ISCED level 1) also known as elementary education, refer to the education programmes that are normally designed on a unit or project basis to give pupils a sound basic education in reading, writing and mathematics, along with an elementary understanding of other sources such as history, geography, natural science, social science, art and music† The goals of primary education as stated in the National Policy on Education [NPE, Section 3(16) is to: i. Inculcate permanent literacy and numeracy, and the ability to communicate effectively; ii. Lay a sound basis for scientific and reflective thinking; iii. Give citizenship education as a basis for effective participation in and contribution to the life of the society; iv. Mound the character and develop sound attitude and morals in the child; v. Develop in the child the ability to adapt to his/her changing environment; vi. Give the child opportunities for developing manipulative skills that will enable him to function effectively in the society within the limits of his/her capacity vii. Provide the child with basic tools for further educational advancement including preparation for trades and crafts of the locality Inspite of government’s commitment to the provision of basic education for all, dwindling financial resources coupled with sectoral competition for resources may hinder its progress. According to Hallak (1990), successive waves of economic and educational crises affected the efforts of government and social demand for education so that education both the general tensions in the development of education and the imbalances that had emerged in the previous two decades were aggravated. Nevertheless, inspite of the huge financial commitment and the high priority given to education, experts and scholars still doubts the adequacy of the fund in meeting with the growing students’ enrolment. In view of the foregoing, the government alone may not be able to meet the social demand for quality basic education. Therefore, private sector participation in the ownership and control of schools is inevitable thereby complementing the efforts of government. The decade from 1990 witnessed an upsurge in the number of private institutions of learning in Africa in general and Nigeria in particular. Before this decade, most African Countries committed much of their expenditures on public education, which served as an instrument for building the nation, following independence. Today, there is pressure on African governments to shift from subsidization to privatization of their educational systems. Friedman’s (1955) theories on the privatization of education were and continue to be supported by researches who contended that public educational institutions lack incentives to improve educational systems. Among others, Chubb and Moe (1990) and Coleman (1997) argued that allowing school choice, mainly through the promotion of private schools, would improve educational markets. Many important educational decisions are related to costs of schooling. Information on costs is necessary to monitor resource allocation over time, to diagnose the function status of the education system, and to evaluate the efficiency in resource utilization (Tsang 2002). Specifically, cost of education refers to the resources used in the production of education services. They include not only public expenditure on education, but also private resources invested in education (Tsang & Kidchanapanish, 1992) Costs in this study are used to signify private cost of education incurred by the individual pupils and their families, and institutional costs of education incurred by the institution of learning. Tsang (1995), refers to private cost of education as those resources provided by household, individuals, and the community to support the production of educational services, which could be in form of Direct Private costs [Tuition Fees] which is only included in this study, Private Contribution [donations in the form of cash/gifts] and indirect costs [economic value of forgone opportunities of school] Babalola [1995] defines institutional costs of education as costs borne by the institution of learning. They consist of recurrent and capital cost. The recurrent costs are mainly what we are concerned with in this study. An ideal costing system relative to the input-output will enhance quality decision and planning programme for schools. The accurate knowledge of costing pattern will aid decision makers in the schools on the best alternative that may be considered in the management of the schools system. An ideal costing system will also enable parents, families etc to determine the cost effectiveness of enroling their children into private primary schools. 1. 2Statement of the Problem. The problem of rising cost [tuition fees] in educating pupils in private primary schools in Akinyele Local Government which has become an issue of concern to parents, families, wards and stakeholders alike. There is the need for private primary school administrators to pay serious attention to the causes and consequences of these rising costs [which could sometimes be as a result of high recurrent costs], with a view to controlling them while keeping pace with quality and productivity in the private primary school system. In view of the above therefore, this study endeavours to provide answers to the following research questions: 1. 3Research Questions 1. What is the total enrolment of each of the five [5] selected private primary schools in Akinyele Local Government Area from 2006-2010? 2. How much is the amount incurred by the schools in the five (5) years period on recurrent cost? 3. How much is the amount borne by families, parents or wards with five (5) years period on direct private cost per pupil [tuition fees]? 4. What is the correlation between direct private cost per pupil [tuition fees] and recurrent cost per pupil? 5. What are the sources of revenue available to the schools in sourcing for funds for the smooth running of the school? 1. 4Purpose of the Study The main aim of this study is to attempt to provide an analysis of the total direct private cost [tuition fees], total recurrent cost and sources of finance of private primary school system in Nigeria over the period of 5 years (2006-2010 academic years) with private primary schools in Akinyele Local Government as the case study. The study also attempt to highlight on the following: a. To determine the total enrolment of the five (5) selected private primary schools in Akinyele Local Government Area from 2006-2010 b. To determine the recurrent cost per pupil incurred by the school for five (5) years. c. To determine the direct private cost [tuition fees] per pupil borne by pupils, parents families etc for five (5) years d. To determine the Correlation between direct private cost per pupil and recurrent cost per pupil incurred will be determined for the five years (2006-2010) e. To determine sources of revenue available to the schools from 2006-2010 1. 5Significance of the Study This study will be significant in the following ways Firstly, it would serve as a source of statistical data information to primary school administrators and stakeholders alike for effective and efficient planning and cost control in private primary schools. Secondly, the study will provide the basic x-ray of cost pattern in Nigerian private primary schools from which future judgement with respect to plans, policies and programmes can be made. To this end, primary school administrators will be able to guide against any future deviation from expected goals Thirdly, the study could also provide private primary school administrators knowledge on the best decision to make with regards to the issues of pupils enrolment, staff employment, maintenance and so on. Also, the study will disclose the amount of money expended by the five (5) schools within the five (5) years period in recurrent costs. Furthermore, the study will disclose the direct private cost borne by pupils, families etc in the schools within the five years period. Lastly, the study will find the relationship between private direct cost per pupil and recurrent cost per pupil in the five (5) selected schools 1. 6Scope and Limitation of the Study This study focuses on the historical analysis of recurrent costs, private direct costs [tuition fees] and revenue sources using private primary schools in Akinyele Local Government as a case study. The study is, however limited to 5 out of the 24 registered private primary schools in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo state as at 2006-2010. Owning to the fact that the recurrent education expenditure increasingly accounts for greater percentage of the total capital and recurrent expenditures in Africa, this study concerns only the recurrent expenditure incurred by the schools, direct private costs borne by the pupils, families etc and sources of finance. This is in line with Coombs and Hallak (1987:55) and Mingat and Tan (1988:26) who rightly observed that most analysis of unit costs focus on recurrent spending because capital costs typically are only small part (in Africa, less than 20 percent) of the cost of education. According to Mingat and Tan, unless the objective is to access the cost of building additional school places (which is not the case in this study), the analysis of unit costs is usually directed at recurrent spending. Federal government primary schools and public primary schools are not included in this study because the study deals with only selected private primary schools 1. 7Operational Definition of Terms In order to enhance better understanding of this research project, certain operational terms that were used are clearly defined to reflect the specific situation with which they are used. Cost: This refers to the actual or notional expenditure incurred on or attributes to, a specific thing or activity. It refers to what is given up in order to educate an individual or group of individual. Although, total cost in education is a function of capital and recurrent cost, the cost referred to in this research work is specifically recurrent expenditure which constitutes about 80% of the total expenditure in the primary schools. Cost is used interchangeably with expenditure in this research Institutional Cost: This refers to what the institutions of learning (primary schools) have to give up in order to provide education or train the pupils. They are both capital and recurrent costs. However, institutional cost in this project excludes capital costs. Private Cost: These are borne by the individual pupils and their families. They relate to both direct and indirect costs of education which are borne through tuition fees, earning forgone, additional living costs, books uniform and transport. However, private cost in this project includes only tuition fees [direct private cost] Recurrent Cost: These are those costs for goods and services consumed in the course of a budget year, and which must be regularly replaced. Here, it include such expenses incurred on items such as staff salaries and allowances, maintenance, payments of electricity bills, purchases of materials needs etc Recurrent cost is also known as the running cost of education Unit Cost: This is the average cost incurred in providing academic service to the pupils. It is calculated by dividing the total expenditure per session by the number of students enrolled. In its operational term, the unit cost here refers to the actual amount or expenditure incurred per pupil during the course