PROVISION AND UTILIZATION OF SCHOOL FACILITIES AND STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
ABSTRACT
The study looked into the planning and utilization of school facilities, as well as the academic performance of students in selected secondary schools in Lagos State. The study posed three research questions and tested five hypotheses. The study used a cross-sectional survey research design with public, private, and federal schools in Lagos State’s Education District IV.
Four hundred and twenty-three (423) subjects were chosen at random from the district’s schools to serve as the study’s sample. Questionnaires were important instruments used to collect data from respondents. Due to financial constraints, the study was limited to junior secondary school (JSS III) and senior secondary school (SS III) classes and teachers of English, Mathematics, Integrated Science, Social Studies, and Economics in 22 schools in Lagos State’s Education District IV.
The collected data was analyzed statistically using the simple percentage and Chi-square methods. However, the study found a significant relationship between adequate provision of school plant and academic performance of students in secondary schools in Lagos State; adequate provision and functional school physical plants are good strategies for enhancing a high level of academic performance;
and rapid increases in school enrolment without a corresponding increase in the provision of educational facilities contribute to poor student performance. The study therefore recommends, among other things, that material resources for all subject areas be adequately supplied to all secondary schools in Lagos State, and that philanthropists and Parent-Teachers Associations be encouraged to contribute their fair share to the development of secondary schools in the state.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Study’s Background
School facilities have been identified as a significant factor in quantitative education. The importance of providing and utilizing adequate instructional facilities for education cannot be overstated in terms of teaching and learning. The dictum “teaching is inseparable from learning but learning is not separable from teaching” states that teachers teach in order for students to learn, but students can learn without teachers.
Learning can occur through interaction with one’s environment, according to Akande (1985), as cited in Afigbo (1996). The term “environment” refers to the facilities that are available to students in order to facilitate their learning outcomes.
It includes books, audio-visual equipment, software, and educational technology hardware; classroom size, seating position and arrangement, availability of tables, chairs, chalkboards, and shelves on which instruments for practicals are arranged (Farrant, 1991 and Farombi, 1998).
Facilities, according to Oni (1992), are a strategic factor in organizational functioning. This is because they have a large impact on the smooth operation of any social organization or system, including education. He went on to say that their availability, sufficiency, and relevance all have an impact on efficiency and high productivity.
Farombi (1998) believes that the wealth of a nation or society can determine the quality of education in that country, emphasizing that a wealthy society will establish good schools with quality teachers, learning infrastructures, and students learn with ease, resulting in good academic achievement.
In a paper on the role of facilities in teaching, Balogun (1982), cited in Anameze (2001), argued that no effective science education program can exist without teaching equipment. This is due to the fact that facilities allow learners to develop problem-solving skills and scientific attitudes.
Ajayi and Ogunyemi (1990) stated in their contribution that when facilities are provided to meet the relative needs of a school system, students will not only have access to the reference materials mentioned by the teacher, but they will also learn at their own paces. The net result is improved overall academic performance among all students.
Farombi (1998) discovered that the classroom learning environment in some schools was poor in his study on resource concentration, utilization, and management as correlates of students’ learning outcomes. He cited examples of schools that did not have a chalkboard, did not have a ceiling, did not have some roofing sheets in place, and had windows and doors removed, among other things, a situation that the researcher deemed hazardous to the learners’ health.
According to the Nigerian Tribune on Thursday, November 25, 1999, in a caption titled “Mass Failure Will Continue Until…”, the chairman of the WAEC National Committee, Dr. U.B. Ahmed, stated that the classroom is the source of failure… A close examination of public schools and what occurs there reveals that nothing good can come from most schools because they lack facilities, adequate, and appropriate human resources to prepare candidates for WASCE.
