ABSTRACT
The study was carried
out to investigate the influence of school environment on academic achievement
of students in Enugu State public secondary schools. The design of the study is
descriptive while the population comprised principals and teachers in the
education zone.The sample size for the study was 600 respondents while a researchers’
self developed questionnaire formed the instrument for data collection. Three
experts validated the instrument and a cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient
method was employed to ensure the reliability of the instrument. Four research
questions and two null hypotheses guided the study; while student t-test
statistics was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significant. A
review of empirical studies was carried out to guide the researcher into
previous studies in the area and also to provide the researcher with the
theoretical base. A 29-item questionnaire was used to get information from the
respondents. Based on the data collected and analyzed, the following results
were obtained. That staff office, classroom spaces for teaching students and
staff common room represented the major areas that to a great extent affect the
academic achievement of students in public schools, with regard to buildings.
It was also revealed that desks, current books and presence of library
assistants constituted the areas of influence to the academic achievement of
the students with regard to library services in the public secondary schools.
Both the principals and teachers agreed that access to reading materials in the
school, lack of facilities, and nearness to school and in sufficient qualified
teachers very greatly affect the academic achievement of the students.
Inadequate teaching materials were also noted as a major factor affecting the
students’ academic achievement. The two groups also shared common views in
terms of the great influence of school health services, fencing of school for
security and provision of power supply as important variable affecting the
academic achievement of the students of public secondary schools. Based on the
above, the researcher recommends that schools should be provided with
functional libraries, equipped with current reading materials to help enhance
both the students’ academic achievement and the teachers’ effectiveness in
academic activities in the school.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS |
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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION |
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Background to the Study |
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Statement of the Problem |
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Purpose of the Study |
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Significance of Study |
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Scope of the Study |
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Research Questions |
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Hypotheses |
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CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE |
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Conceptual Framework |
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Concept of Environment |
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Concept of Public Secondary schools |
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Historical Development of Public Secondary School |
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Changes in Structure of the Ownership of Public |
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Secondary School |
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School Building |
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Library Services |
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School Location |
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School Facilities |
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Theoretical Framework |
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Skinnerian environmental theory |
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Review of Empirical Studies |
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Summary of Literature Review |
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CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHOD |
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Design of the Study |
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Area of the Study |
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Population for the Study |
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Sample and Sampling Technique |
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Instrument for Data Collection |
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Validation of the Instrument |
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Reliability of the Instrument |
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Method of Data Collection |
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Method of Data Analysis |
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CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS |
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Research Question One: |
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Research Question Two: |
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Research Question
Three: |
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Research Question
Four: |
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Hypothesis one: |
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Hypothesis two: |
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Summary of findings: |
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CHAPTER FIVE:
Discussion of Results |
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Extent school
buildings affect academic achievement of |
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Students |
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Extent library
services affect academic achievement of |
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students of public
secondary school |
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Extent school location
affects academic achievement of |
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the students |
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Extent school
facilities affect the academic achievement of |
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student in the public
schools |
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Conclusion |
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Educational
Implications |
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Suggestion for Further
Studies |
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Summary of the Study |
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References |
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Appendix I: |
Questionnaire |
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Appendix I: |
Letter of Introduction to Respondents |
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Appendix III: |
Summary of the zones in Enugu State |
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Appendix IV: |
List of School in Enugu State Education Zones |
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the study
Generally in the whole
world, particularly in Nigeria, education has been considered to be the corner
- stone for development. It forms the basis for literacy, skill acquisition,
technological advancement and ability to harness human and material resources
towards the achievement of societal goal, (FRN, 2004).
Education is very
important in any given society. It is a process by which abilities and
capabilities of individual are developed. These abilities might be physical
abilities, emotional abilities, social abilities and intellectual abilities. It
is the actualizing of human potential so that the individual can become
something more than what he was before. According to Ugwuanyi (2003) education
is the process by which society establishes to assist the young to learn and
understand the heritage of the past, participate productively in the society
and contribute meaningfully for the development of the society. Emeka (2008)
citing Kneller (2000) sees education as a process by which any society through
schools, colleges, universities and other institutions deliberately transmit
knowledge, values and skills from one person to another. As a result of
deregulation in Nigerian education, the system of education has two main
interest groups – public education and private education.Public education is
the pillar or backbone of society which opens the door of equal educational
opportunity to all citizens. It is a public owned property which attracts
public attention constantly. According to Ukeje in Akpa, Udoh and Faghamiye
(2005):
Public school is concerned with the acquisition
of appropriate skills, abilities and competencies of both mental and physical
nature as equipment for the individual to live in this society, and acquisition
of a relevant and balanced knowledge of facts about local and world phenomena.
(P. 12-13)
Public schools can also
be seen as those schools controlled neither by individuals nor by private
interest or agencies but by those who represent the society as a whole. In
other words public schools are those schools which are supported and controlled
by the government of the state or nation.
Private schools are
those schools that are not administered by local, state or national government,
which retain the right to select their student body and are founded in whole or
part by charging their students tuition rather than with public funds. This
means that the school established by the missionaries, individuals and
voluntary organizations belong to this group. According to Hernes (2001) United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the
world Bank, private educational institutions are those that are not operated by
a public authority, but are controlled and managed by a private body or board
of governors not selected by a public agency on selected by public vote. The
institution may be run by or operated by non governmental organizations (NGOS)
or business enterprise.
Secondary school is the
stage of education following primary school. It is generally the final stage of
compulsory education. Webster (2009) sees secondary school as a school
intermediate between elementary school and collage usually offering general
technical, vocational or college- preparatory course, while Collins (2003)
refers to it as a school for young people, usually between the ages of eleven
and eighteen. As for the National policy on education (FRN, 2004) it is the
form of education children receive after primary education and before the
tertiary stage.
Environment can be
defined as a system within which living organisms interacts with the physical
element while education environment is a learning place where the learner learn
and interact with learning facilities in order to be socialized and face the
challenges in the society. Agusiegbe (2004) sees environments as consisting of
all elements existing around man and which exert some influence on him. These
include physical, biological and social attributes. Environment can also be
seen as aggregate of all the external condition and influence affecting the
life and development of an organism.
In this study,
environment includes all the external condition and influences in the school
that affect the academic achievement of the student such as laboratory
equipment, library facilities, qualified teachers, furniture, school building,
good administrative management, teacher pupil relationship and school location
among others. Environment for the purpose of this work can be divided into two
parts-home environment and school environment.
School environment is
the thread that connects the multitude of activities on the school. In many
respects, this thread is almost invisible, yet everyone experiences its
influence. Dudek (2000) opined that it could be said to be the external
influences in the school that can influence academic achievement of students
irrespective of their intelligent quotient. School environment can also be
considered as the second teacher since space has the power to organize and
promote pleasant relationships between people of different ages, to provide
changes, to promote choices and activities and for its potential for sparking
different types of social and affective learning (Okeke 2001). It has been
generally accepted that environment and heredity can hardly be separated from
education in influencing achievement, hence a child’s life and ability is
influenced by nature and nurture. Heredity provides the natural disposition
while a healthy environment makes available a window of opportunities to the
learner (Ohuche 2001). The environmental variable of the setting helps to a
large extent in ensuring attainability of the goals of such setting. The
environmental differences and the differences in the quality of instruction
from one school to another can create differences in the level of knowledge
acquisition of the students. This shows that the learning facilities children
are exposed to and the socio-economic influence on them can affect their
academic achievement.
School environment
includes the school building and the surrounding grounds such as noise,
temperature and lighting as well as physical, biological or chemical agent,
(Chiu 1991). School environment can then be seen to include material and human
resources, a learning place which consist of the entire interaction. The
learning environment is both the natural and provided setting where teaching
and learning takes place. Maduewesi (1990) referred to teaching and learning
environment as the setting physical and conceptual in which teaching and
learning are carried out as deliberately planned. And to Okobia in Maduewesi
(1990) learning environment means classroom surroundings, physical facilities
in the classroom and teacher – pupil relationship. Studies on the relationship
between availability of resources and students academic achievement have
revealed that secondary schools provided with adequate education resources
performed significantly better than those provided with inadequate resources
(Balogun, 1995). Environment is a very important factor in achievement of goal
of any educational programme. People acquire most of their knowledge through
the interaction with facilities provided in the environment for learning. Also
learning is influenced by the environment people are exposed to and the
facilities provided in such environment lead to experience. As in the words of
Piaget (1964) that active interaction with the environment is regarded as the
most basic requirement for proper intellectual development.
