INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL PLANT PLANNING ON TEACHERS’ EFFECTIVENESS IN PUBLIC SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN DELTA CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT OF DELTA STATE, NIGERIA

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INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL PLANT PLANNING ON TEACHERS’ EFFECTIVENESS IN PUBLIC SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN DELTA CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT OF DELTA STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The study examined influence of school plant planning on teachers‟ effectiveness in public senior secondary schools in Delta central senatorial districtof Delta state. Two research questions and two null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. The population of the study comprised of 1,232 consisting of 56 principals and vice principals and 1,176 teachers from 14 public senior secondary schools in Delta central senatorial districtof Delta state. A sample size of 350 respondents was used for the study. Taro Yamane‟s formula and census sampling technique were used to derive the sample for teachers, and school administrators respectively. A self-designed instrument titled “Influence of School Plant Planning on Teachers‟ Effectiveness Questionnaire” was used to collect information from respondents. Two experts in the Departments of Measurement and Evaluation and Educational Management validated the instrument while test-retest reliability method was used to obtain a reliability index of 0.87. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while z- test statistics was used in testing the formulated hypotheses. Findings showed that recreational facilities and welfare facilities planning have a positive influence on teachers‟ effectiveness. Recommendations made among others were that principals should plan and procure recreational facilities in the interest of school effectiveness as teachers use these materials for student‟s cognitive development.

Keywords: School Plant, School Plant Planning, Recreational Facilities, Welfare Facilities, Planning

INTRODUCTION

It has been observed that many schools are paying more attention to their school plant in the 21st century. This cannot be unconnected with developing the 21st century skills of problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration communication and creativity among students through a supply of an array of quality instructional materials and facilities. School plant which includes all educational facilities has been repeatedly found to have a positive influence on the quality of education. These educational facilities include the site, the buildings, physical equipment, recreational spaces and textbooks used for the achievement of educational objectives (Oluchukwu, 2000). Therefore, School plant planning such as school site planning, instructional space planning, administrative space planning, space of convenience planning and welfare facilities planning are essential in the teaching and learning process of the school system. The extent to which these spaces may enhance better teaching and learning depends on their location, structure and facilities within the school premises. It is likely that well planned school plant in terms of location, structure and facilities will facilitate effective teaching and learning process and enhance better learning outcomes of students.

Odupurokan (2011) states that a well-planned school plant will gear up expected outcomes of education, that will facilitate good social, political and economic emancipation; effective teaching and learning and academic performance of students. Similarly it can be said that the school plant is an essential aspect of educational planning because unless schools are well suited, buildings adequately constructed and equipment adequately provided effective teaching and learning may not take place.

Secondary school education plays a crucial role in preparing students for higher education and useful living in Nigeria. It is considered by many Nigerians as education that would enable secondary school leavers prepare for a balanced socio-economic life. This accounts for why parents work hard in providing the resources needed to send their children to quality schools. To many of them, the quality of a school depends largely on the physical, technical and stock of education resources that a school has. It is pertinent to note that, school plant is basically provided for the translation of the school curriculum into the realization of the aims and objectives of the school organisation. In a situation where the school plant is not properly planned, managed and maintained, it becomes an issue of concern to the educational system as this would negatively affect the achievement of its objectives. Hence, the study investigated influence of school plant planning on teachers‟ effectiveness in public senior secondary schools in Delta central senatorial districtof Delta state.

Conceptualization of School Plant and School Plant Planning

School plant refers to the school site, buildings, the play grounds, the equipment and other materials and resources provided in the school for effective teaching and learning operations (Onwurah, 2004). Yusuf (2008), defined school plant as space interpretation of the school curriculum. It will be impossible for the curriculum to be implemented if the physical facilities required for teaching and learning are not available. Absence of school plant makes teaching ineffective and desired learning will not take place. It becomes necessary to ensure that such school plant is properly planned, mapped and maintained to facilitate the effectiveness of school system.

The educational system especially secondary schools can only function effectively if the school plants planning are properly done. This is because the school plant encompasses all that makes up the school system. For instance, the site, buildings, equipment, and all the educational facilities that are required or needed within the school organisation. A situation where these equipment, structure, and facilities are not in place, there is bound to be a chaos in the school system and the attainment of educational goals and objectives will be aborted.

School plant planning is key to educational development of any nation. Planning, according to Dermer (2007) is the process by which an organisation solves the problem of determining its relationship with its environment. It is the process of collecting desired facts or information and making decisions by which the authority enunciated objectives and determines the pattern of action to solve these objectives. Planning encourages innovation, mind-stretching and search for more and better alternatives (Ibid, 2007). It reconciles objectives, opportunities, and capabilities and lends itself as a factor for selecting targets and means of achieving those targets. Therefore, planning is absolutely needed in order to avoid the frustration that may arise in the absence of adequate planning.

As a concept school plant planning has a plethora of definitions. According to Ajayi and Yusuf (2010), school plant planning is a process in which a suitable site is selected and instructional space, administrative space, circulation space and spaces of convenience are designed to facilitate the learning and learning process in the school system. Odufowokan (2011) gave a classification of school plant that could be effectively planned for as follows:

1. Instructional Spaces: These include classrooms, auditorium, gymnasium, library, workshop, laboratory, art room, home economics room, multipurpose room/halls, music area and any other space where students receive instruction.

2. Administrative Space: These comprise principal office, clerk‟s office, staff room, guidance counsellor office, and health clinics.

3. Circulating Space: These include corridors, lobby, staircase, and other spaces where students recreate.

4. Space for Conveniences: These consist of toilets, cafeterias, kitchen, dormitories custodians‟ sheds and stores.

5. Accessories: These are parks, garden, fields, courts and lawns.

This entails judicious use of resources which are geared towards ensuring that the limited available resources at the disposal of planners (public and private) are adequately utilized. It can be said to be a goal orientated venture to achieve a set of educational goals and objectives.

According to Adeyemi (2006), school plant planning is the process of management, construction, utilisation and maintenance of school plant facilities to ensure goal achievement. When the school physical plant is well planned it will stimulate and facilitate learning. When school plant is poorly planned, it hinders good teaching practice and also stagnate student‟s activities and interest to learn. This corroborates with Ololube (2015) who stressed that one of the strongest problems with the Nigerian educational system is inappropriate school plant planning.

Influence of Recreational Facilities Space Planning on Teachers’ Effectiveness

In the school environment, the available educational facilities include school plants, which comprises semi- structure and structures that are put in place towards enhancing effective teaching and learning process. Educational facilities include recreational facilities, sporting facilities like indoor, outdoor games, tourism etcetera. There are ways to complement the use of recreational facilities for effective teaching and learning process in the school system. Such include; play way, experimentation, dramatization, demonstration and questioning. Recreational facilities are therefore those materials put in place during teaching and learning process that could also be used to interact with staff and students during leisure hours in the school premises. The recreational facilities necessary for effective teaching processes include gymnasium, basketball court, volley ball court, table tennis, triple jump and long jump pitches.

Mokaya and Gitari (2012) research showed that recreation helps participants to relax and feel great, reduce stress and improve concentration, build confidence and self-esteem and improve health. The researchers noted that these benefits are made possible to the health related physical fitness (cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility and body composition) and also the skill-related physical fitness (agility, balance, co-ordination, power, reaction time and speed) of the respondents. They also showed that recreation has a positive influence on employee‟s performance variables through: job satisfaction, quality of service and customer satisfaction and enhanced productivity. Ezeanichinedu (2009), defined recreational facilities as materials that are necessary for students teaching and learning process and thereby aids in effective students‟ academic performance. It was reiterated that there are some recreational facilities that teachers could use to aid effective teaching and learning process in schools, and that every subject has its own recreational facilities. For instance, in mathematics there are abacus, computer, calculation pyramid, “whot”, “ludo”, and scrabble. Also in the science subjects, laboratory equipment are said to play recreational roles in facilitating learning. Every type of facility played with have significant impacts on the teaching and learning process in schools.

