- Title
- Examining learners' and teachers' perceptions of the relationship between school infrastructure and learners' performance in Fort Beaufort Education District, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
- Creator
- Ajibade, Benedicta Aremevbemi
- Subject
- School facilities
- Subject
- Education and state -- South Africa
- Date Issued
- 2012-12
- Date
- 2012-12
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/24695
- Identifier
- vital:63526
- Description
- This study examined learners’ and teachers’ perceptions of the relationship between school infrastructure and learners’ performance in Fort Beaufort Education District, Eastern Cape. The study arose from a concern that, despite South African Government’s commitment to funding the renovation of some old and dilapidated school buildings and constructing new ones so that there would be an improvement in both teaching and learning in affected secondary schools. Regrettably, most school buildings remain in deplorable conditions. There has been poor learner performance at all levels of the secondary education system in some rural areas of the Eastern Cape Province. Learners’ performance in the Province’s high schools has been described as the worst in the country. From the literature, it appears that no thorough and conclusive studies looking into the issues relating to school buildings and learners’ performance as perceived by learners and teachers in South Africa have been conducted. Hence, the researcher was motivated to examine the relationship between school buildings and learners’ performance. The study was placed within the post-positivism paradigm and used a mixed method research design that incorporated concurrent procedures in the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data. Likert-scale questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data while qualitative data were collected through interviews and observations. A total of 240 learners completed the questionnaire. The researcher conducted 48 brief interviews (36 with teachers and 12 with school principals) from 12 selected secondary schools. Furthermore, the researcher made observations to assess the state of the buildings. At school level, the study revealed that most of the school buildings were in deplorable condition. The teaching and learning environment also compounded the problem of poor learners’ performance. Learners’ motivation/morale, health and safety were not guaranteed in most of the schools, and teachers’ expressed difficulty in performing their job effectively. Large classes, lack of teaching and learning resources, and limited infrastructure were some of the factors hindering teaching and learning at school level. Results obtained from the study showed that the principals and teachers perceived strong links between the condition of their school buildings and learners’ performance. About half of the learners perceived some link between the condition of their schools and their academic performance. The study observed that the majority of school buildings were old and in very bad conditions with few under renovation from the Correctional service department. The study also showed that most schools lack recreational facilities, do not have electricity, laboratories, library and water. Most of the educators are unhappy about their work environment and are not motivated. The study has put forth recommendations for educational planners and for policies regarding the funding norms. Furthermore, based on the findings of the study, there is need for collaborative effort among educational stakeholders to ensure adequate and appropriated delivery of school infrastructure specifically school building that will translate into improved teaching practice at school level and better learners’ performance.
- Description
- Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, 2012
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (163 leaves)
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Education
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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UFH School of Education
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | MEd (EDUCATION) Ajibade Graduation May 2013.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |