IMPACT OF SCHOOL PLANT PLANNING ON STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL IN YABA LGA OF LAGOS STATE.
Abstract
This study aims at exploring the impact of school plant planning on student academic achievement in YABA LGA of Lagos state. The participants consisted of 150 students who studied at two different schools; public school and private school in YABA. The duration of the experiment was three months. A subject specialist was selected to teach both the groups i.e. control and experimental. Pre test was distributed before treatment. Experimental group was treated in quality space, while control group in an ordinary school space. Same teacher, same contents, and same schedule for both groups were used and after three months, experimental and control groups were evaluated through post test. pre-test and post-test scores were analyzed. The Mean, Variance, Standard Deviation, Standard Error Mean and T-test were computed from the collected data and interpreted. No significant difference was reported between experimental group and control group by pre-test score. There was no significant difference in the achievement of the students of control group by post-test, whereas a noteworthy development was found in the academic achievement of students of the experimental group. There was significant difference between the academic achievement of students of control and experimental groups by post-test score. This is concluded that quality space positively affects students’ academic achievement.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
School plants planning such as school site planning, instructional space planning, administrative space planning, space of convenience planning and circulation space planning are essential in teaching and learning process in the school system. The extent to which, these spaces may enhance better teaching and learning depends on their location, structure and facilities within the school premises. It is likely that well planned school plants in terms of location, structure and facilities will facilitate effective teaching and learning process and enhance better learning outcomes of the students.
Odupurokan (2011) states that a well planned school plant will gear up expected outcomes of education, that will facilitate good social, political and economic emancipation; effective teaching and learning and academic performance of students. Therefore it can be said that the school plant is an essential aspect of educational planning because unless schools are well suited, buildings adequately constructed and equipment adequately provided much teaching and learning may not take place. Corroborating these, Mark (2002) and Ajayi (2007) maintained that high levels of students’ academic performance may not be guaranteed where instructional space such as classrooms libraries, technical workshop and laboratories are lacking.
Olagboje (2008) sees school plant maintenance as any work carried out on any component of the plant with a view to keeping it at good working condition. According to Hinum (1999) the quality and durability of a building largely depend on the type and level of servicing, repairs and the rate at which the needs and requirement change. School facilities management involves keeping records of the facilities, supervising the facilities, planning for the facilities, motivating students and students to participate in facilities maintenance and evaluating the available facilities.
Good physical working condition in any occupation can have a positive impact upon job effectiveness and morale. According to Ayodele (2000), it is difficult to separate teaching effectiveness from school environment. Physical surroundings (school plant) impact job satisfaction and hence job performance – teaching.
Bankole (2003) contends that the physical environment has been shown to play a significant role in teaching effectiveness. Students agree that the facilities in which they teach can deter the quality of their teaching, if the physical environment is substandard. A student that teaches in a classroom with a projector and interactive board will definitely be more effective than a student using black board (Chalk and Talk).
It is important to note that while new students are needed to address retirement and enrollment growth, more emphasis should be placed upon retaining the students already employed. When students are retained, it boosts the learning attitudes and behavior of students. Students learn better from students whom they have already developed a bond or familiarity.
School plant is very essential to achieving positive outcomes in the teaching – learning process. The school plant is the pillar and support of all teaching and learning activities. The site, size, arrangement and other aspects of the classroom, support facilities such as labs, toilets and other equipment can either be welcoming or repulsive to students and students alike. This simple fact has been noted to profoundly influence the acts of teaching and learning.
In addition, Adesina (2001) stressed that the quality and quantity of educational facilities available within an educational system positively correlates with the quality and standard of the educational system. Durosaro (2008) examined school plant planning in relation to administrative effectiveness of secondary schools in Oyo state of Nigeria. He found that schools that planned and maintained their facilities had higher students’ retention and is more effective than the others.
Statement of the Problem
It is likely that poor instructional space planning may lead to poor teaching and learning situation which in turn may lead to poor students’ learning outcomes.
Okafor and Betiang (2003) opines that the avalanche of problems faced in the education system culminate in falling standards and loss of confidence in the Nigerian education system. Public outcry about the debilitated state of Nigerian education has yielded little or no result. Government and its education policy making apparatus seem to be slap happy as evidenced by shoddy handling of the economy, without much result to show for its effort at tackling a plethora of problems. Political parties also cash in on the heightened public concern for improvement in the educational system, however they only pay lip service to this urgent situation.