Fakomogbon (2000) noted that recreational facilities are important tools that the teacher makes use of during the teaching and learning process and for teaching effectiveness. The use of recreational facilities encourage social interaction among teachers and students, improve concentration and learning, increase personal confidence and self-awareness, reduce feelings of depression and anxiety, enhance self- esteem, improve quality of life and makes the teacher to be more effective.

Physical activities and sporting have health benefits from moderate participation: improved strength and endurance, healthier bones and muscles, weight control, reduced anxiety and increased self-esteem, and, often, improved blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Physical education is the major vehicle for improving the health and fitness of every individual. Teachers and students become closer and friendly, understand each other as they constantly participate in physical activities. Recreational facilities like table tennis, football, swimming, basketball, volleyball, and educational excursions develop students‟ cognitive domain as well as develop the teachers teaching methods while concepts will be better understood for students‟ academic performance (Ibid, 2009).

Teachers at all levels of education are very important in the overall development of any nation through their impact in the educational system. Education itself is the door to civilization and modernization of any country. But it is the teachers who hold the key to this door through performance of their primary functions in the schools. This fact was stressed by Nakpodia (2000) who believes that in any educational arrangement, the success lies in the commitment of the teachers. But in Nigeria according to him, teachers who are the shapers of civilization are sentenced to perpetual decent poverty. It is only recently with the present democratic dispensation that the Nigerian teachers‟ salaries have been made reasonably attractive. Salaries and allowances however are not the only incentive for job satisfaction and commitment. Lack of motivation in a system also has negative effects on staff effectiveness. The issue and problem of how to motivate teachers so that they can be effective for the interest of school and also raise their socioeconomic status have occupied the attention of educational administrators. It is believed that effectiveness and commitment on the part of the teachers will bring about good job performance.

It is noteworthy that, the quality of any educational system depends to a great extent on the quality of teachers in terms of incentive or welfare services which are turn are expected to produce a competent and dedicated workforce. Corroborating this, Ejiogu in Mensah (2011) noted that a major goal of personnel management in any organization is the production of satisfied employees who will remain happy on the job to contribute their best towards achieving the organizations objectives at minimum efforts.

Staff welfare services in education is a situation whereby a combination of relevant factors and variables lead to the satisfaction of the needs of individuals and of the collective body of teaching and non- teaching staff in the secondary schools. The provision of those basic needs also pre- supposes the attainment of a reasonable degree of commitment. These staff welfare facilities include; financial reward and promotion; Provision of school eateries/restaurants; official accommodation; provision of medical care and provision of official vehicle. The role of welfare activities is to promote economic development by increasing efficiency and productivity with the underlying principle being to make workers give their loyal services ungrudgingly in genuine spirit of co-operation and the general well-being of the employee (Priti, 2009; Venkata & Lokanadha, 2015). Odeku and Odeku (2014) posited that naturally, welfare services may not directly relate to an employee‟s job but the presence or absence of the services notably affects employee performance, attitude, high or low labour turnover. As teachers provide essential service to students, their welfare must be addressed to make them effective on their job.

