CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1        Background to the Study

School is a complex social organization established for the production of human capital (educated persons). The schools input resources are human (that is, teaching and non-teaching staff) and non human (that is, time strategies physical and financial resources). These input resources are obtained, procured, produced or developed and utilized to produce the output (that is, school graduates).

The operational input resources in the education industry are referred to as school infrastructural facilities (Olutola, 1998). The provision and proper management of these facilities have been found to be significantly related to school performance (Adeboyeje, 1999). For instance, Olutola’s (1998) study revealed that schools with adequate facilities recorded greater achievement in West African Examination Council (WAEC) Examinations than schools with poor Educational facilities.

Teaching and learning are very important aspects of education, because the realization of educational objectives depends largely on them. Education involves the inculcation of norms, values and right attitudes in an individual. As such to learn, a person must be taught and to teach there must be someone to impact knowledge and there must be facilities to instruct with. For teaching and learning to be effectively carried out there must be infrastructural facilities such as classrooms, laboratory equipment, playground, hostel facilities, water and light supply. All these facilities help to facilities teaching and learning. Adequate classrooms, laboratory equipment, playground, library and furniture are necessary for effective teaching.

Adequate facilities in a school improve the quality of instruction and striving to create healthy school climate. Most instructional facilities in schools are stale, broken, out date and inferior such that they cannot meet up with the standard of the educational system and can result in low performance of students academically. There is the increasing belief in the efficacy of education as a powerful instrument of development, especially among developing nations, including Nigeria. Consequently, the nation’s school system is witnessing a historical expansion in school enrolment and school programmes.

This would expectedly necessitate a great demand for more school facilities to take care of the teaching school population (Abdulkareem, 2003). Inspite of the importance of these resources in achieving education goals, adequate attention has not been paid to their provision and management in Nigerian schools. As elucidated by Adeboye (1999), Inspector’s report over years have indicated that there is abundant evidence of a catalogue of inadequacies in the provision and judicious use of school buildings and materials for instruction in the country.

In the mid-70s, the Federal Government embarked on Universal Free Primary Education (UPE) in all parts of the country. This programme involved physical development of primary schools in addition to teacher training etc. To ensure the success of that programme, the Federal Ministry of Education Issued some technical guidelines for the building programme which consisted of some prototype school designs (Fafunwa, 2004).

That programme has come and gone and many lessons are obvious. Some of the most glaring aspects include poor quality constructions, unsupervised development and extra ordinary high contract figures (Mulfwang, 2006). In Nigeria, early colonial administrators encouraged the building of government boarding schools so that the boarding students might be detached from the undesirable influence of ‘native towns’ and their good character developed under the continuous control and influence of British school masters (Fafunwa, 2004). The boarding school portrays a school system where students are kept or confined within a school compound away from their homes. They sleep and study within the compound and are allowed to leave the compound only with the permission of the school authority.

Teaching and learning in a school can only take place in school if there is a provision of classrooms, laboratories and library, because teaching and learning involves learning experiences and the interaction of the learners with their environment (Otu, 2002). Land and buildings are capital asses in any organization. They are prerequisites for educational institutions. It is part of good management to have pieces of land available for use. Educational institutions do not just need land for different building programmes but they need a vast area of it for other facilities both for immediate and future use. Because of this, the acquisition of a large piece of land and the maintenance of it is a necessity. For instance, the types of institution whether a teachers’ college, a technical college, a university, a secondary or primary school will determine the materials to plan for. Besides, materials also vary according to whether the institution is operating a day or boarding system, girls or boys or mixed and so on (Jedo, 2007).

1.2        Statement of the Problem

Education facilities are like raw materials to an industry and thus they are very essential to the whole processes involved in the educational enterprise. Educational development has come a long way, enrolment has risen tremendously while more money is continuously being spent on the educational enterprise with the hope of improvement in terms of classrooms, computer facilities, laboratories, hostels, accommodation, libraries, furniture, water and electricity supply, etc, but the problem of implementation has continued to be crucial.

Boarding secondary schools in Nigeria require adequate infrastructural facilities such as hostel accommodation, laboratories, classrooms, libraries, and recreational facilities for the teaching and learning to take place effectively. The quality of education that our students receive bears direct relevance to the availability or lack of infrastructural facilities and overall environment in which learning takes place. In other words, educational programmes and processes are greatly influenced by the school environment.

The availability and general appearance of classrooms, hostels, libraries, laboratories and instructional materials such as textbooks, blackboards and furniture of school constitutes the basics upon which many patrons make their initial judgment about the quality of the school and the educational programme. The absence of these facilities often leave a lot of doubt in the minds of students, parents and the general society as to what type of learning and teaching that could take place in such a situation. Appearance and general condition of school facilities are the striking basis upon which many parents and friends of any educational institution make the initial judgment about the quality of what goes on in the boarding schools. Africa in general and Nigerian in particular are characterized by low maintenance culture, especially in respect of government owned properties. Halimatu (2003) observed that school infrastructure is fast deteriorating, while maintenance culture is declining. Many facilities are mismanaged or over utilized which result to damage or collapse of such facilities. Shortages of facilities bring about stretching the inadequate facilities available and consequently result to complete breakdown.