of the teaching-learning process in the primary schools. Its determination here does not however include expenditure on Capital items. Finance: Finance according to the context of this study is the act of raising or sourcing for funds for the running of the school. School: A school according to the context of this study refers to primary schools where formal teaching process takes place. CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE In this chapter the literature review is made under the following headings: 1. Concept of Cost 2. Cost of Education 3. Private Cost of Education 4. Direct Private Cost of Education [Tuition Fees] 5. Institutional Cost of Education 6. Recurrent Cost 7. Unit Cost of Education 8. Cost Determinants 9. Cost Control Strategies 10. Sources of Revenue for Education 1. CONCEPT OF COST The definition of cost is very open, as it means a lot to different people. People tend to define or use it to say their purpose. To some cost is the price paid for a commodity or for the consumption of goods and services. In economic term, the concept of cost if perceived as something which is given up in order to have another. In more a precise way, we can monetary say that cost is alternative forgone. It may be the monetary expense on education. In its broad usage cost implies the resources [money, materials and men] used up for the operation of a business enterprise [Lipsey, 1976; Aghenta, 1993] Babalola [1991] also gave credence to this assertion that cost is a measure of what is given up in order to produce or consume a commodity. Adedeji [2002], see cost as a measure of what is given up in order to produce or consume a commodity, Agunbiade [1997] citing Pandit [1979] stated that expenditure is the total financial resources allocated to a specific economic activity for a given period usually a year. Unit cost analysis helps the understanding of the internal efficiency of the use of resources at the institutional level. Cost effectiveness analysis relates cost of inputs used up in the teaching-learning process with the output. This helps decision makers to make rational choices between various alternative courses of action. Unit cost helps planners to know the cost of keeping a student at school, operating a school etc. The unit cost required by a student in a year is referred to as input and educational planners have of recent named it the â€Å"student year†. Unit cost has been the basis for funding education in Nigeria, for example, when the Federal Government launched its Free Education Programme in 1977, it used unit cost in allocating funds to the scheme, that is forty naira per pupil (Daily Times of Nigeria, 4th January 1980, Editorial Comment). Longe (1988) maintained â€Å"cost information is crucial in decision making as it facilitates efforts to make the best but the least costly choice among alternatives†. In the event of embarking on any programme without considering the cost such programme end up being a white elephant project which will only lead to wastage of heard earned resources. 2. COST OF EDUCATION Many scholars have tried to define cost of education over the ages. Akanbgou [1981] defines cost of education as being â€Å"all the real resources used up in the production of human assets†. He agreed with Pandit and Bourgeis who define cost as the real resources used up in the form of educated manpower. Obasi [1983] observed cost of education as â€Å"the sum total of all the resources used up in the production of human capital asset in the form of educated manpower†. Longe [1988] defines cost of education as the value of all the resources in terms of money and sacrifice used to accomplish educational project. That is, to produce and educated person. This definition could imply not concerned with monetary outlay and expenses on education but also the income forgone on opportunity cost which represents the real charges resulting from the operation of the educational system. Babalola [1995] posited that education cost is a measure of what a student, an institution of learning or the public has to give up in order to educate an individual. While Adedeji [1994] quoted by Oladejo [2002] opines that educational cost represent the value of all the resources in term of money and sacrifice used to accomplish a given educational or project. This definition implies that the expenditure in an educational institution is the monetary expenses incurred by the institution to produce an educated person. In the view of Babalola [2000], he sees cost of education as the â€Å"total resources devoted to education, this includes direct money outlays† [tuition fees, expenditures on additional living items, books, uniform and transport]. They also include indirect financial burdens [in form of opportunity cost measured as the loss of income incurred either by the individual or by the society as a result of schooling]. He stressed further by saying cost of education include non monetary cost [which include such things as the burden of study and for some students, pain of being away from home]. The loss of opportunity to earn wages or salaries in the labour market is the true cost of the individual student of his or her decision to enroll in a full-time or part-time course of education. The cost of education to a country consists of total public education expenditure, total direct private cost, total indirect private cost measured in terms of forgone earnings, improperly estimated educational cost on government education expenditures. Expenditure on education overtime has been observed to be on the increase across different levels of education in most countries of the world and in Nigeria in particular. It should be noted however, that the cost of emphasizes is the recurrent cost which constitute a greater percentage share of total expenditure in education and direct private cost [tuition fees] According to Ojo [1986] quoted by Oladejo [2001], education has enjoyed a higher share of national budget over the years due to the increasing level of expansion brought about by a continue increase in education demand. Agunbiade [1997], observed that there was a staggering figure for educational expenditure during the third national development plan. This expenditure has continued to be on the increase over the years in most different institutions which of cause differ from one institution to the other. However, as an institution’s enrolment increases, the tendency is that both the expenditure and revenue should increase equally. But, according to Agunbiade [1997], revenue do not correspond with the increase in enrolment. Psacharopulars and Woodhall [1997] posited that attitude towards educational expenditure began to change as predicted by Jallade [1973] partly due to the huge increases that has occurred during the period. According to them there is increasing evidence of financial constraints in many developing countries as proportion of expenditure has began to decline. However, Zymelman [1982] cited Psacharopoulos and Woodhall [1997] explained that expenditure on education at all level in African nations including Nigeria has remained fairly constraint. Afolabi [2001] in his article asserted that the cost of education in recent times in Nigeria has become astronomical which according to him is attributed to increase in teachers salaries and allowances to meet with the hyper-inflation condition in the country. This statement is posited by Shehan [1973:16] where he explained that real expenditure per pupil has risen in many countries of the world. Real expenditure in this context means money expenditure deflated by appropriate price indices for the various inputs [teachers, books, equipment etc] which are used in the educational system. The higher level of education demand more expensive buildings and equipment and more emphasis on high-cost research activities. Enrolment increases has been greatest at these high cost levels. The increase in enrolment at the high-cost end of the system continue to increase demand for more resources [that is, financial resources which represents the expenditure to be incurred in the production process] Institutions overtimes, have witnessed continue increase in the expenditure pattern. This continues expenditure increase as argued by Shehan [1983] have a weakening effect on institutions considering the overall level of finance available to them, hence the need for a comprehensive system of cost control private primary school system. 3. PRIVATE COST OF EDUCATION. Concepts of cost from the viewpoint of economic analysis; the proper definition of cost (real cost or economic cost) of an input to education is its opportunity cost, which is measured by the value of the input in its best alternative use. Applying this concept to the cost of an education system, the real cost of education includes not only public expenditure on education but also private costs (Bowman, 1966). Private resources to education can be classified into three categories: direct private costs of education, household contributions to school, and indirect private costs of education (Tsang and Kidchanapanish, 1992). Direct private costs of education are expenditures by parents on their children’s schooling, such as expenditures on school fees (tuition and other school fees), textbooks and supplementary study guides, writing supplies, uniform, school bag and transportation. Expenditures on school fees are part of the revenue for a school to be used to finance institutional costs; they may be used to pay teachers in a private school or used to support non-personnel costs in a government school. Non-fee expenditures are additional financial resources to schooling not captured in institutional costs. For primary school pupils in some countries there are also boarding costs. Household contributions to school are contributions, in cash or kind from families to school and/or school personnel (e. g. teachers). Contributions to school can be used in a variety of ways, for example, to purchase reading materials for a library, to purchase sports equipment, or to construct a school building. They are captured in the institutional costs of a school. In some countries, household contributions to teachers are the main source of income for rural primary teachers (Paulsen, 1981; World Bank, 1991). Household contributions can be important in the financing of education in that they augment public resources to education and they can be managed by school personnel. Indirect private costs of education refer to the economic value of the opportunities foregone as a result of schooling. The opportunities foregone can be a child’s labor in family production, in looking after younger siblings, and/or in performing other household chores. Such costs are usually difficult to estimate and assumptions have to be made about the economic value of a child’s labour, nevertheless, they are still important to consider in that parents sometimes withhold their child from school because of the need for the child’s labor, especially for parents in the rural areas (Psacharopoulos and Woodhall, 1985). In a recent study of India, Tilak (1985, p. 22) estimated that the indirect private cost in terms of foregone earnings accounted for about 40% of the real cost to education, based on 1977-78 data. For purposes of improving education quality, there are at least four reasons for considering private resources to education. First, direct private costs and household contributions are direct private resources that augment public resources to