AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF LEARNING FACILITIES ON THE PERFORMANCE OF PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background Of The Study

Education, as defined by the National Policy on Education (2004), is the process which helps to develop the overall individual and allows him to find his potential towards accomplishing self-goals. Through it, people are required to display elements of national ethics such as discipline, honesty, dignity of work, social justice, and self-reliance patriotism. Education, according to Good (2001), is the process through which a person acquires skills, attitudes, and other types of behavior that are beneficial to society. He further asserted that education may be defined as any process by which a person gets information or insight, or develops attitudes, insights, or skills that help him make sensible decisions and choices, allowing him to grow socially, politically, spiritually, economically, scientifically, and technologically. This is done via the teaching and learning processes.

Learning, according to Osakwe (2006), is a natural process of pursuing meaningful objectives, finding and building meaning from knowledge and experience mediated through the learners' individual perceptions, ideas, and emotions. Hilgard (1998) views learning as the process by which an activity originates or is changed through reacting with the environment, provided that the change cannot be explained on the basis of automatic response (i.e., reflex), maturation (i.e. growth) or temporary state of the individual, that is, tiredness, hunger, and drugs. However, learning facilities play a very crucial part in the teaching-learning process. It boosts the memory level of the learners. Adekoya (1998).  In recent times, education has grown broad and exclusively oral instruction cannot be the key to effective pedagogy. Therefore, the instructor needs to employ learning resources to make the teaching-learning process engaging (Nicholls, 2000; & Raw, 2003).  The utilization of learning facilities may boost learning. School facilities have been found as a significant element in quantitative teaching. According to Akande (1999), learning may occur via one’s engagement with one’s surroundings. The environment here refers to amenities that are available to assist children' learning outcomes. It comprises books, audiovisual, software, and hardware connected to educational technology, as well as the size of the classroom, seating position and layout, and the availability of tables, seats, chalkboards, and shelves on which practical instruments are organized (Farrant 1997 and Farombi, 1998). According to Oni (2003), amenities form a strategic aspect in organizational functioning. This is so because they determine, to a very considerable degree, the smooth operation of any social structure or system, including education. He also claimed that their availability, adequacy, and relevance influence efficiency and high productivity. It is crucial to underline that a society that is affluent would build decent schools with great teachers and learning facilities. C  consequently, students may learn with ease, thereby bringing about high academic accomplishment. Writing on the function of facilities in teaching, Balogun (1997) claimed that no efficient education plan can exist without equipment for teaching. This is because facilities allow the learner to acquire problem-solving abilities and scientific mindsets. In their contribution, Ajayi and Ogunyemi (2000) highlighted that when facilities are supplied to satisfy the relative demands of a school system, pupils would not only have access to the reference materials indicated by the teacher, but individual pupils will also study at their own paces. As a consequence, the general academic performance of the whole student population increases. If learning facilities were utilized, the prediction would be gratifying and the outcomes would justify the labor done by the individual. This research is consequently focused on the influence of learning facilities on the performance of elementary school learners.

1.2  Statement of the Problem   

Learning facilities, as observed by Condac (1999), are employed effectively and actively to support the teaching and learning process in most advanced nations. However, the situation is not favorable in most developing nations, and Nigeria is not an exception. Schools are only given with lower-quality and fewer instructional facilities. In this manner, the availability of learning facilities is quite poor (Conbac, 1999). However, all educational institutions, irrespective of their locations and levels, are required to operate utilizing diverse inputs in conformity with the fulfillment of the stated purpose as laid out in the national policy on education (Federal Government of Nigeria, 2004). It is therefore assumed that no educational institution can bring forth the required outcome if the input into them is not sufficiently and properly maintained. These inputs include amenities. School learning facilities are a pre-requisite for efficient teaching and learning in every educational system. It is against this backdrop that this research aims to investigate the impact of learning facilities on the performance of primary school learners.

1.3      Purpose Of The Study

Generally, this research tends to assess the impact of learning facilities on the performance in primary schools. Thus, the specific objectives which falls inline with the overall aim of this research are outlined below;

1.        Ascertain the availability of learning facilities in primary schools

2.        Ascertain the factors influencing the utilization of learning facilities in primary schools

3.        Ascertain whether pupils performance can be enhanced through the use of learning facilities

4.        Establish the relationship between learning facilities and academic performance of the pupils.   

1.4       Research Hypothesis

The following hypothetical statements will be validated in the course of this study;

H01: There is no adequate availability of learning facilities in primary schools.

H02: Pupils performance cannot be enhanced through the use of learning facilities.

H03: There is no positive relationship between learning facilities and academic performance of the pupils.

1.5 Significance Of The Study

This study will educate and/or remind relevance officers on the need for adequate provision of learning facilities, cases and implications of poor availability of learning facilities in primary schools, as well as how to mitigate the situation.

Additionally, subsequent researchers will use it as literature review. This means that, other students who may decide to conduct studies in this area will have the opportunity to use this study as available literature that can be subjected to critical review. Invariably, the result of the study contributes immensely to the body of academic knowledge with regards to the impact of learning facilities on the performance of primary school pupils.

1.6 Scope of the Study

This research project will assess the impact of learning facilities on the performance in primary schools. The study will further narrow down to the availability of learning facilities in primary schools, the factors influencing the utilization of learning facilities in primary schools, enhancing pupils’ performance through the use of learning facilities, and establishing the relationship between learning facilities and academic performance of the pupils.   

The study will be delimited to three selected primary schools in Kwara State.

1.7. Limitations Of The Study

In the course of carrying out this study, the researcher experienced some constraints, which included time constraints, financial constraints, language barriers, and the attitude of the respondents.

In addition, there was the element of researcher bias. Here, the researcher possessed some biases that may have been reflected in the way the data was collected, the type of people interviewed or sampled, and how the data gathered was interpreted thereafter. The potential for all this to influence the findings and conclusions could not be downplayed. 

More so, the findings of this study are limited to the sample population in the study area, hence they may not be suitable for use in comparison to other schools, local governments, states, and other countries in the world.

1.8      Definition of terms

Provision: It means the act of supplying something that is needed. Learning: Involves a change or modification in the behaviour that is a result of experience of learner. Performance: It means a manner or quality of functioning. Facilities: means the services provided to support activities of a learners.

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