Inadequate maintenance of facilities leads to waste and thereby making plans ineffective. Musa (2003) opined that lack of facilities management result in depression in the academic programme and waste of resources. Absence facilities management also result in low students’ performance as learning becomes difficult. Inadequate provision and maintenance of infrastructural facilities in boarding secondary schools has apparently given rise to the allegation of falling standard of education in Adamawa State as well as the country.

The study was therefore directed primarily at evaluating the provision and maintenance of infrastructural facilities in Boarding Secondary Schools in Yola metropolis Adamawa State, Nigeria and identifying the fundamental problems of the existing facilities and thus highlight the shortcomings.

1.3        Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study are:

1. To evaluate the provision and maintenance of classroom facilities in boarding seco0ndary Schools in Yola metropolis, Adamawa state.
2. To evaluate the provision and maintenance of laboratory and workshop equipment in boarding secondary schools in Yola metropolis, Adamawa state.
3. To assess the provision and maintenance of library facilities in boarding secondary schools in Yola metropolis, Adamawa state.
4. To find out the provision and maintenance of accommodation facilities in boarding secondary schools in Yola metropolis, Adamawa state.
5. To assess the provision and maintenance of games facilities in boarding secondary schools in Yola metropolis, Adamawa state.
6. To determine the provision and maintenance of water and electricity supply in boarding secondary schools in Yola metropolis, Adamawa state.

1.4        Research Questions

To guide the researcher in achieving the objectives of this study, the researcher seeks to find answers to the following research questions:

1. What is the level of provision and maintenance of classroom facilities in Boarding Secondary Schools in Yola metropolis?
2. How relevant are laboratories/workshop facilities to teaching and learning in Boarding Secondary Schools in Yola metropolis?
3. What libraries facilities are readily available for use in boarding secondary schools in Yola metropolis/
4. Are accommodation adequately provided for staff and students in boarding secondary schools in Yola metropolis?
5. Are games field and sporting equipments adequately provided and well maintain in boarding secondary schools in Yola metropolis?

1.5        Research Hypotheses

The following hypotheses have been formulated to guide the study:

1. There is no significant difference in the opinion of principals and teachers on the provision and maintenance of classroom facilities in boarding secondary schools in Yola metropolis.

1. There is no significant difference in the opinion of principals and teachers on the provision and maintenance of laboratory and workshop equipment in boarding secondary schools in Yola metropolis.

1. There is no significant difference in the opinion of principals and teachers on the provision and maintenance of library facilities in boarding secondary schools in Yola metropolis.
2. There is no significant difference in the opinion of principals and teachers on the provision and maintenance of accommodation facilities in boarding secondary schools in Yola metropolis.

1. There is no significant difference in the opinion of principals and teachers on the provision and maintenance of games facilitiesin boarding secondary schools in Yola metropolis.

1. There is no significant difference in the opinion of principals and teachers on the provision and maintenance of water and electricity supply in boarding secondary schools in Yola metropolis.

1.6        Basic Assumptions

1. If proper funding is made, infrastructural facilities such as classrooms, laboratories, libraries, computer facilities, hostels, playing ground, sporting equipment, furniture, electricity and water supply will be adequate in boarding secondary schools in Yola metropolis.

1. If the school administrators imbibe the culture of maintenance, infrastructural facilities will last longer.
2. If there are infrastructural facilities, students will be given chance to be well educated and achieve their aims in life.
3. If there is good school climate, infrastructural facilities will be maintained.

1.7        Significance of the Study

This study is significant because it is an attempt to evaluate the provision and maintenance of infrastructural facilities in boarding secondary schools in Yola metropolis.

Stakeholders who are responsible for the funding of boarding secondary schools will benefit from the impact of using good infrastructural facilities in enhancing teaching and learning in boarding secondary schools and they will see the benefits of their huge investment.

The findings from the study are expected to alert or educate all those associated with the education process in the following ways:

1. They will provide an understanding into the extent of government contribution in providing educational infrastructural facilities to educational institutions in the light of increasing public expenditure on education.

1. Provide useful information to educational planners and implementers in terms of maintenance and provision of facilities for meaningful educational achievement in boarding secondary schools.

1. Provide an insight into the existing state of infrastructural facilities in boarding secondary schools that might assist in future educational plans.

1. To bring out the relevance of school infrastructural facilities on teaching and learning in boarding secondary schools.

1.8        Scope of the Study

This study will be concerned with the evaluation of the provision and maintenance of infrastructural facilities in boarding secondary schools. The scope of the study is Yola metropolis, Adamawa State.