education. Some of these direct private resources (such as school fees and household contributions) can be used by the school as intentions to raise quality. Second, how parents allocate their resources to schooling is also relevant. Parents may be encouraged to spend more on items (such as textbooks and other learning materials) directly related to student learning. Third, differences in private resources to education among social groups may exacerbate educational inequalities among social groups. A good understanding of the variations in private resources to education will inform educational policies designed to mitigate educational inequalities. And fourth, the omission of private resources can significantly underestimate the true costs of education and may lead to erroneous estimates of the costs of quality-improvement interventions. To date, there are very few studies of private resources to education in developing countries, and information on private resources to education in these countries is either lacking or fragmentary (Tsang, 1988). However, the available evidence indicates that private resources to education are very substantial (Tilak, 1985; Tan, 1985; Paulsen, 1981); they also vary significantly among countries and type of school (Wolff, 1985; Schiefelbein, 1986). These preliminary findings indicate the potential of private resources to education as a policy option for educational decision makers for influencing educational quality. 4. DIRECT PRIVATE COST OF EDUCATION [TUITION FEES] According to Tsang (1995), Direct private costs are defined as household educational expenditure related to a child’s schooling, including tuition expenditure and non-tuition expenditure (such as spending on other school fees, textbooks and supplementary study guides, uniforms, writing supplies, school bag, transportation, and boarding). Thus, direct private costs are divided into two components, non-tuition costs and tuition costs. Non-tuition costs are put into two groups: instruction-related costs (such as parental expenditures on textbooks, workbooks, and writing supplies) and non-instruction costs (such as parental expenditures on uniform, school bag, transportation, shoes and sportswear, and school fees on sport activities and other school events). However, private direct cost in this project includes only tuition fees. Wolff provided measures of the direct private costs for students in secondary schools in nine eastern African countries (1985, pp. 51-55). The ratio of total direct private cost to total cost per student varies according to the type of secondary schools and country. It ranged from 0% for day schools in Somalia for 1981-82 to 81% for assisted Harambee schools in Kenya for 1981-82. The ratio for boarding schools was consistently higher than that for day schools. On the average, direct private costs accounted for one third of the total cost per pupil. High direct private costs were also reported in Tan’s study of secondary schools in Tanzania (1985b). She found that even though state school students paid no fees, their school-related expenditure added up to US$139 per student in 1981. The direct private costs for students in private schools were even higher (US $439). Bray (1996) surveys educational cost studies in nine East Asian countries. He finds that direct private costs as a percentage of total costs in public primary schools range from less than 10% in Lao PDR to over 70% in Cambodia. Most hover around 20%. Carnoy and Tores (1994) finds that parents assume about 30% of the total cost of public primary education in Costa Rica. Carnoy and McEwan (1997) carry out a similar study in Honduras. Restricting their attention to uniforms, school supplies, and matriculation fees, they find that direct costs account for 43. 5% of total costs; under more conservative assumptions, the figure is still 27. 4%. 5. INSTITUTIONAL COST OF EDUCATION This consists of capital cost and recurrent cost. Capital costs are associated with durable educational inputs particularly land, building, furniture and equipment which are made use of in a single fiscal year. Usually people talk of capital stock versus capital flow. The stock of capital is inventory of buildings equipments and other capital items out sting at a given point in time. It is like reservoirs that can be drained down by depreciation or renovate and enlarge by new inflows. The volume of an educational system capital stock can be measured by depreciating the original cost of each in the inventory at the appropriate rate (adjusted for major repair, additional and replacement made in the items). Educational expenditures are those that contribute directly to teaching, learning and research, for example, teachers’ salaries and allowances, salaries and allowances of administrator, that is, non-teaching staff, expenses on books and stationeries, transport cost other consumable materials like water, electricity, post and telegram etc. and additional buildings. Thus, expenditures on consumable goods such as materials and personnel salaries, rent, interests, grants etc used up within an accounting year are classified as recurrent expenditure (cost). While capital (cost) expenditures include the purchase of durable assets such as buildings or equipment, that are expected to yield benefits over a longer period. To Psacharopoulos and Woodhall (1997), the crucial distinction between recurrent and capital cost lies in the source of finance. To them, recurrent expenditures are financed from current income or revenue, while capital expenditures are financed by loans from international agencies as well as other sources of income. Owning to the fact that the recurrent education expe.   

Why Teachers Are Important

