ASSESSMENT ON PROVISION AND UTILIZATION OF SCHOOL FACILITIES: ITS IMPACT ON STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

ASSESSMENT ON PROVISION AND UTILIZATION OF SCHOOL FACILITIES: ITS IMPACT ON STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

School structures have been identified as playing an important role in quantitative education. It is impossible to overstate the importance of providing and utilizing appropriate educational facilities for teaching and learning. According to the adage “teaching is inseparable from learning, but learning is not separable from teaching,” instructors teach in order for students to learn, but students can learn without teachers. According to Akande (20155), learning can occur through contact with one’s surroundings, as stated in Afigbo (20166). The term “environment” refers to the resources available to help students achieve their learning objectives. It includes books, audio-visual materials, instructional software, and hardware; the size of the classroom, seating position and layout, the availability of tables, seats, chalkboards, and shelves for practicals.

Anameze (2015) wrote about the role of teaching facilities, claiming that no effective scientific education program can exist without teaching equipment. This is because facilities allow students to develop problem-solving skills and scientific mindsets. In their contribution, Ajayi and Ogunyemi (2020) stated that when facilities are provided to meet the relative demands of a school system, students will not only have access to the reference materials indicated by the instructor, but they will also learn at their own paces. As a result, all children’s overall academic achievement improves.

Similarly, Fabunmi (2017) argued that providing school facilities will improve teaching learning programs and, as a result, students’ academic achievement, while the models governing their provision to schools are unclear. As logical bureaucratic and/or political models, they can take any shape. He claims that regardless of the model used, there is always a common trait of varying allocation of facilities to schools. Certain schools, however, are given preferential treatment in terms of facility distribution at the expense of others. In his study on resource concentration, usage, and management as predictors of students’ learning outcomes, Farombi (2018) discovered that the classroom learning environment in certain schools was unsatisfactory. He gave examples of schools that lacked a blackboard, a ceiling, certain roofing sheets, and had windows and doors removed, among other things, a scenario that the researcher deemed harmful to the learners’ health. Adesina (2015) cited inadequate and insufficient physical facilities.

Outdated teaching methods and overcrowded classrooms are cited as reasons why high academic performance is not popular in Nigeria.

In other ways, other academies have recognized the importance of facilities in the teaching and learning realms. We could argue that inadequate (or deteriorating) educational facilities can have an impact on academic performance. According to Gamoran (2012), after taking students’ background characteristics into account, amenities such as teacher salaries, books in the library, and the availability of a scientific laboratory had no effect on variation in student success. This remark implies that a student must have been groomed or cushioned by the availability of resources in order to do well at a higher educational level.

His primary school days, which he now uses as a springboard. Another finding, as mentioned by Johnson (1998), was that instructional facilities were critical to students’ academic success in English, Mathematics, Biology, and Geography, despite the fact that students could perform well in other courses despite a lack of advanced instructional resources. He came to the conclusion that instructional facilities have a greater impact on students’ academic progress in the pure and social sciences.

In contrast, it is the educational system’s responsibility to promote learning by creating an ideal environment for the child to discover things for himself, particularly through adequate school facilities. This implies that the school amenities would almost certainly have a significant impact on the children. The school facilities may imply a high level of education.

of group collaboration in the school setting, while other students may not want to learn at all. This implies that the school facilities will have an effect on both instructors’ and students’ performance, either positively or negatively. As a result, the goal of this study is to encourage school administrators to employ new strategies in the administration of school infrastructure. It also suggests that school administrators and managers be taught and retrained on current management tools on a regular basis. As a result, if educational resources and school buildings are fully utilized, the quality of education will skyrocket.

1.2 Problem Identification

Scholastic achievement is used to evaluate a student’s academic success. Several factors have been identified as contributing to low performance in our public secondary schools. Teachers, society, and so on According to critics, parents, school inspectors, and the government have all been blamed for students’ inability to perform exceptionally well (Onyechere, 2016). However, inadequate and, at times, insufficient school facilities bear primary responsibility for students’ academic performance, as sociologists are quick to observe that the environment makes the man (Gousie, 2018). According to Hallak (2020), one of the powerful factors that contribute to academic achievement in the school system is facilities. School buildings, classrooms, lodging, libraries, labs, furniture, recreational equipment, apparatus, and other educational resources are among them. He went on to say that their accessibility, relevance, and suitability all contribute to academic success. However, he quickly added that unappealing school structures and overcrowded classrooms, among other factors, contribute to poor academic performance.

achievement. In terms of where these facilities should be located, he stated that educational facilities should be placed in appropriate locations while considering the needs of the users. As Oni (2015) correctly observes, the availability and sufficiency in quantity and quality of physical/material facilities enable a school’s smooth operation and enhance effective teaching-learning activity, resulting in higher educational attainments by students, and when this is lacking, secondary school students perform poorly. As a result, the research seeks to present an assessment of school facility provision and utilization: its impact on student academic achievement.

1.3 The Study’s Objectives

The broad goal of this study is to assess the provision and utilization of school facilities: their impact on student academic performance.

achievement. Other specific goals include:

i. Determine whether or not school facilities are available in Uyo’s public secondary schools.

ii. Determine the state of school facilities available in public secondary schools.

iii. To investigate the rate of utilization of physical facilities available in secondary schools in Uyo.

iv. Determine whether adequate library, laboratory, and classroom provision influences student academic achievement in secondary schools.

v. 1.4 Research Questions

i. Are there any school facilities available in Uyo’s public secondary schools?

ii. What are the conditions of the school facilities in public secondary schools?

iii. To what extent are available physical facilities in secondary schools in Uyo being used?

iv. Does adequate provision of libraries, laboratories, and classrooms influence student performance?

Secondary school academic achievement?

1.5 Importance of the Research

It is hoped that students will benefit from this study because they will gain a better understanding of how the lack of infrastructure in secondary schools will affect their academic performance. It is hoped that the study will help teachers understand that providing adequate infrastructure will help both students and teachers to facilitate the teaching and learning processes. The findings and recommendations of this study will be used by school authorities to solve the problem of inadequate infrastructure provision in our secondary schools. They would gain a better understanding of the impact of inadequate infrastructure provision in our country as a result of this study.

schools, on the teachers work performance and the academic performance of students. Parents will benefit from the study because it will help them understand the impact of inadequate infrastructure on academic and work performance of both students and teachers. The study’s findings and recommendations would assist school authorities in finding long-term solutions to the problem of inadequate infrastructure provision in our schools. The study will benefit society because when adequate infrastructure is provided in schools, teachers will work harder to produce a bette

student academic achievement. The study, however, is limited to a few public secondary schools in Uyo, Akwaibom State.

1.7 Research limitations

This research project, like all human endeavors, encountered some difficulties that threatened to derail its completion. One of the reasons is that the researcher did not have enough time to complete the task thoroughly because the time allotted for this work was so limited. During data collection, the researcher had to work extra hard to understand the respondents’ interview schedules, as several of them were incomprehensible in age. There were also financial and transportation constraints to contend with. Inadequate funds tend to impede the researcher’s efficiency in locating relevant materials, literature, or information.

during the data collection process (internet, questionnaire, interview).

1.8 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 where people can read or borrow books, periodicals, and occasionally films and recorded music. 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 classrooms and playgrounds are examples of provision.

Classrooms, laboratories, workshops, and a library are examples of instructional facilities.

It refers to the extent to which something is used.

r crop of students for the society.

1.6 The Study’s Scope

The scope of this study includes an evaluation of the provision and utilization of school facilities, as well as the impact on