PRINCIPALS? SCHOOL PLANT PLANNING AND UTILIZATION PRACTICES FOR IMPROVED STUDENTS? ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN OYI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, NIGERIA

This study was designed to determine principals? school plant planning and utilization practices for improved students? academic performance in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State in Nigeria. The descriptive survey research design was adopted with two research questions and two hypotheses formulated to guide the study. The population for this study was all the 228 secondary school teachers in the area of study. The entire population was used because of its manageable size. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire which was validated by two experts in Educational Management and an expert in Measurement and Evaluation, all from the Faculty of Education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained using the test-retest method which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.8. Data collected were analyzed using mean and t-test statistics. The findings of the study, among others, showed that principals of schools have adequate space to accommodate both staff and students, but they are constrained by lack of funds to provide equipment for improved students? academic performance. Though principals adopt practices such as ensuring that spaces and facilities are used for their intended purposes and making teachers aware of newly provided facilities and forming committees to ensure that school plants are properly used, they do not organize training and workshops for the use of new plants. Based on the findings it was recommended that government should make more funds available to school principals to procure the needed school plants, organize training for teachers to make effective use of available school plants and form committees comprising relevant stakeholders in order to ensure proper utilization of school plants.