CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
There is no gainsaying the fact that
education is very vital to the pace of social, political and economic
development of any nation. This is why most nations of the world strive to
devote a sizeable proportion of their Gross National Income to develop the
educational sector. In Nigeria, between 7.6% and 9.9% of our annual expenditure
is devoted to education (Durosaro, 2003). The proportion earmarked in the
approved national budget is meant to finance capital and recurrent expenditure
of schools. The physical structures which is capital intensive takes the larger
part of the cost and since the physical environment of
a school adds a lot of value to the school (Obong, 2007).
Egim (2003) observed in her study that the physical
environment contributes either negatively or positively to the administrator’s
role performance in the school. The school physical environment includes the
buildings, classrooms, furniture, equipment, instructional materials,
laboratories, libraries, play grounds, and so on. Others are walls, machinery,
decorative objects, play fields, skating rinks, swimming pools, audio-visual
equipment (Mckay, 1964 in Egim, 2003). Egim (2003) maintained that in a bid to
expand the educational enterprise, educational planners are more interested in
issues such as the number of schools, teachers, students’ infrastructural
facilities like classrooms and school buildings. Little attention is paid to
the quality of the environment (Obong. 2010).
The
physical outlook of the school environment is very important in contributing to
healthy academic exercise. It forms the fulcrum on which other activities
revolve. This is because it creates an atmosphere of the mind for study. The
challenge of developing and managing a school environment taking into
consideration some parameters is a great one; one of such is the school
location. Where a school is located can determine to a large extent the
stability of the student’s mind for academic readiness.
A school located along air-traffic route, roadside
(especially without a fence), in neighbourhood of industrial activities,
markets, and so on will constitute a nuisance and interference with the
students’ learning process. It will generate noise enough to badly affect the
study adventure. As indicated by the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI, 2008;
Mckay, 1964 in Egim, 2003) school supervision and sanitation. These are capable
of affecting the quality of learning environment. This refers to all the
strategies adopted by a school system in managing the wastes (noise, water, and
other effluents), drainage pattern, and the facilities provided in the school.
Equally crucial is the greening of the school environment. Sanitation
Connection (2001/2002) maintains that a school management that provides
sanitation and planting of flowers, trees and maintaining lawns, well cleared
grasses, etc. improves quality of life and study environment. Aesthetics of a
school environment is another aspect of managing a school environment. Regular
painting and maintaining the quality of buildings, channeling of sewage, well
planned landscape and trimming of flowers, clearing of grasses, proper disposal
of refuse, sweeping and removing cub webs among others provides a relaxed
atmosphere for the molding of minds. All
these issues above constitute school environmental management strategies that
could make a school a place to live and not to leave.
In spite of this all-important top burner matter,
very little have been done in managing school environments for fruitful
academic venture. It becomes necessary to conduct a study on the strategies
employed in managing school environment in Nigerian secondary schools.
1.2 Statement of the
Problem
There has been a lot of controversy over the question of
academic performance of Nigeria secondary school students. The poor performance
of students especially in Senior Secondary Certificate Examination has clearly
lent credence to this study. The question of academic performance and students’
performance in Senior Secondary Certificate Examination is therefore a
recurring issue, usually discussed both in and outside the academic circles.
Based on the foregoing, this study examines the concept of academic performance
as it relates to students background, learning resources and academic
performance. In most secondary schools that a high percentage of students are
performing very poorly in WAEC and NECO due to ill motivated behaviour of the
students towards the education, lack of professional teachers, lazy teachers,
lack of teaching and learning facilities and equipment. It is a known fact that
each level of education as well as the subject being taught has their aims and
objectives, if the aims and objectives of education especially that of teaching
and learning in senior secondary schools is to be achieved, the school
environment and learning facilities must be improved.
1.3 Purpose of the
Study
The purpose of this
study is to assess the impact of school environment and facilities have on
students’ academic performance in West African Senior School Certificate
Examination (WASSCE) in selected senior secondary schools in Surulere, Lagos
State. Specifically, this study will;
1.
Examine available
learning facilities in Senior Secondary Schools
2.
Find out the
influence of available facilities on students academic performance in WASSCE
3.
Assess impact of
School physical environment on students’ academic performance in senior
secondary school
4.
Identify if school
facilities effectively used aid teaching and learning in secondary schools
1.4 Research Questions
The following questions were answered in
this study:
i.
Will available school
facilities significantly improve secondary school students’ attitude towards
learning?
ii.
Will school
facilities influence the performance of students in West African Senior School
Certificate Examination?
iii.
Will school
environment facilities significantly influence academic achievement in
secondary schools?
iv.
Are school facilities
effectively used to aid teaching and learning in secondary schools?
1.5
Research Hypotheses
The following hypotheses are tested in this
study:
i.
H0: Available
school facilities will not significantly influence
secondary
school students’ attitude towards learning.
ii.
H0: School
facilities will not significantly influence the performance
of
students in West African Senior School
Certificate
Examination
(WASSCE).
iii.
H0: School
environment facilities will not significantly influence
academic achievement in secondary schools.
iv.
H0: School
facilities are not effectively used aid teaching and
learning in Secondary
Schools.
1.6 Significance of the Study
This study is aimed
at assessing and determining the effect of school environment and facilities on
the academic performance of students in secondary schools. The findings of this
study would be useful to teachers in acquainting them with the need to
improvise teaching and learning aids. The result of the study would also help
educationists and policy makers on education in formulating policy that would
help school administrators to create conducive and enabling environments that
are capable of developing, promoting and enhancing positive and effective
teaching and learning for students in secondary schools.
1.7 Scope of Study
Since no single research can validly cover
all areas of the topic, the
researcher aims to focus this research on the
relationship between school facilities, school environment and performance in
West African Senior School Certificate Examination. The study focus primarily
on secondary Schools in Surulere Local Government Area of Lagos State.
1.8
Operational Definition of Terms
Academic
Performance:- Knowledge attained or skills
developed in school by test scores.
Secondary school :-( Also ‘high school’) is a term used to describe an educational
Institution where the final stage of schooling known as secondary education and
usually compulsory up to a specific age takes place. It follows primary
education and may be followed by University (tertiary education).
Environment: Can
be seen as the physical and social characteristics of the child’s home,
neighbourhood and wider world.
School environment: These are objects and patterns of relationship that outside and within
the school system that significantly influence or are influenced by teaching
and learning situation such as teaching and learning material, classroom size,
social group e.t.c present within and
outside the school also the locality of the school.