Adebayo (2009) aptly captured the level of decline in Nigerian education system by stating that “a casual visit to any public school in Nigeria would reveal the extent to which these educational institutions have decayed”. Educational facilities at all levels are in a terrible shape; schools are littered with battered structures; worn out equipment (where they are available at all); overcrowded classrooms; inadequate manpower in quantity and quality; instability in the academic calendar owing to strikes; very low student (staff) morale due to poor remuneration and working conditions”. Therefore it is pertinent to redress the deplorable situation of the educational system in order to shore up academic standards. A veritable means of achieving this feat is to look into the situation of crumbling infrastructures.
The pathetic situation in Nigeria schools is worsened by the fact that enrolment in schools increase without commensurate expansion of school or provision of adequate facilities in schools. Most Nigerian public schools have been in existence for a relatively long period with the same limited classrooms, open space, library, laboratory etc. Such schools have witnessed little or no renovation over time, while virtually nothing is done to expand the size of facilities in such schools.
Dearth of funds is a major constraint to provision of adequate school facilities. This has led to a devastatingly low level of provision of adequate physical facilities in Nigerian schools. Even when funds are allocated to education, they are often diverted and not spent on building infrastructure improvements.
Teaching effectiveness has been accepted as a multidimensional construct since it measures a variety of different aspects of teaching such as; subject mastery, effective communication, lesson preparation and presentation (Onyeachu 2006). The influence of students’ teaching effectiveness on the learning outcome of students as measured by students’ academic performance has been the subject of several studies (Ayodele, 2000).
Student effectiveness is important because effective teaching helps student learning. It has become even more important as the emphasis on quality in higher education has increased. Effective teaching does not occur by chance. Effective students have become good at what they do because they evaluate their practice. Odupurokan (2011) suggests that “educational evaluation is a professional responsibility for academic staff, arising from a commitment to understanding the effects of teaching on students and to enhance student learning.”
Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of this research is to examine impact of school plant planning on student academic Performance in senior secondary school in Shomolu LGA of Lagos state Nigeria. The objectives include:
- To examine the psychological effects of school plant planning on student academic Performance.
- To find the major source of funding of school plant planning in Senior Secondary Schools.
- To examine the influence of school plant planning and its effects on the students’ response to activities in Secondary Schools.
- Examine the impacts of school plant planning on the quality of education in Secondary Schools.
Research Questions
In assessing the purpose of the study, this research project will answer the following questions:
- What are the psychological effects of school plant planning on student academic Performance?
- What are the major sources of funding for school plant planning in Senior Secondary Schools?
- What is the influence of school plant planning on students’ response to activities in Secondary Schools?
- What are the impacts of school plant planning on the quality of education in Secondary Schools?
Research Hypothesis
In carrying out this research work the following theoretical statements are buttressed to serve as a direction on which the work will be premised:
H1: There is no relationship between school plant planning and student academic Performance in secondary school.
H2: There is no relationship between school plant planning and quality of education in Secondary Schools.
Significance of the Study
The findings of this study will equip our general knowledge on school plant planning and student academic Performance in senior secondary school in Shomolu LGA of Lagos state Nigeria. The findings will contribute to information that can be used in organizing seminars and workshop for the improvement of the quality of school facilities and how best they will aid the attainment of students optimum performance which will help in the long run, to make the school system effective.
Furthermore, the study will be used by the Ministry of Education and other policy making organs of government especially in the measures they adopt in resolving the identified factors militating against school plant planning in secondary schools in order to attain the stated secondary education goals and objectives in Lagos State. The findings of this study will reveal the best ways or measures to be taken in order to improve the quality of education in Lagos state; which helps to promote students’ productivity and effective school system as a whole.
This study will enable government to know the state of school plant planning in most secondary schools, providing an insight through which the problems could be resolved.
It will also help the society to appreciate an effective school plant planning as an agent of political, social and religious development of a community which can compel them into passing the right judgment and taking the right decision that affect their lives and existence.
Scope of the Study
The research work examines school plant planning on student academic Performance in senior secondary school in Shomolu LGA of Lagos state Nigeria. The research is confined to the institution under study.
Definition of Relevant Terms
- School Plant Planning: This is an educational set up such as school and means of considering various ways to put up the structured features to suit the instructional and learning processes.
- Teacher: This is a person whose job is to teach students about certain subjects.