Why Teachers are Important Teachers are important because they educate the students by preparing them for a triumphant future. The number of human beings in the world is increasing every second of every day which is why it is not a surprise that teachers other than special education teachers hold about three point five million jobs (McKay, Dawn R. ). As each child grows older, he/she needs to learn in order to survive; teachers are the ones to instill knowledge (DeRoy). Every single person needs an education. To start most careers, a college degree is required.In order to get that college degree, an individual must complete grade school and high school and receive a high school diploma or GED, then complete college courses to learn the degree of choice. Children must be prepared for school and this starts with parents teaching them basic understandings of their alphabet and numbers (Archived: Early Childhood Education). If the students are not equipped with the basic knowledge, then they are bound to drop out of school (Shargel 19). Throughout the world, there are seventy two million children who are not getting the proper schooling they need (DeRoy).These children cannot better themselves through life without an education that can help them through the struggles of everyday life that only schooling can support. In those schools, teachers teach every single person how to write, how to read, how to do multiplication and addition facts, and how to write essays (McKay, Dawn R. ). Many people can think back and remember every teacher they have ever had, and if they cannot remember every one, then they at least remember their favorite one. Teachers are the ones who educate generations of people globally (DeRoy).There are many different teachers all over the world. There are teachers, who teach driving; there are teachers who teach art, and teachers who teach pupils how to construct machines. There are even teachers who teach teachers! All teachers however have to st art off somewhere, and that’s in a class room. Once schooling requirements have been met and some experience has been made, some teachers can become school administrators or can even get additional training and become a school librarian or a guidance counselor. Public school teachers in every state are required to have a achelor’s degree (Haugen, Lee). There are many states in the U. S. that even require a Master’s degree within a certain time frame. The future teacher must have fulfilled an official training program that includes earning a specific amount of educational credits. When it comes to teaching early education such as preschool, the requirements for training differ; some states require a bachelor’s degree while others accept just an associate’s degree (McKay, Dawn R. ). Absolutely all teachers, in every state, and the District of Columbia are required to be licensed.To get a teaching license, one must generally pass an exam that demonstr ates proficiency in basic skills and proficiency in the subject area that is desired. Licenses are normally issued by state boards or departments of educations (McKay, Dawn R. ). Since the world’s population is growing the teaching occupation is growing exceedingly as well. Employment of kindergarten through secondary school teachers alone will grow as quickly as all occupations through 2018. Location is key. Jobs are not meant to be everywhere in the world, if that was so then jobs would be given to anyone with a high school diploma.Also grade level and the subject specialty will have a great affect on job opportunity (McKay, Dawn R. ). In many schools today, students are required to have at least three years of a language course. People who have completed up to three years of a language are more likely to get a job over a competitor who has not had this extra information. Teachers are more likely to get a job over someone else if they indeed, can speak another language beca use they can help students who do not have English as their first language, which produces maximum learning efficiency (DeRoy).The most basic and most important teachers in the world, however, are grade school and high school teachers. Every single student must pass each grade in elementary school in order to go on to high school. Then in high school, the student must pass grades nine through twelve in order to receive one tiny piece of paper that gives individual opportunities in life. That piece of paper is called a diploma (McCourt). That one little piece of paper can make or break a person’s entire life. A diploma or equivalent, GED, is without any exception, required for college. There is no way to skate around it and hope to get in without one.Teachers need to be able to handle students, and teach them the curriculum that is required for the grade level. What makes a great teacher so incredible is their personality. They capture the minds and attentions of their pupils and without realizing it, get the students to understand the topic and remember it. Many students become teachers themselves because they loved their teacher and wanted to follow in the footsteps of them (College Board). A man named Eric Hanushek says that â€Å"teacher’s quality matter so much that a student is likely better off in a bad school with a good teacher than a good school with a bad teacher. If the teacher is good at his or her job, then odds are that student is going to do well academically no matter what. An author and teacher William Sanders once wrote that : â€Å" although an effective teacher can facilitate excellent academic gain in students during the years in which they are assigned to them, the residual effects of ineffective teachers were measurable two years later, regardless of the effectiveness of teachers in later grade. † In simpler words Sanders is saying that if a