A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE CLASS ROOM REQUIREMENTS IN COMPARISON WITH IDEAL CONDITIONS IN THE PRESENT COVID - 19 SCENARIO (W.R.T. PUBLIC JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS AT SIERRA LEONE)

Exploring the classroom requirements in the present COVID-19 scenario is the need of the hour. Physical classroom arrangement continues to be a problem among educators and researchers. A holistic assessment of many of these conditions in the present COVID-19 scenario has not been done by many researchers. This paper, a critical review of the classroom requirements in comparison with ideal conditions in the present COVID-19 in public Junior Secondary Schools at Bamoi Luma, provide s an insight for future evaluation of Junior Secondary school education learning environment. The researcher made use of both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods and analysed the data using simple percentages which were represented in tables and pie chart. The population includes all the Junior Secondary Schools and students in Bamoi Luma. A purposive sampling technique was used to selected the six schools out of the fifteen Junior Secondary Schools in Bamoi Luma for the sample. The dimensions of the sixty teaching classrooms of select schools, desks and chairs, and number of students for an ideal classroom accommodation in the present COVID-19 scenario where calculated. The findings revealed that with the exception of Success Junior Secondary School in Bamoi Luma, the classrooms in the schools are overcrowded, majority have inadequate furniture, low ceiling and poor ventilation. On the other hand it is good to observe that majority of the schools are located in a peaceful place with four windows in each classroom, and all sampled schools have fixed furniture arranged into row layout in the classrooms.