CHAPTER ONE

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Effective teaching and learning in schools require adequate infrastructure. The goal of school infrastructure in secondary school education is to boost school attendance of students, enhance staff motivation and improve academic accomplishments of the students. The infrastructure includes classrooms, laboratories, halls, open fields, games equipment, dormitories and sanitation facilities. School infrastructure is, therefore, an essential component in ensuring successful education.

Research by Mokaya, Z. M (2013) found that improved academic achievement is associated with adequate space for classrooms, ample spacing in the libraries, properly equipped science laboratories, adequate water and sanitation facilities and active participation in cocurricular activities. In Kenya, a study by Parnwell, R. N (2015) states that the classrooms are overcrowded and they should be equipped with doors and windows, painted, plastered, floors cemented and well lighted as well as have adequate desks. Therefore, substandard facilities and unconducive learning environments would significantly affect the academic performance of students or may lead to low performance.

Service quality in education is the difference between the students’ expectations for service performance of educational institutions prior to the service encounter and their perceptions of the service perceived in the institutions (Ahmad & Garg, 2012; Nell and Cant, 2014). The five critical factors of service quality in education (Menon, 2015) Educational institutions can provide a high quality of services by constructing their own approaches to quality (Militaru et al., 2013). They have to operate in a consumer-based manner and focus on providing high quality service so as to be preferred by students (Ene & Tatar, 2010). Total Quality Management can be applied in institutions by creating a quality culture where the main aim of the staff is to delight the customers (Karadağ, 2010; Manoj & Abdallah, 2015; Asaduzzaman et al., 2013; Rani, 2016) and strong links and partnerships should be exercised between all stakeholders of education such as management and teaching staff (Jamaa, 2010). In this way the school will have a systematic working environment and continuous improvement will be achieved (Şahin, 2015).

Palmer (2007) reviews the “student motivation as an essential element that is necessary for quality education. How do we know when students are motivated? They pay attention, they begin working on tasks immediately, they ask questions and volunteer answers, and they appear to be happy and eager.”

(Williams & Williams, 2011). In the late 1987s, according to Brophy motivation to learn is a competence acquired “through general experience but stimulated most directly through modeling, communication of expectations, and direct instruction or socialization by significant others (especially parents and teachers)” (Gregory, 2009, Nukpe, 2012), offers some definition for motivation where, Cherry (2010) views motivation as “the process that initiates, guides and maintains goaloriented behaviours”. Brennen, (2006, p.4) believes motivation to be “… the level of effort an individual is willing to expend toward the achievement of a certain goal” Guay et al. (2010) describes it simply as “reasons underlying behaviour” (Nukpe, 2012).

1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Inadequate infrastructure could be a problem that influences academic performance of students, poor service delivery in the school by the teaching and non-teaching staff may also be another problems leading to the poor performance of students. Teacher incompetency in exploring motivational method of teaching may also be another problem. Finally, several research has been carried out on the academic performance of secondary school students but not even a single research has been carried out on the infrastructural facilities, staff service delivery quality and motivation on students academic performance (A case study of university of Ibadan).     

1.3   AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

        The main aim of the study is to examine infrastructural facilities, staff service delivery quality and motivation on students’ academic performance. Other specific objectives of the study include:

1. to determine the effect of infrastructural activities on the academic performance of students.
2. to determine the effect of staff service delivery quality on the academic performance of students.
3. to determine the effect of motivation on the academic performance of students.
4. to proffer possible solutions to the problems.

1.4   RESEARCH QUESTIONS               

1. What is the effect of infrastructural activities on the academic performance of students?
2. What is the effect of staff service delivery quality on the academic performance of students?
3. What is the effect of motivation on the academic performance of students?

   4                  What are the possible solutions to the problems?

1.5   STATEMENT OF RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

H0:    Infrastructural facilities, staff service delivery quality and motivation has no significant effect on the academic performance on students.

H1:         Infrastructural facilities, staff service delivery quality and motivation has a significant effect on the academic performance on students.

1.6   SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

The study on infrastructural facilities, staff service delivery quality and motivation on students academic performance will be of immense benefit to the entire university of Ibadan in the sense that it will the government and school management to put all the things that are mentioned above in check so as to enhance the academic performance of university students. The study will enable the government to erect a good and quality infrastructure that will enable or motivate the students to learn effectively. It will also enable the government to supervise the activities of teachers whether they are giving out a quality education that will affect the academic performance of the students. Finally, the study will contribute to the existing body of literature and knowledge to this field of studies and basis for further research.

1.7   SCOPE OF STUDY

The study on the infrastructural facilities, staff service delivery quality and motivation on student academic performance is limited to university of Ibadan.

1.8   LIMITATION OF STUDY

Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.9   DEFINITION OF TERMS

Infrastructure        The basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g. buildings, roads, power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.

Facilities         A place, amenity, or piece of equipment provided for a particular purpose.

Staff                All the people employed by a particular organization.

Service    The action of helping or doing work for someone

Quality    The standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence of something.

Motivation      A reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way.

Academic                Relating to education and scholarship.

Performance   An act of presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment.