FUNCTIONALITY OF SCHOOL PLANT FACILITIES AND INFLUENCE ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN DELTA STATE

Abstract

This study investigated the Situation and Functionality of School Plant Facilities and their Influence on Secondary School Students’ Academic Performance in Delta State. Four research questions guided the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The study population comprised 15,531 teachers in secondary schools within 471 public secondary schools in Delta State. The sample for this study consisted of 777 teachers in 236 public secondary schools within 13 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Delta State selected using the multi-stage sampling technique of the stratified random sampling technique and proportionate random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a self-structured questionnaire by the researcher, containing 41 items and titled: Functionality and Influence of School Plant Facilities on Secondary School Students’ Academic Performance Questionnaire (FISPFSSSAPQ). The questionnaire was validated by two experts from Educational Foundations Department (Educational Management expert) and one Measurement and Evaluation expert, from Federal College of Education (Technical) Asaba, Delta State. Reliability of the instrument was established through a pilot-test. Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation statistics. Findings of the study revealed among others that the electronic school plant facilities, instructional school plant facilities, and infrastructural school plant facilities were not functional in order to make significant high influence and improve students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Delta State. The non-functionality of all the various school plant facilities had low influence on students’ academic performance. Based on these findings, recommendations were made and among them included that the principals should prioritize efforts through adequate financial support from both State government and external agencies to ensure equitable access to functional electronic resources such as computers and internet connectivity, among others, for all students. This could involve securing funding for technology upgrades, implementing mobile computing initiatives, regular facility maintenance and partnering with community organizations in order to improve their functionality which has significant positive influence on secondary school students’ academic performance.