CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION:

This research topic, “The influence of Learning Facilities on Students’ Academic Performance’’ is divided into five chapters as follows;

Chapter One handles the background to the problem, the statement of the problem, objectives of the problem, study Research Questions, Hypothesis, Significance of the study, scope of the study operational, definitions of terms and Abbreviations.

Chapter two deals with the Review of Related Literature under the conceptual framework, the theoretical framework, related Empirical studies and the summary of literature are also discussed.

Chapter three treats Research Methodology, the Research Design, the Area of the study, the population of the study, the sample and sampling techniques, Instruments for Data Collection, Validation of the Instruments, Reliability of the Instruments and Methods of Data Collection are carefully handled.

Chapter four tackles the Analysis of Data and Representation.

Chapter five Treats discussion of findings, conclusion, implications, recommendations and summary of the study

Introduction

After hearing many complaints from parents and students from schools in Bamenda III Council Area related to variations in students’ academic performance, I decided to carryout research on this academic disturbing matter to find out the causes of the problem and possible solutions to lay the problem to rest.

In order to obtain the insight of the causes, the researcher visited a few secondary schools in the area. These schools include Government Bilingual High School Atiela, Saint Pual’s Catholic Comprehensive College Nkwen and Government Bilingual High School Bayelle Nkwen – Bamenda.

During the visits and with the cooperation of the authorities of the schools, the research gained access to many academic records such as master sheets, duplicates of students’ report card booklets and class council records; from these, the researcher discovered that, the complaints are founded, actually there are a lot of variations in the academic performance.

Background to the study;

 Researchers agreed that the role played by learning facilities generally has influence on students’ academic performance. According to a study carried out by Joy Nkechi O. (2016), on the impact of learning facilities on students’ academic performance in some educational establishments in Nigeria, he takes education for any nation to be a veritable machinery for the development of a country. This is obvious because of the role played by educated people in the development of science, socio-economic and political structures to improve the individual families and make the society a better place to live in. In the light of these values, education today must prepare the child to function effectively as an adult to be and these cannot be achieved without adequate learning facilities. He equally argues that education either formal or traditional exists in every society. However, the history of learning facilities could be traced to the era of the formal system of education. It equally changes with the system even though such other facilities like money and human resources are required. Over the years, enrolment into secondary schools has been on the increase following a series of the educational programs being introduced and one of such is the universal basic education (UBE) scheme. Also successive governments have and are still allocating an appreciable percentage of their annual budget to the profession and maintenance of learning facilities in schools meant to improve the sector. The demand for education in general and learning facilities in particular are enormous. This is supported by the fact that the quality of education can be greatly affected if schools are deficient in essential facilities in teaching learning process. He further states that the character of learning facilities determines to a large extent the type and quality of curricular and co-curricular activities that take place in it. The nature and size of the school building determine the shape and size of the classroom. The shape and the size of the classroom with their equipment, furniture and the type and the variety of educational materials available affect the ways in which learners can be organized for instruction; the possible method of teaching that can be adopted by teachers and the type of learning activities that the students can be engaged in. If home economics, technical education and Arts for example are part of the curriculum, the appropriate rooms and workshops must be provided with the relevant equipment and materials. Otherwise, the implementation of those aspects of the curriculum would be seriously impaired. The practical lessons cannot be organized for science students in schools without the relevant materials, equipment and personnel. The only option for students in such schools who may sit for science examinations would be for them to be relocated to other schools having the necessary equipment and materials for the examination; Joy Nkwenchi O. (2016).

Similarly, the US General Accounting Office (GAO) states that almost three-fouths of US existing schools in 1996 was constructed before 1970. Out of these schools, about one-third of schools had need of extensive repairs or replacements and almost two-thirds of building feature were substandard in plumbing, rooting, or electrical systems. Moreover 58 percent had at least one unsatisfactory environment condition such as inadequate ventilation, acoustics or physical security. Besides, general maintenance and construction issues researchers have found that most schools lack 21 century facilities in the form of infrastructures, laboratories and instructional space. More than half do not have sufficiently flexible instructional space for effective teaching and learning process.

Thus, facility quality is an important predictor of teacher retention and student learning.

When we compare with our schools in Cameroon, the tendency is to agree with the foregoing argument because a good number of our secondary schools in rural areas are poorly constructed. Also, a good number of them lack learning facilities; for example no computers and some have insufficient computers and some without electricity or electrical power. The worst thing is that school libraries are virtually nonexistence in some schools and students are forced to depend solely on teachers’ notes with no opportunities for further research on any topic taught in classroom. In this case, we cannot say that the students are benefitting from any learning facilities because they are inadequate. While research over the past century has consistently found that learning facilities impact teaching and learning profound ways, the state and local policy makers often overlook  the impact learning facilities can play in improving outcomes for both teachers and students. While it is true that improving on learning facilities is an expensive undertaking, it is equally worth noting that the benefits of such investments often surpass the initial financial cost. Policymakers therefore should focus greater attention on the impacts of learning facilities and adopt a long term cost-benefit perspective on efforts to improve school facilities in general and learning facilities in particular.

Statement of the Problem

There are variations in the academic performance of secondary school students in Bamenda III sub division. The researcher has been trying to find out how these variations come about and what are responsible for them. The major factors that seem to contribute to poor students’ academic performance is inadequate provision of educational learning facilities in schools such as libraries, the laboratories, the study rooms, workshops, lack of sufficient teaching staff and most of the teachers recruited by Parents Teachers Associations are unqualified. This problem is not only particular to Bamenda III area but to Cameroon in general. Therefore, the importance of learning facilities or amenities in the development and growth of the educational sector cannot be over emphasized. Many secondary schools in Cameroon today do not have certain school learning facilities that can make teaching and learning easier and enjoyable to both the teachers and the students. Competence base approach here pupils should come out from school not only with something practical. Due to lack of provision of libraries and sufficient classroom in the school year after year the academic performance of students both in arts and science courses continue to go down. This is because the teachers are not able to utilize the instructional materials to present their teaching thoroughly for the better understanding by the students.

Objectives of the study

The main objectives

The general objective of the study is to examine the relationship between school learning facilities and the variations in students’ academic performance in sampled secondary schools in Bamenda III Sub-Division in the North West Region of Cameroon.

Specific Objectives

To find out the influence of school libraries on students’ academic performance.

To examine the extent to which school laboratories affect students’ academic performance.

To find out the influence of school study rooms on students’ academic performance.

To find out the impact of insufficient teachers in schools in relation to variations in academic performance of students.

To evaluate the adverse effect of recruiting untrained teachers on the academic performance of students.

All of the above findings or objectives are aimed at providing solutions which would bridge the wide gap in the variations in the academic performance of students.

Research Questions

The main research questions of the study.

Is there any relationship between libraries and students’ academic performance?

To what extent does the school laboratory influence students’ academic performance?

How do the school study rooms influence students’ academic performance?