DOI: 10.36347/sjebm.2017.v04i01.001

Pages: 1-14

Although significant research exist in the field of corporate image, fairly less image research has been conducted in the field of education especially in public secondary schools. The purpose of this study is to assess the image of public secondary schools in South West Cameroon base on stakeholders‟ perception about the behaviour of the school. It made use of the concurrent procedures of mixed methods in which the researcher converge quantitative and qualitative data in order to provide a comprehensive analysis of the research problem. 12 public secondary schools were randomly selected from six divisions of the SW Region of Cameroon, 2 from each division representing the rural/urban setting. 20 school administrators were interviewed using open-ended questionnaires. 48 teachers, 55 parents and 1094 students were also interviewed for the study. Findings reveal that students were satisfied with the teaching and learning process by 80.5% and they believed that their teachers were well trained, always ready to face academic challenges and to provide relevant learning materials like notes. The study further revealed that schools have neglected their relationship with the community in terms of supporting the underprivileged, community hygiene, adult literacy and other such assignments necessary to promote family life and enhancing patriotism as stipulated under the objectives of education (Law N° 98/004 of 14 April 1998). Therefore, schools need to enhance their relationship with the community in order to understand and perpetuate the values of the society.