European Journal of Education Studies SCHOOL MAPPING AS THE

European Journal of Education Studies

ISSN: 2501 - 1111

ISSN-L: 2501 - 1111

Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu

DOI: 10.46827/ejes.v8i3.3644

Volume 8 │ Issue 3 │ 2021

SCHOOL MAPPING AS THE DETERMINANT OF

THE PROVISION OF EDUCATION RESOURCES

IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Florence Ukamaka Akudo,

Innocent Chiawa Igbokwe

Israel Chijiuka Oparaji

PhD, Department of Educational Management and Policy,

Nnamdi Azikiwe University,

Awka, Anambra State,

Nigeria

Abstract:

In this study, the researcher investigated school mapping as a determinant for the

provision of education resources in public secondary schools in Imo State. Three research

questions and three hypotheses guided the study. The instrument used to collect data

from the respondents was “School Mapping as a Determinant for the Provision of

Education Resources in Public Secondary Schools in Imo State Questionnaire

(SMDPERPSSISQ)”. The instrument was validated by three experts. The reliability of the

SMDPERPSSISQ was established through a pilot testing and analysis using Cronbach

alpha which yielded an average of 0.84 considered high enough for the study. Pearson

Product Moment Correlation Coefficients were used to answer the research questions

and test the hypotheses. In testing the null hypotheses, when p-value is equal or greater

than 0.05 level of significance, the null hypothesis is accepted, but if it is otherwise, the

null hypothesis is rejected. The finding of the study, among others is that most of the

schools in the study area are concentrated in the urban areas with few of them are cited

in the rural areas. It was therefore recommended that more schools should be located at

the rural communities to provide education opportunities for children of school age in

the rural area.

Keywords: school mapping, education resources, public secondary schools

1. Introduction

School mapping is concerned with the provision of education opportunities with the

intention to reduce the gap in the establishment of schools in every state or community.

It is the process of obtaining and analysing data and using them to make decisions and

Correspondence: email ic.igbokwe@unizik.edu.ng

Florence Ukamaka Akudo, Innocent Chiawa Igbokwe, Israel Chijiuka Oparaji

SCHOOL MAPPING AS THE DETERMINANT OF THE PROVISION OF

EDUCATION RESOURCES IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS

European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 8 │ Issue 3 │ 2021 253

projections on places to locate schools. The essence according to Adaja and Osagie (2015)

is to make for equity or equality in the provision of education resources.

It is also the process of determining future expansion of education resources in

terms of human, physical and financial resources. School mapping is an important or

strategic effort aimed at creating fairness in investment policies of education managers in

their desire to give people equal chances of education (Edumark, 2013). In a very simple

language, it is the location of schools in areas or places where education will be easily

accessible to the public, in order to avoid or minimize disparity.

Beyond this, school mapping in an extended meaning consists of actions taking by

government to provide education resources to schools and places where they are used

(Akpan, 2011). Education resources are material resources that are used to make teaching

and learning feasible. They include but not limited to school building, science equipment

in the laboratories, book and non-book materials needed both in the library and in the

class for consultation and lesson.

The need to develop school plant or infrastructure cannot be overemphasized.

Manga and Nakazalle (2015) stated that the availability or otherwise of school

infrastructure can make or destroy the realization of education objectives. According to

them, staff and student cannot operate well in a school environment where school plant

is either inadequate or not even available. Oyebade (2009) explains school mapping as

the process of planning for education and its implementation at the micro and macro

levels. Micro level stands for districts or local government areas while macro level

represents state-wide planning for the location of education resources. It is also

concerned with deciding the quality of teachers to be recruited and posted to schools to

teach or handle some specific subjects especially in the sciences (Edumark, 2013).

As stated earlier, school mapping falls within the purview of education planners

or authorities and the exercise could be recurrent. This is because school enrolment has

always been on the increase due to the surge in population (Oyebade, 2009). The rural

areas are replete with population of people that is always on the rise. This increase in the

number of school age children cannot be left uneducated. Schools therefore have to be set

up in those places to accommodate the rising population (Sabir, 2013).

In most cases, the rural communities are far from the cities where there is

concentration of schools. A situation like this creates difficulty for school age children to

access education from schools in the cities especially with the attendant bad roads. Citing

schools in their various localities close to them explains one of the reasons for school

mapping (Yusuf and Akiuriranye, 2011). There is ease and safety when children go to

school from home. They are under the care and supervision of their parents.

School mapping makes for cost effectiveness in the provision of education

resources. Adaja and Osagie (2015) are of the opinion that it is cheaper for parents to

access education for their children if schools are located closer to them in their rural areas.