Fozia and Sabir (2016) found that welfare package is the total compensation and remuneration for workers that encompass provision for vocation, study leave, sick leave, relocation expenses, paid holiday, staff training, transportations and accommodation benefits amongst others. In the said research, welfare packages were found to be of great source of stimuli for greater action that serves as incentive in addition to wages. It was viewed as an additional remuneration given to employees in recognition of better work as well as spurring employees for greater performance. Most schools now offer several incentive packages to ensure staff performance. These include free transportation, mortgage facilities, free medical care and free teachers’ child education (Okendu, 2012). The experience in the teaching profession is surprisingly beyond imagination because teachers are not given adequate attention and not recognized by both the society and government (Olujuwon, 2019). It is believed that teachers’ job satisfaction, effectiveness, attitude and dedication to work are major determinants of their productivity. Research has shown that teaching has become employment of the last resort among university graduates and secondary school leavers in many African countries. Consequently, teachers often lack a strong, longterm commitment to teaching as a vocation. Besides, they are paid considerably less than the mainstream professions (Bennell, 2004). It is a known fact that money is the most prominent motivator of Nigerian teachers if they must remain focused and committed. This is in line with Okendu (2012) assertion which stressed that money remains the most significant motivational strategy towards job commitment. Mensah (2011) also demonstrated the motivational power of money through the process of job choice; as it has the power to attract, retain, and motivate individuals towards higher performance. No wonder the Federal republic of Nigeria on the 5th of October, 2020, through her President Muhammadu Buhari, approved a special salary scale for teachers in the country (Adedigha, 2020). The number of serving teachers was increased from 35 to 40 years. A special pension scheme was also promised, to enable the teaching profession to retain experienced talents as well as extend the retirement age to 65 years. The administration also resolved to initiate quality education for teachers in terms of continuous professional development. Special salary scales for Basic and Secondary School teachers which include provisions for rural posting allowances, science teachers and peculiar allowances. Other promises were building low cost houses, sponsorship of refresher courses as a benchmark best practice for improving teaching and learning. Reintroduction of bursary award to education students in Universities and Colleges of Education with assurance of automatic employment on graduation and payment of stipends were among the promises made to teachers on Teachers Day Celebration 2020. In addition, Tertiary Education Fund (TETFUND) will fund teaching practice in Universities and Colleges of Education. These laudable promises if actualized will positively influence teachers‟ effectiveness.

Statement of the Problem

School plants are not consciously and periodically planned for in Nigeria and in Delta state particularly. This indifferent attitude of the government and stakeholders has led to leaking roofs, broken classroom floors, broken chairs and desks, old ripped books in make shift libraries, poorly equipped laboratories (Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Introductory Technology). Cumulatively, there are no adequate provisions of instructional space planning, recreational space planning and welfare space planning. Adebayo (2009) aptly captured the level of decline in Nigerian education system by stating that a casual visit to any public school in Nigeria would reveal the extent to which these educational institutions have decayed. He further reiterated that educational facilities at all levels are in a terrible shape; schools are littered with battered structures; worn out equipment (where they are available at all); overcrowded classrooms; inadequate manpower in quantity and quality; instability in the academic calendar owing to strikes; very low teacher (staff) morale due to poor remuneration and working conditions. The above argument presents that the overall goals and objectives of educational system may not be achieved since teachers may not be opportuned to exhibit teaching effectiveness with state of emergency facilities provision.

The concern for quality education is uppermost in educational discourse among stakeholders of education all over the world and particularly in Delta central senatorial districtof Delta state. Hence the study investigated the influence of school plant planning on teachers‟ effectiveness in Delta central senatorial districtof Delta state.

Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study was to examine influence of school plant planning on teachers‟ effectiveness in public senior secondary schools in Delta central senatorial districtof Delta state. Specifically the study sought to:

1. Ascertain the extent recreational facilities planning influence teachers‟ effectiveness in public senior secondary school in Delta central senatorial districtof Delta state.

2. Examine the extent welfare facilities planning influence teachers‟ effectiveness in public senior secondary schools in Okrika and Ogu/ Bolo Local Government Areas of Delta state. Research Questions

1. To what extent do recreational facilities planning influence teachers‟ effectiveness in public senior secondary schools in Delta central senatorial districtof Delta state?

2. To what extent do welfare facilities planning influence teachers‟ effectiveness in public senior secondary schools in Delta central senatorial districtof Delta state? Hypotheses

The following hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance in the study:

Ho1 There is no significant difference between the mean responses of school administrators and teachers on the extent recreational facilities planning influence teacher‟s effectiveness in public senior secondary schools in Delta central senatorial districtof Delta state.

Ho2 There is no significant difference between the mean responses of school administrators and teachers on the extent welfare facilities planning influence teachers‟ effectiveness in public senior secondary schools in Delta central senatorial district of Delta state.

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