The physical appearance
and general condition of school physical facilities are the striking basis upon
which many parents and friends of any educational institution make initial
judgment about the quality of what goes on in the school. They are often turned
off by dilapidated school blocks with sinking roofs and broken walls, bushy
lawn and over grown hedges. Also are profane writings on walls, littered lawns
and path ways. Finally, the school physical environment is like a mirror
reflecting the image of a school and through it the public decide whether or
not to associate with the particular school (Mgbodile 2004).
In Nigeria today,
schools are closely associated with the communities. Most communities depend on
the neighbourhood school for the provision of good and appropriate environment
for accommodation, furniture and all form of equipment for certain activities
like club or village
meetings, wedding reception and church services. There is need for a well
planned and organized educational environmental enrichment because it fosters
good interpersonal relationship. Moreover, Ajayi and Ashaolu (2005) opined that
environmental enrichment regarding physical facilities is a major factor in
students’ academic achievement. Supporting this Ayodele (2005) and Ajayi
(2007), have shown that school resources aid students academic achievement.
It is now certain that
most of secondary school products cannot gain admission into federal
universities or university of their choice due to poor performance in the
placement examination into these schools. This poor performance may be
attributed to poor learning environment especially in the following areas:
schools building, library services, and school location and school facilities.
School building: These
are tangible structures which serve as shelter for educational activities. They
include among others classroom, laboratories, workshops, and teacher’s common
rooms/offices, reading rooms, libraries, dormitories and dinning hall. Despite
the evidence that the quality of a school building affect students’ academic
achievement, most public schools, in Enugu state are in poor physical
condition. It is in line with this that Earthman (2004) opined that the
building in which students spends a good deal of learning does influence how
well they learn.
(Mgbodile 2004 ) have
pointed out that for effective teaching and learning situation, school building
and educational goals, should be viewed as being interwoven. Apart from
protecting the pupils from the sun, rain, heat and cold, school building
represent learning environment which has great impact on the comfort, safety
and performance of the children.
Library services: The
school library is a room or building in a school where books, magazines,
journals, periodicals, cassettes, computers among others are kept for student’s
use. In other words, it is the central laboratory of the whole school, where
all books in all subject areas, taught in the school and non-book materials are
stocked. Dike (2001) sees school library as a learning laboratory par
excellence where learners find the world of knowledge, interact directly with
resources, acquire information and develop research skill for life long
learning.
The objective of the
school library is to serve the school’s need and to make possible the purpose
and methods of education which the school undertakes. The school library
enables the students to look to new ways of learning, and with its resources
can play a programme of work that aims at new ambition’s education result which
would be impossible if learning were restricted to the use of direct teaching
and textbook alone.
School location: A
school could be located in the urban or rural area. Rural schools are generally
inferior to urban schools as schools in rural areas lacked human and material
resources needed for success at school. The location of school whether urban or
rural affects a child’s ability to study and perform at the level expected of
him. Mkpugbe (1998) noted that different aspects of school environment (rural
and urban) influences students achievement. She further stated that the
individual student’s academic behaviour is influenced not only by the
motivating forces of his home, scholastic ability, and academic values but also
by the social pressure applied by the participants in the school setting.
Also differences in
location imply differences in the existence of demographic and socio-economic
parameters of the school. As stated by Imoagene (1988) in Akubue and Ifelunni
(2006) that because of urban involvement, students in urban schools perform
better than those in rural schools in language learning. The reason he gave
include the fact that rural students have limited access to reading materials,
inadequate reading culture and insufficient graduate teachers in rural schools.
Therefore, the location of school has tremendous influence on children’s
academic achievement.
School facilities:
School facilities refer to inputs which ease the operation of academic
activities. They include desks, chairs, blackboards, dustbins, teaching aids,
typewriters, computers generators, and calculators and so on. School facilities
according to Ehiametalor (2001) are operational inputs of every instructional
programme. They are material resources that facilitate effective teaching and
learning in schools. The quality and quantity of school facilities enhance the
quality of teaching and learning as well as effective school management
(Ojedele, 2003).
Furthermore, educational
facilities are needed to develop cognitive areas of knowledge, abilities and
skills that are necessary for academic achievement. Moreover, the development
of the affective and psychomotor domain is also facilitated by the presence of
necessary and relevant school facilities.
From the fore going one
can see that school environment plays a crucial role in academic achievement of
a child. This problem of poor performance is more pronounced in ill-equipped
schools hence it becomes necessary to find out the influence of school
environment on the academic achievement of students of public secondary schools
in Enugu State.
Statement of the problem
The problem under study
has to do with an unsatisfactory condition of the educational system being
operated in Nigeria. The establishment of government schools/community schools
has resulted in a situation where by some school were favoured in terms of the
provision of rich environment than others. It has been very difficult if not
impossible for government to standardize the school environment. Thus the
environment varies from school to school.
Some schools have
adequate school buildings, good library and suitable textbooks, good
administrative management, professionally qualified teachers, good laboratory
equipments as well as good location. While in some schools little or none of
these exist. It is because of this that Chike-Okoli (1997) in line with
Ikediashi (2002) have pointed out that poor teaching experience, inadequate or
poor physical infrastructure, unsatisfactory building design are likely to
cause some physical discomfort for the students and are therefore bound to
influence their academic achievement. The problem of this study put in a
question form is: What is the influence of school facilities and equipment on
the academic achievement of students of public secondary schools in Enugu
State?
Purpose of the study
The main purpose of the
study is to determine the influence of school environment on the academic
achievement of students of public secondary school in Enugu State.
Specifically the study intends to:
1. Investigate the extent the quality of the
physical school environment with regard to school buildings affect the academic
achievements of students of public secondary school in Enugu State.
1. Determine the extent the library services
affects academic achievement of students of public secondary schools in Enugu
State.
1. Find out the extent school location affect
student’s academic achievement of public secondary schools.
1. academic achievement of public secondary
schools.
Significance of the
study
The findings from this
study will be of immense benefits to the government, principals, teachers,
parents as well as student researchers.
The findings will help
the government or the policy makers in formulating effective planning and
implementation policies and programmes for improved school academic activities.
It will also provide policy makers with intelligent forecast and analysis of
future needs of the schools in the areas of building and facilities.
It will provide the
school principals the opportunity to improve in school supervision so as to
ensure both quality teaching and learning in the schools. It will enable them
appreciate the contribution of school facilities and equipment on students
academic achievement. The findings will enable the teachers to appreciate the
need for proper instructional delivery. It will help the teacher to improve
both in teaching effectiveness and increased productivity in the schools.
It will help the parents
in determining the choice of the type of school for their children. This is
because, their wards will enjoy good school learning environment that will lead
to quality school products. Finally, it will be of benefit to the student
researchers as it will provide a valid working document or literature in
investigating other areas not covered by this study. Thus, it will serve as a
point of reference to future researchers in the field.
Scope of the study
The study is delimited
to the influence of school environment on the students’ achievement of public
secondary schools in Enugu State. The content area covers school building,
library services, school location and school facilities.
Research questions
The following research questions will guide the
study:
1. To what extent do the qualities of the physical
school environment with regard to school building affect the academic
achievements of students of public secondary schools?
1. To what extent do the library services affect
the academic achievements of students of public secondary schools?
1. How does school location affect academic
achievements of students of public secondary schools?
1. To what extent do the school facilities affect
students’ academic achievements of public secondary schools?
Hypotheses
Two null hypotheses were
formulated to guide the study and will be tested at 0.05 level of significant.
HO1: There is
no significant difference between the mean ratings of teachers in urban and
those in rural school on the extent school building affect the achievements of
students of public secondary schools.
HO2: Male and
female teachers do not differ significantly in their mean ratings with regard
to the extent school facilities affect students’ academic achievement.
Department | Education |
Project ID Code | EDU0011 |
Chapters | 5 Chapters |
No of Pages | 92 pages |
Methodology | Null |
Reference | YES |
Format | Microsoft Word |
Price | ₦4000, $15 |
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Contact Us On | +2349067372103 |
Contact Us On | +2349094562208 |
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