Corruption and Literacy in the Basic Education Schools in Onueke Education Zone of Ebonyi State

Abstract

The paper focuses on Corruption and Literacy in the Basic Education in Onueke Education Zone of Ebonyi State. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. A purposive sample was used to select a sample of 462 Basic Education Teachers (230 male and 232 females) in all the 56 schools in the Education Zone. A questionnaire titled Corruption and Basic Education Literacy Questionnaire (CLBEQ) was used. The instrument was validated by experts in the field and all the input they made were taken into consideration. The instrument was further subjected to reliability test in a test retest using 20 teachers that were outside the area of study. An index of 0.81 was obtained using Crombach Alpha method. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while Z-test was used to test the hypothesis. The findings indicated that corruption deeply affected literacy lives of pupils as there were no new provision of new buildings, human and material resources and non rehabilitation of the few existing ones and all these adversely affect literacy lives of pupils and teachers. It was also discovered that no significant difference existed in the responses of male and female teachers on how corruption adversely affected the lives of pupils. Based on the findings some of the recommendations were: 1. Peoples especially those in sensitive positions of higher authorities in handling fund meant for literacy should shun greed. 2. The government at all levels should Mount Massive campaign against corruption. Both government, non-governmental organizations and individuals should embark on provision of facilities, materials and funds to improve the education system and better the literacy lives of pupils and teachers for a better society. Key Words : Corruption, Literacy, Education, Facilities, Fund, Teachers DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-9-25 Publication date: March 31 st 2020