THE SIGNIFICANCE OF EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN AKOKO-EDO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF EDO STATE

Education for any Nation is believed to be veritable machinery for the development of a country. This is obvious because of the roles played by educated people in the development of science, social- economic and political structure to improve the individual, families and making the society a better place to live. In the light of these values, education today must prepare the child to function effective as an adult to be, and these cannot be achieved without adequate Educational facilities.  Education, either formal or traditional exists in every society. However, the history of Educational facilities could be traced to the era of formal system of education. It equally changes with the system of education, even though, such other facilities like money and human resources are required. Over the years, enrolment into the secondary education has been on the increase, following series of educational programmes being introduced. One of such is the Universal Basic Education (UBE) scheme. Also, successive governments have and are still allocating an appreciable percentage of their annual budgets to the provision and maintenance of Educational facilities meant to improve the sector.
 It was reported by Balderstenb (1974) and Comb (1985) that, education in Nigeria began to expand first gradually, and then dramatically. The consequence is the demand for education in general and Educational facilities in particular can be enormous. This is supported by the fact that, the quality of education can be greatly affected if schools are deficient in essential facilities in the teaching/learning process.
 An effective school facility is responsive to the changing programs of educational delivery, and at a minimum should provide a physical environment that is comfortable, safe, secure, accessible, well illuminated, well ventilated, and aesthetically pleasing. The school facility consists of not only the physical structure and the variety of building systems, such as mechanical, plumbing, electrical and power, telecommunications, security, and fire suppression systems. The facility also includes furnishings, materials and supplies, equipment and information technology, as well as various aspects of the building grounds, namely, athletic fields, playgrounds, areas for outdoor learning, and vehicular access and parking.  The subject of Educational facilities had received great attention from the public as well as educators in recent times. According to Building educational success Together (BEST, 2005), it was reported that the responsibility of every administrator is to ensure that every child had access to quality education in Educational facilities that provide an educational setting that was suited for teaching and learning. Also, implementing educational policies that resulted in high quality, high performance, and well designed and maintained Educational facilities had a direct and indirect significance on the teaching and learning process (BEST, 2005). Effective facilities management therefore contributes to the success of every student in any school. In a study carried out by Hale (2002) reveals that students in class rooms with large windows, natural lighting and well-designed skylights were found to perform well from 19 to 25% better than their peers in classroom without these features. Not only environmental conditions in schools affect the students but also the staff as observed by (Hunter,
2006) which include the inoperative heating system, inadequate ventilation and poor lighting system. The overall building condition, the age of the building, and the windows as well as the instructional areas were positively related to students achievement in learning (Bullock, 2007).
 It is evident in their contributions (Broome, 2005; Hughes, 2005; Lyons, 2001) that students‘ achievement depends upon the physical school facility, its age, the design and the condition of the school. Educational facilities played a significant role in directing the task of teaching and that of shaping students learning process in and out of school. No doubt, school building as a tool for instituting an effective teaching and learning process constituted sizeable investment of public funds over its development and maintenance by the administrators.
 Today, most of the Educational facilities which are supposed to promote and enhanced teaching, learning and extra-curricular activities in secondary education are absolute and thereby, creating serious challenges to the 21st century educational needs of the learners.
Others are dilapidated and not suitable to motivate secondary students to learn. School/Educational facilities are otherwise referred to as Educational facilities. The Educational facilities are the physical facilities provided for in the school, such as the school site, the buildings and equipment. These facilities are likened to capital in any industrial settings. In understanding the national goal of developing the educational system so as to provide a satisfactory flow of men and women, capable of acquiring the skills necessary to exploit to the fullest, the natural resources of the country makes it imperative for facilities to be abundantly available in schools. Buildings are needed to shelter staff and students, sports/games facilities are needed to develop the mental, social and physical aspects of the students.
Educational facilities are made up of the school land all the physical structure on it. It refers to the school building, the play grounds, the equipment and other material resources provided in the school for effective teaching and learning operations, (Onuorah,2004).The Educational facilities is the space interpretation of the school curriculum(Mgbodile,1986).Similarly,  it was defined according to Ani (1997), thatEducational facilities include the fixed and mobile structure and materials in the school such as the classroom buildings, laboratory equipment, the furniture, the chalkboard, audio and visual aids. Educational facilities mean all facilities and equipment within the school, which are used by the members of the school community (Abraham, 2003).
 It was asserted that no matter the strength of manpower resources in the system, educational processes must require conducive physical accommodation, libraries, furniture‘s and playground (Nwaogu,1985). When these instructional facilities are lacking, it can affect negatively the productivity of the teachers. Learning takes place better and faster in a school environment with high level of buildings, accommodations, furniture‘s, and equipment, than in an environment where all these items are lacking. Adesina and Ogunsanji(1984) in their recognition of the need for a well-equipped school noted that for effective teaching and learning situations, physical facilities and educational goals should be viewed as being closely interwoven and inter-dependent. Apart from protecting students from sun, rain, heat and cold, the school building represents a learning environment which has a tremendous significance on the learners. Therefore, in order to facilitate this high level of teaching and learning process, there is need for well-planned and organized Educational facilities. A conducive teaching and learning environment is important to the quality of teachers engaged in the inculcation of desired attributes to the students. Stressing further, the significance of environment on teaching and learning to be effective, the school building and its surroundings must be free from threats, hostility and frustration. He suggested the following materials should be made available for teacher‘s use to enhance learning which are, textbook, programmed materials and devices, newspaper and magazines, and other library material, pictures, slides, film strips ,maps, globes ,charts,  motion pictures, radio,  television, chalkboards and chalks, specimens to concretize the ideas and stimulates imagination.