The preceding statement implies that the problem of candidates’ mass failure in WAEC’s organized examination will persist until the situation in the nation’s public schools improves. World Bank publication (1990), citing
Mwamwenda and Mwamwenda (1987), linked student performance to the provision of adequate facilities while referring to a survey of 51 primary schools in Botswana that students performed significantly better on academic tests when they had adequate classrooms, desks, and books.
Previously, Fagbamiye (1979) observed 559 cases from 13 secondary schools in Lagos State using age, type of school (day or boarding, mixed or single sex), teachers’ qualifications and teaching experience, and intake quality using students’ entrance examination achievement. His findings revealed that well-equipped schools had higher achievement rates and attracted more students. He came to the conclusion that good quality schools in terms of
of facilities and the intake of younger students perform better in WASCE.
Adesina (1991) identified poor and inadequate physical facilities, obsolete teaching techniques, and overcrowded classrooms as factors in explaining why high academic attainment is not popular in Nigeria.
Fabunmi (1997), in shedding more light on school facilities and moral guiding provision, asserted that school facilities, when provided, will aid teaching learning programs and, as a result, improve students’ academic achievement,
while the models guiding their provision to schools could take any form as rational bureaucratic and or political model. Whatever model is used, there is always a common feature of varying allocation of facilities to schools, according to him.
However, according to Ojoawo (1990), certain schools are favored in the allocation of facilities at the expense of others. London (1993) writes on poor performance of students in public examinations that in many developing countries, certain physical facilities are non-existent, and that those instances where amenities are available are often of substandard quality.
What is even more concerning is the correlation that these observers claim exists between facility quality and academic performance. Akinkugbe (1994) laments the glowing inadequacies of school facilities in our education industry, claiming that everywhere you look, primary, secondary, special, technical, and tertiary, there is abundant evidence of crippling inertia, criminal neglect, and a pervasive decay in values and standards.
Other scholars (Wilcockson, 1994; Lawal, 1995; Ajayi, 1996; Suleiman, 1996) have identified the importance of facilities in the teaching and learning spheres in various ways. We can say that academic performance can be influenced by the absence or poor (or deteriorating) quality of educational facilities.
Gamoran (1992), on the other hand, stated that once students’ background variables were taken into account, facilities such as teachers’ salaries, books in the library, and the presence of a science laboratory had little impact on variation in student achievement.
This statement implies that in order for a student to perform well at a higher educational level, he must have been groomed or cushioned by the availability of resources in his elementary days, which he now uses as a springboard.
According to Hallak (1990), one of the powerful factors that contribute to academic achievement in the school system is facilities. School buildings, classrooms, accommodations, libraries, laboratories, furniture, recreational equipment, apparatus, and other instructional materials are among them.
He went on to say that their availability, relevance, and adequacy all contribute to academic success. He quickly added, however, that unappealing school buildings and overcrowded classrooms, among other factors, contribute to poor academic achievement.
In terms of where these facilities should be located, he stated that educational facilities should be located in appropriate locations while taking the needs of the users into account. In a related development, Aliyu (1993), as cited by Johnson (1998), discovered no significant difference between students in secondary schools with and without adequate instructional facilities.
However, he contended that instructional facilities were essential to students’ academic achievement in English, Mathematics, Biology, and Geography, whereas students could perform well in other subjects despite a lack of sophisticated instructional materials. He came to the conclusion that the impact of instructional facilities on students’ academic achievement is more pronounced in the pure and social sciences.
As a result, it is the educational system’s responsibility to facilitate learning by creating an ideal environment for the child to discover things for himself, particularly through adequate provision of school facilities. This suggests that the school facilities will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the students.
The school facilities may indicate a high level of cooperation among groups in the school setting, whereas some students may not want to learn at all. This implies that the school facilities will have an impact on both teachers’ and students’ performance, either positively or negatively.
As a result, the purpose of this research is to encourage school administrators to use modern techniques in the management of school facilities. It also suggests that school administrators and managers be constantly trained and retrained in modern management tools.
As a result, if educational resources and school facilities are used to their full potential, the quality of education will skyrocket.
