School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background of the Study

Over a decade and more especially in different facets of life, laymen, parents, clergies educationists etc. have been very much concerned about the relationship between school facilities and pupils’ academic achievement in public primary schools.

Some are of the opinion that school facilities have direct relationship with pupils’ academic performance, others hold that inadequate school facilities can have adverse effect on pupils achievement. Schools are established for the purpose of teaching and learning. It is also more important that the teachers and learners are properly accommodated to facilitate the teaching and learning that goes on there. This is the essence of the school facilities (Alimi 2014).

School facilities refer to human resource facilities, physical facilities and instructional materials equipment. Human resources include teachers, store attendants, librarians and library attendants, laboratory assistants to mention but a few.

Physical facilities and instructional materials equipment on the other hand, comprise classrooms, staff rooms, administrative blocks, dormitories, libraries, laboratories, examination halls, teachers’ quarters, text books, audio- visual materials and items of furniture, laboratory chemicals and equipment  (Adeyemi, 2010).

Ani in Ndu, Ocho and Okeke  (2017)  defined physical facilities and equipment as the location, the school buildings and other material resources provided in the school for the purpose of enhancing teaching and learning processes. According to him, physical facilities and equipment include the fixed and mobile structures and materials in the school such as the classroom buildings, laboratories, laboratory equipment, the audio and visual aids.

The importance of school facilities can never be over-emphasized. It is the talk of the day in our national dailies. The availability of human resources and physical facilities ensures effective teaching and learning and is closely correlated with the pupils’ performance.

Ike (2017) attributes pupils’ low performance in Basic sciences to the lack of qualified staff. According to him, there has been an unprecedented expansion at all levels of education, which has not been matched with a corresponding increase in the number of qualified teachers.

Nworgu (2015) on the other hand, asserted that no matter the strength of manpower resources in the system, educational process must require conducive physical accommodation, libraries, furniture, and play ground. Adesina and Ogunsaju (2014) in support noted that for effective teaching and learning situations, facilities and educational goals should be viewed as being closely interwoven and interdependent.

In other words, poor performance of pupils in schools has direct correlation with non-availability of school facilities. The problem generated by non-availability of school facilities in public primary schools can no longer be dismissed with a wave of hand. Ezeocha (2019) maintained that a good teacher may not operate effectively and efficiently under bad conditions of work.

Njoku in Ezeocha (2019) stated some of these conditions in his article and they include manageable class size, adequate classrooms, books, writing materials and well-equipped libraries. He asserted that the best curriculum could be marred by inefficient, unqualified and poorly rewarded and undisciplined teachers.

School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

Osobonye (2012) stated that laboratory has been identified as the most suitable place to acquire the right scientific skills and attitudes. In the laboratory, the pupil is afforded the opportunity to develop and practice the processes of science such as observations, communication, and formulation of hypotheses, experimentation and classification.

Osobonye then concluded by saying that if one was to achieve any or all of the aims of teaching science in public primary schools one has to take proper stock of laboratories and identify those factors which constitute a draw back to the use of the laboratory for the purpose it was set up and take appropriate step to correct them.

Ukeje (2018) summarized these problems when he stated that in Nigerian Schools everything is in short supply: “schools are in short supply, teachers or perhaps the right caliber of teachers are in short supply, classrooms are in short supply and above all, throughout the system people with the right attitude, orientation and dedication are in extreme short supply:”

It has also been observed that even the few school facilities available are not properly utilized for the better performance of pupils. Storekeepers, laboratory attendants, librarians and library attendants are conspicuously absent in most schools. What they have are what they call substitutes. The so-called substitutes may not be efficient because it is difficult for one to give what he/she has not.

To buttress, this, many schools have teacher librarians without library assistants. The teacher librarian locks up the library when he goes to class to teach. The consequence is that the pupils are not allowed to make effective use of the library Popoola, (2019). It is against this background that the study sought to investigate school facilities and achievement in Basic sciences in primary schools in Ikono Local Government Area.

School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

1.2     Statement of Problem

The national policy on Education stipulated certain goals for public primary education. Some of those goals are; to provide all primary school leavers with the opportunity for education of a higher level, irrespective of sex, social status, religious or ethnic background, and to offer diversified curriculum to cater for the differences in talents, opportunities and future roles.

