CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The school is a social and learning agent that provides the environment upon which a child may be formally educated in order to attain educational goals. Human beings, have unlimited capacity to learn, but may however be limited by the behaviour patterns and facilities that the immediate environment offers. According to Umoh (2006), nature only provides the raw materials in form of potentials, but it is the environment that determines the extent of development. Umoh and Etuk (2003) asserted that a child who wants to learn Agricultural Science and develop desirable attitudes, interest, appreciation, understanding, habits, abilities, knowledge and skills requires a stimulating environment. A stimulating school environment enables the teachers to teach a variety of activities with broad-base ideas about what the students are likely to learn or respond to. This makes it possible for both the teachers and the students to work cooperatively and productively towards attainment of educational goals.
School environmental variables that affect teaching and learning include the following: Science and Computer laboratories, library facilities, adequate classroom facilities, workshop facilities, farm buildings and structures, farm lands and play grounds to mention but a few. Teachers and other personnel to manage and service the physical facilities are the teaching, non-teaching and the administrative staff of the school. The availability of those resources and facilities in a given school environment influence the teaching, learning and the performance of both the teachers and the students (Nsa, et al 2012).
1.1 Background of Study
Several factors have been attributed to students’ academic performance at various levels of education. These include, for example, teachers’ working conditions, availability of teaching and learning facilities such as books and laboratories, school and home factors such as type of school and the educational climate at home, student background factors, etc. Recent studies show that high quality school is the central factor in students’ academic performance. Information is, however, limited on the specific characteristics that constitute high quality schools (Hanushek and WoBmann, 2007). The effect of school climate on students’ achievement has been confirmed in several studies conducted in different contexts. A survey of the effect of the schools social climate on its achievement at Michigan Elementary School 2 revealed a strong positive correlation between several school climate variable, including safety features, teaching and learning environment, interpersonal relationships and institutional environment (Brookover et al., 1978) and mean school achievement. Another survey involving 1,083 junior high school students in 116 classrooms that investigated the relationship between classroom environment and students’ achievement revealed that specific classroom psychosocial environmental variables had significant effects on students’ affective and cognitive outcomes (Frasser & Fisher, 1982). Thapa and colleagues (2013) reviewed 206 studies including experimental correlation and descriptive studies and literature reviews to examine the effect of safety, relationships, teaching and learning, institutional environment and the school process (Program implementation at school level including curriculum implementation, assessment process, staff and students communication)on students’ achievement . The results of the review showed that the optimal presence of these different variables contributed significantly positively to several attributes of students’ performance.
It is universally accepted, that education enables individuals to contribute to the development and improvement in the quality of life for themselves, their communities and the nation as a whole. Primary school is no doubt the foundation of education and has prominently been regarded as a fundamental human right. It is an essential component of human capital and it plays an important role in economic growth and development of a country. Primary education, therefore, remains an important area that should be carefully managed.
(Ajayi 2001). The extent to which pupils learn could be enhanced depending on what the school environment provides to the learners and the teacher.
It is believed that a well-planned school will gear up expected outcomes of education that will facilitate good social political and economic emancipation, effective teaching-learning process and academic performance of pupils.
Relating this study to international occurrences are the assertions of Williams, Persaud and Turner (2008) quoting Marsden (2005) which reported that safe and orderly classroom environment, school facilities were significantly related to students academic achievement in schools.
In developed countries like the United Kingdom and the Unites States of America, teaching and learning may not be affected by similar challenges as in the developing countries. As the developing countries talk of awareness and wastage due to illiteracy of the parents, the developed countries have concentrated in funding their education without fear of any wastage or poor enrolment (MOEST: Report on Sector Review and Development, 2003).