1.2 Formulation of the Problem
A cursory examination reveals that the majority of students in public secondary schools in Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos State perform below the expected results in the Senior School Certificate Examination, particularly when previous year results are compared. (Ossai, 2004) This study was motivated by the observed poor performance.
Scholastic achievement is used to assess a student’s academic performance. This scholastic achievement is recognized through the use of instructional evaluation and other related invisible but real influences on performance, such as school facilities, among others.
Several factors have been blamed for poor performance in our public secondary schools. Teachers, society, parents, school inspectors, and the government have all been blamed for students’ inability to perform exceptionally well, according to critics (Onyechere, 1996). However, issues concerning inadequate and, at times, insufficient school facilities are to blame for students’ poor academic performance, as sociologists are quick to point out that the environment shapes the man. (Gousie, 1998)
School facility optimization is thus so important and contributes so significantly to student achievement that it cannot be overlooked in the development of the education sector. According to Oni (2005), the availability and adequacy in quantity and quality of physical/material facilities enable a school’s smooth operation and enhance effective teaching-learning activity, resulting in students achieving higher educational attainments.
As a result, the problem of this study is poor academic performance of secondary school students in Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos State, which could be attributed to inadequate provision and utilization of school facilities.
1.3 Study Purpose
The goal of this research is to:
Investigate the relationship between school facility provision and student academic performance.
Determine the percentage of adequacy in the quantity of physical facilities provided in Mushin Local Government Area secondary schools.
Examine the utilization rate of available physical facilities in secondary schools in Mushin Local Government Area.
Determine the percentage of secondary school facilities in Mushin Local Government Area that are in good condition.
1.4 Research Issues
1. What is the relationship between school facility provision and student academic performance?
2. What is the percentage of adequacy in the quantity of physical facilities provided in Mushin Local Government Area secondary schools?
3. What is the utilization rate of available physical facilities in Mushin Local Government Area secondary schools?
4. What is the percentage of secondary schools in Mushin Local Government Area that have good facilities?
1.5 Hypotheses for Research
In the Study, the following hypotheses will be tested:
1. There is no statistically significant relationship between the availability of school facilities and students’ academic performance.
2. The physical facilities provided in Mushin Local Government Area secondary schools are inadequate.
3. The rate of utilization of physical facilities available in secondary schools in Mushin Local Government Area is insufficient.
4. In Mushin Local Government, the percentage of available facilities in good condition in secondary schools is insufficient.
1.6 Hypotheses for Research
1. There will be no significant relationship between school facilities and students’ academic performance in the school.
2. There will be no discernible difference between adequate provision of school facilities and student academic performance.
3. There will be no discernible relationship between school facility utilization and academic performance.
1.7 Importance of the Research
The findings of this study will go a long way toward improving educational standards and motivating educational managers, school facility planners, and administrators in educational system management to implement regular maintenance and reconstruction as needed.
This study will thus provide an assessment of the utilization of school facilities in some secondary schools in Lagos State and how this relates to students’ academic performance in SSCE, which is frequently evaluated by external examining bodies.
1.8 Restrictions
This study will be limited to five secondary schools in Lagos state’s Mushin Local Government Area. Finance, time, and other logistics issues may be significant constraints.
1.9 Term Definition
A laboratory is a room or building that is equipped for scientific experimentation; a laboratory is also a room that is equipped for scientific research, teaching, or the manufacture of drugs or chemicals.
The library is a room with a collection of books, periodicals, and occasionally films and recorded music for people to read or borrow. It is also a collection of sources, resources, and services, as well as the structure that houses them.
Equipment, infrastructure, and machines, as well as any physical structure, are examples of facilities.
Building new facilities or physical structures such as a classroom and a playground are examples of provision.
Classrooms, laboratories, workshops, and a library are examples of instructional facilities.
Utilization: This term refers to the extent to which available facilities for the studies are operated or used.
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