In Nigeria for example, majority of the pupils in public schools perform poorly in an external examinations. This situation makes it impossible for the attainment of the above goals of national policy. For instance, there are many school dropouts today who can never write their names and can never enter into any public primary or fit anywhere in the society.

In addition, public primary schools set up preliminary programmes to enable the poorly performed pupils gain admission. All the above problems are as a result of poor performance of pupils, which appears deep rooted in inadequacy and or lack of facilities inherent in schools today. It is noted that “acute shortage of teachers in the nation’s schools has been adduced as one of the reasons for the poor achievement of pupils in an examination”.

It also stated that poor facilities, inadequate staffing and under funding in public primary schools have remained insurmountable threat’s to education in the country. Sequel to the above assertion, it therefore, pre supposes that inadequacy and/or lack of school facilities as well as poor utilization of available facilities must never be overlooked. The problem of this study therefore, was to determine the relationship between school facilities on pupils’ academic achievement in Basic science in primary schools in Ikono Local Government Area.

School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

1.3     Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study was to find out the influence of school facilities on academic achievement of pupils in Basic science in primary schools in Ikono Local Government Area, specifically, the study sought to:

1. examine the influence of utilizing of schools library and academic achievement of pupils in Basic science in public primary schools in Ikono Local Government Area
2. determine the use of school laboratory equipment on academic achievement of pupils in Basic science in public primary schools in Ikono Local Government Area

1.4     Research Questions

The following research questions were formulated to guide the study;

1. What is the influence of utilization of school library on academic achievement of pupils in Basic science in primary schools in Ikono Local Government Area?
2. What is the influence of the use of school laboratory equipment on academic achievement of pupils in Basic science in primary schools in Ikono Local Government Area?

1.5     Statement of Hypotheses

The following hypotheses were postulated to guide the study;

1. There is no significant influence of utilizing school library on academic achievement of pupils in Basic science in primary schools in Ikono Local Government Area
2. There is no significant influence on the use of school laboratory on academic achievement of pupils in Basic science in primary schools in Ikono Local Government Area

1.6     Significance of the Study

This study will be significant in the following ways:

1. Ministry of education: It will enable the ministry of education to have the necessary information that will enable them to provide some lacking facilities to enhance better academic performance of pupils.
2. To the Stakeholder: The findings will expose the effect of lack of school facilities so that all stakeholders in education will seek for means to increase school facilities for the betterment of the pupils.
3. To the Teachers: The findings will enable the teachers to tailor their teaching towards using appropriate school facilities to enhance better learning and better academic performance.
4. To the school; the finding will also enable the school heads and teachers and other school administrators to seek means for effective utilization of existing school facilities so as to improve teaching and learning as well as pupils academic performance.
5. To the community; the study will enable the community members to shun the habits of vandalizing school facilities

1.7     Limitation of the Study

The researcher encountered some limitation to the scope of the study

Availability of research materials:

The research material available to the researcher was insufficient, thereby limiting the study.

Time: the time frame allocated for the study could not enhance wider search as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.

Finance: the finance available for the research work could not allow wider coverage as resources were very limited as well as other academic bills to cover.

School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

1.8     Delimitation of the Study

The study is limited to school facilities on academic achievement of pupils in Basic science in primary schools in Ikono local Government Area. Content area covers the relationship between the school library, laboratory on pupils’ academic achievement in public primary schools.

 1.9     Definition of Terms

School: A school is an institution whereby teaching and learning takes place. It ranges from nursery, primary, secondary and higher institution of learning.  

School Facilities: these refer to all essential teaching aids and equipment in teaching and learning process.

School library: is a library within a school where students, staff and often parents or a public or private school have access to a variety of resources.

School laboratory: s a building or room where scientific experiments, analyses and research are carried out.

Academic Achievement: Academic achievement refers to the outcomes that indicate the extent to which a student has achieved their learning goals. Academic achievement may refer to completing educational benchmarks such as a bachelor’s degree. Academic achievement is often measured through examinations or continuous assessments.

School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

School Facilities on Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools