Governance and Educational Outcomes in Public Secondary Schools in Osun State

This study investigates the relationship between governance quality and educational outcomes in public secondary schools in Osun State, examining how administrative accountability, resource management, and teacher deployment practices affect student performance in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination. Education governance in Nigerian states has been widely identified as a critical determinant of learning quality, yet the specific mechanisms linking governance decisions to student outcomes remain understudied in the political science literature on sub-national governance. Using a mixed-methods design, the study analyses data on school examination performance across 40 public secondary schools in Osun State from 2019 to 2022, combined with interviews with school principals, teachers, and Local Government Education Authority officials. The principal-agent theory and the new public management framework are applied to examine accountability relationships within the education system. Findings reveal that schools with strong internal accountability mechanisms, regular inspection visits, and transparent resource allocation records consistently achieve better examination outcomes than schools characterised by poor governance. The study also finds that political interference in teacher deployment decisions disrupts instructional continuity and contributes to performance disparities across schools. The South West geopolitical context of Osun State, with its historically strong investment in public education, provides a useful comparative baseline. Recommendations include merit-based teacher deployment systems, regular community school governance forums, and independent learning outcome assessments. Keywords: governance, educational outcomes, public secondary schools, Osun State, accountability