pupil has one exceptional teacher, then their learning can become corrupt f or years to come.Teachers indeed have an impact. Those students whose guardians are poor may have a hard time in school, but if they were to receive excellent hard working teachers who are willing to teach them, that problem could very well disappear entirely (Hanuskek). There are many ways that a parent or guardian can put their child through schooling. The government is here to help everyone be the best that they can be in this world, for themselves and for the community as a whole (Archived Early Education). Many people sending their children to school worry about their food consumption.They worry that the kids will sit astray with no food while others have a plentiful lunch and snack. Proper schools will not let that happen. A child will not go hungry or thirsty while a teacher or administrator is in that building. These are formative years in children’s lives, and the education and attention that every student requires is very important in determining the future of those pupils (Teachers: Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary). College teachers and professors are more tough on their students than those who teach younger levels.This is because those teachers know what the real world is like (DeRoy). They have hands on experience. Each and every teacher knows how hard it is to get into college, get good grades, graduate, and get hired in a respectable school. They know that students need to get the degree of their choice in order to start a career. The individual needs to buckle down and get to work. Some students may have had bad study habits or bad learning habits in general and the college teacher will help to improve these abilities but will not however hold one’s hand while doing it (Haugen, Lee).College teachers typically teach about seven courses in their subject for example ranging from calculus, statistics, algebra and geometry. Not only may they teach graduates, but they could very well teach undergraduates as well. The tea chers in college do not necessarily teach pupils who have just gotten out of college and are not yet twenty years of age. They can teach all different ages that have no limit. A professor could be teaching someone that is the same age as their grandmother. Knowledge has no age limit and everyone is capable of retaining new material (Teachers—Postsecondary).Many teachers have very different and complicated schedules. Unlike grade school and high school classes that take place all day everyday Monday through Friday without change, these teachers have different obstacles. They may teach three classes a week and each class may be at different times every day. Many college teachers find the environment intellectually stimulating and rewarding because they are surrounded by others who enjoy the subject that they are teaching (Teachers Count). This is very different from younger grades and can be very stressful on students but teachers normally grow accustom to their hectic schedule . Teachers—Postsecondary) An impact that a teacher has on a student is extraordinary. Students spend more time with their teacher than they do with their parents or family while going to school. Teachers are no longer just training their pupils mind for an education but are affecting the intellectual, emotional, and social development of each student they meet (Teachers Count). Teachers are respected by others because they are viewed as knowledgeable about different subjects of school and because they take care of society’s children.Students look up to their teachers for guidance when they are most vulnerable (Rose, Mike). If a student is unsure about something they ask their teacher and trust that the answer given to them is the right response. A teacher spends an entire year with a handful of students. In that time they should have a pretty general idea about each and every pupil in the seats before him or her. Through the teacher’s words and through their act ions, they are being a role model to a student. The teacher provides a special window for the student on a possible future (Adviser, Teacher, Role Model, Friend).Teachers make the world go round. Teachers have the ability to shape and mold the attitudes and values that their pupils possess. This possession can be beneficial with extraordinary outcomes. The society needs decent human beings who know right from wrong and who know how to help the community so the world can be a better place. By teachers enlightening students with more in-depth attitudes they are shaping the world with a strong society (Adviser, Teacher, Role Model, Friend) Teachers are the foundation of this world.They bestow knowledge to all people of every age. Teachers do not just instruct math skills or English skills. They teach moral lessons to everyone willing to learn. When it comes to knowledge, the poorest person in the world could be rich, rich with knowledge. A teacher cannot just stand in front of a room a nd teach. The material in which they preach must be accurate and the students must understand it. One cannot call himself or herself a teacher if the students are not learning the material. The opinions of society can be very influential.If teachers are being viewed negatively than the students are not going to take the teachers seriously and will not respect them not soak up the information that they need (Shargel 19). A proper and positive learning environment is not all that is needed to educate students. Teachers need to radiate positive attitudes and let their students know that they are in charge and that they are there to help the students for a triumphant future that they will need to survive in the world full of seven billion people (McKay, Dawn R. ).