CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the study

Generally in the whole world, particularly in Nigeria, education hasbeen considered to be the corner – stone for development. It forms thebasis for literacy, skill acquisition, technological advancement and abilityto harness human and material resources towards the achievement ofsocietal goal, (FRN, 2004).

Education is very important in any given society. It is a process bywhich abilities and capabilities of individual are developed. Theseabilities might be physical abilities, emotional abilities, social abilities andintellectual abilities. It is the actualizing of human potential so that theindividual can become something more than what he was before.According to Ugwuanyi (2003) education is the process by which societyestablishes to assist the young to learn and understand the heritage ofthe past, participate productively in the society and contributemeaningfully for the development of the society. Emeka (2008) citingKneller (2000) sees education as a process by which any societythrough schools, colleges, universities and other institutions deliberatelytransmit knowledge, values and skills from one person to another. As aresult of deregulation in Nigerian education, the system of education hastwo main interest groups – public education and private education.

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Public education is the pillar or backbone of society which opensthe door of equal educational opportunity to all citizens. It is a publicowned property which attracts public attention constantly. According toUkeje in Akpa, Udoh and Faghamiye (2005):Public school is concerned with the acquisition ofappropriate skills, abilities and competencies of bothmental and physical nature as equipment for theindividual to live in this society, and acquisition of arelevant and balanced knowledge of facts about localand world phenomena. (P. 12-13)Public schools can also be seen as those schools controlledneither by individuals nor by private interest or agencies but by thosewho represent the society as a whole. In other words public schools arethose schools which are supported and controlled by the government ofthe state or nation.

Private schools are those schools that are not administered bylocal, state or national government, which retain the right to select theirstudent body and are founded in whole or part by charging their studentstuition rather than with public funds. This means that the schoolestablished by the missionaries, individuals and voluntary organizationsbelong to this group. According to Hernes (2001) United NationsEducational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and theworld Bank, private educational institutions are those that are notoperated by a public authority, but are controlled and managed by a3private body or board of governors not selected by a public agency onselected by public vote. The institution may be run by or operated by nongovernmental organizations (NGOS) or business enterprise.Secondary school is the stage of education following primaryschool. It is generally the final stage of compulsory education. Webster(2009) sees secondary school as a school intermediate betweenelementary school and collage usually offering general technical,vocational or college- preparatory course, while Collins (2003) refers to itas a school for young people, usually between the ages of eleven andeighteen. As for the National policy on education (FRN, 2004) it is theform of education children receive after primary education and before thetertiary stage.

Environment can be defined as a system within which livingorganisms interacts with the physical element while educationenvironment is a learning place where the learner learn and interact withlearning facilities in order to be socialized and face the challenges in thesociety. Agusiegbe (2004) sees environments as consisting of allelements existing around man and which exert some influence on him.These include physical, biological and social attributes. Environment canalso be seen as aggregate of all the external condition and influenceaffecting the life and development of an organism.

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In this study, environment includes all the external condition andinfluences in the school that affect the academic achievement of thestudent such as laboratory equipment, library facilities, qualifiedteachers, furniture, school building, good administrative management,teacher pupil relationship and school location among others.Environment for the purpose of this work can be divided into two partshomeenvironment and school environment.School environment is the thread that connects the multitude ofactivities on the school. In many respects, this thread is almost invisible,yet everyone experiences its influence. Dudek (2000) opined that it couldbe said to be the external influences in the school that can influenceacademic achievement of students irrespective of their intelligentquotient. School environment can also be considered as the secondteacher since space has the power to organize and promote pleasantrelationships between people of different ages, to provide changes, topromote choices and activities and for its potential for sparking differenttypes of social and affective learning (Okeke 2001). It has beengenerally accepted that environment and heredity can hardly beseparated from education in influencing achievement, hence a child’s lifeand ability is influenced by nature and nurture. Heredity provides thenatural disposition while a healthy environment makes available awindow of opportunities to the learner (Ohuche 2001). The

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environmental variable of the setting helps to a large extent in ensuringattainability of the goals of such setting. The environmental differencesand the differences in the quality of instruction from one school toanother can create differences in the level of knowledge acquisition ofthe students. This shows that the learning facilities children are exposedto and the socio-economic influence on them can affect their academicachievement.

School environment includes the school building and thesurrounding grounds such as noise, temperature and lighting as well asphysical, biological or chemical agent, (Chiu 1991). School environmentcan then be seen to include material and human resources, a learningplace which consist of the entire interaction. The learning environmentis both the natural and provided setting where teaching and learningtakes place. Maduewesi (1990) referred to teaching and learningenvironment as the setting physical and conceptual in which teachingand learning are carried out as deliberately planned. And to Okobia inMaduewesi (1990) learning environment means classroomsurroundings, physical facilities in the classroom and teacher – pupilrelationship.

Studies on the relationship between availability of resources andstudents academic achievement have revealed that secondary schoolsprovided with adequate education resources performed significantly

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better than those provided with inadequate resources (Balogun, 1995).Environment is a very important factor in achievement of goal of anyeducational programme. People acquire most of their knowledge throughthe interaction with facilities provided in the environment for learning.Also learning is influenced by the environment people are exposed toand the facilities provided in such environment lead to experience. As inthe words of Piaget (1964) that active interaction with the environment isregarded as the most basic requirement for proper intellectualdevelopment.

The physical appearance and general condition of school physicalfacilities are the striking basis upon which many parents and friends ofany educational institution make initial judgment about the quality ofwhat goes on in the school. They are often turned off by dilapidatedschool blocks with sinking roofs and broken walls, bushy lawn and overgrown hedges. Also are profane writings on walls, littered lawns andpath ways. Finally, the school physical environment is like a mirrorreflecting the image of a school and through it the public decide whetheror not to associate with the particular school (Mgbodile 2004).In Nigeria today, schools are closely associated with thecommunities. Most communities depend on the neighbourhood schoolfor the provision of good and appropriate environment foraccommodation, furniture and all form of equipment for certain activities

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like club or village meetings, wedding reception and church services.There is need for a well planned and organized educationalenvironmental enrichment because it fosters good interpersonalrelationship. Moreover, Ajayi and Ashaolu (2005) opined thatenvironmental enrichment regarding physical facilities is a major factor instudents’ academic achievement. Supporting this Ayodele (2005) andAjayi (2007), have shown that school resources aid students academicachievement.

It is now certain that most of secondary school products cannotgain admission into federal universities or university of their choice dueto poor performance in the placement examination into these schools.This poor performance may be attributed to poor learning environmentespecially in the following areas: schools building, library services, andschool location and school facilities.

School building: These are tangible structures which serve asshelter for educational activities. They include among others classroom,laboratories, workshops, and teacher’s common rooms/offices, readingrooms, libraries, dormitories and dinning hall. Despite the evidence thatthe quality of a school building affect students’ academic achievement,most public schools, in Enugu state are in poor physical condition. It is inline with this that Earthman (2004) opined that the building in which