- Effectiveness: this is the degree to which a student is successful in producing a desired result in the classroom
- Student: A student is a learner or someone who attends an educational institution.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Introduction
This chapter presents the frameworks of the study in addition to a review of empirical studies on impact of school plant planning on student academic Performance in senior secondary school in Shomolu LGA of Lagos state Nigeria. Literature is reviewed around the following sub-heads:
- The Conceptual Framework
- Need for School Plant Planning
- Prerequisites for Effective School Plant Planning
- Characteristics of the School Plant
- Problems of School Plant Planning
- School Plant Planning and Academic Development
- Stages of School Facilities Management
- Implication of Ineffective School Facilities Management
- Summary of Literature Review
The Conceptual Framework
Educational buildings and facilities also connote ‘school plants’. It is an integral part of the over-all process of developing an effective educational system. Education is the development of attitudes and potentialities which are inherent in the individual and which permits the individual to live a full life. It is the function of the school, as a formal place of learning, to achieve this objective. The mere mention of the school brings to mind the issue of the school plant.
School facilities in most Nigerian schools today are apt to reinforce rote teaching method and further hinder the students’ capacity for independent and creative thinking (Cataldi, 2012). The typical school building in Nigeria is usually a simple row of bare classroom structures – often of rectangular shapes walls in which chairs, tables, which students must fight for space. According to Ezeocha (2005), inadequate physical facilities can lead to undesirable personal behaviours, and large group interaction such as sports/games, drama etc. cannot be conducted effectively without adequate physical space and equipment.
School plant planning is an integral part of the over-all educational planning. Planning, according to Dermer (2007) ‘is the process by which an organisation solves the problem of determining its relationship with its environment’. It is the process of collecting desired facts or information and making decisions by which the authority enunciated objectives and determines the pattern of action to solve these objectives. Dermer (2007) also stressed the importance of planning when he postulated that ‘planning encourages innovation, mind-stretching and search for more and better alternatives.’ He added that planning reconciles objectives, opportunities, and capabilities and lends itself as a factor for selecting targets and means of achieving those targets. It is clear, therefore, that planning is absolutely needed in order to avoid the frustration that may arise in the absence of adequate planning. School plant planning is only a part of the over-all educational planning, and can be seen to centre around:
- Curriculum planning
- Instructional Planning
- Operational Planning
- Organisational Planning
- Personnel Planning
- Evaluation Planning
The curriculum plan takes cognisance of the broad objectives for which the school is established All learning activities and the environment in which they will take place, that is, the space and the equipment required, are taken care of by the instructional plan. On the other hand, operational plan takes care of the interaction that will take place between the student and the students while organisational plan recognises the age structure and level of maturity of the students who are to be taught in the school. The personnel plan looks into the human resources needed. This need must be related to the requirement of the curriculum and must bear relationship with the cost of maintaining the personnel. The evaluation plan incorporates the assessment of the accomplishment of educational plans.
Writing in the same vein, Cataldi (2012) stated that the main objective of school plant planning is to satisfy educational goals which have been pre-determined by educational planners. It is, according to him, ‘a comprehensive process that begins with the identification of the educational needs and ends in the completed building.’ From the foregoing, it is evident that the concepts of educational buildings and facilities, otherwise known as ‘school plant’, vary only in scope among those who have shown some concern about its place in educational planning. Whatever any one may say, school plant planning can be viewed as a process in which a cogenial site is selected and appropriate structures (buildings) designed and constructed to satisfy the identified educational needs of the students.
Need for School Plant Planning
The quality of education given by any institution can be attributed to the provision of adequate educational facilities which include a well-planned and purposeful educational buildings, in other words, students’ performance is affected by the school plant. This is exemplified by a study of the performance of students in two classrooms under controlled and uncontrolled situations respectively. The results, reported in Akpan (2011), showed that students in the controlled classroom situation with adequate teaching facilities and conducive environment, performed better than students in the uncontrolled situations.
Prerequisites for Effective School Plant Planning
- Selecting the School Site
Having decided to establish a school in a locality, the choice of location and indeed the site on which the school buildings are to be constructed, becomes very important. By location, it is meant the accessibility of the school and its situation in relation to other features in the locality. For example, whether it is centrally placed in the locality or town, or at the North-Eastern, North-Western part of the locality. Its site relates principally to the topography – the slope, nature of the soil on which the buildings are to be constructed.
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