On the part of government, it is more economical and purposeful to establish schools in

the local areas. At least, it reduces rural-urban migration and on another note, it helps to

boost the economy of the rural areas. This is because small and medium business units

Florence Ukamaka Akudo, Innocent Chiawa Igbokwe, Israel Chijiuka Oparaji

SCHOOL MAPPING AS THE DETERMINANT OF THE PROVISION OF

EDUCATION RESOURCES IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS

European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 8 │ Issue 3 │ 2021 254

are set up to take care of the teachers posted to the schools and even the students in the

hostels (Oyewobi, 2001).

One of the cardinal objectives of the Universal Basic Education is to provide

education opportunity for every Nigerian child of school age (FGN, 2004). School

mapping is one veritable means of realizing this national goal. It also gives government

the opportunity of making full use of the pool of human resources trained and prepared

to take up gainful employment. School mapping equally helps government to look at

educational backward societies with a view to not just setting up schools in their areas

but increase enrolment (Ifebuzor, Nkemakolam and Akintoye, 2015).

Sparely populated areas may as well need schools to be cited for them. These are

populations that live apart from each other like the Northern part of Nigeria. If such areas

are left on catered for educationally, they live and wallow in ignorance. Children in these

areas grow to become problems to the society. They become vulnerable to disaster and

sometimes constitute security threats to the nation (Edumark, 2013).

Some areas however could be rural but densely populated even with small

landmass. Such areas naturally breed large number of school age children. School

mapping can assist government provide for the educational needs of such localities. To

help government ensure adequate education opportunity for such rural but densely

populated area, there should be the provision of adequate data and statistics of the ages

and concentration of the population per kilometre (Sabir, 2013). One major challenge of

school mapping is political consideration especially when the area or population that

needs the school is at variance with the political party in government. Nevertheless, it is

important to state that school mapping helps government to ensure that global standards

are adopted and maintained to satisfy peculiar aspirations of each region or zone.

2. Statement of the Problem

School mapping is the dynamic process of identifying logically and systematically, the

areas and communities where education resources are to be located. Its purpose is to

provide what the society needs to get people educated. It has its own process of

investigation and makes available the inventory of already existing educational resources

and by that means shows institutional facilities that are under or over utilised. Where the

Universal Basic Education is put into consideration, school mapping takes note of the

organization of a school network takes care of the geographical distribution of the

population.

However, in Imo State, the way and manner schools are located is worrisome.

Majority of the 320 secondary schools in the study area are located at the urban areas

leaving the densely populated local or rural areas without adequate educational facilities.

It is against this background that this study is devoted to investigate school mapping as

a determinant of the provision of educational facilities in Imo state, Nigeria.

Florence Ukamaka Akudo, Innocent Chiawa Igbokwe, Israel Chijiuka Oparaji

SCHOOL MAPPING AS THE DETERMINANT OF THE PROVISION OF

EDUCATION RESOURCES IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS

European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 8 │ Issue 3 │ 2021 255

2.1 Purpose of the Study

The study examined the relationship between school mapping and the provision of

education facilities in Imo state. Specifically, the study investigated;

1) How school mapping enhances the provision of science equipment in secondary

school laboratories in Imo State.

2) The influence of school mapping on the provision of book and non-book materials

in secondary school libraries in Imo State.

3) How school mapping enhances the provision of education resources to rural areas

in Imo State.

2.2 Research Questions

The study was guided by the following research questions;

1) How does school mapping influence the provision of science equipment in

secondary school laboratories in Imo State?

2) How does school mapping influence the provision of book and non-book

materials in secondary school libraries in Imo State?

3) In what ways do school mapping help in the provision of education resources to

rural areas in Imo State?

2.3 Hypothesis

The following hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance:

1) There is no significant relationship between school mapping and the provision of

science equipment in secondary school laboratories in Imo State.

2) There is no significant relationship between school mapping and the provision of

book and non-book materials in secondary school libraries in Imo State.

3) There is no significant relationship between school mapping and the provision of

education resources to rural areas in Imo State.

3. Method

The study investigated school mapping as determinant of the provision of education

resources in Imo State, Nigeria. Three research questions and three hypotheses guided

the study. The population consist of the principals of the 230 secondary schools in the

study area and 162 principals were randomly chosen as the sample size of the study. The

instrument used for data collection was a 17-item questionnaire titled “School Mapping

as a Determinant of the Provision of Education Resources in Public Secondary Schools in

Imo State Questionnaire (SMDPERPSSISQ)”. The instrument was validated by three

experts. The reliability of the instrument was established by a pilot study and testing

using Cronbach alpha and it yielded an average of 0.84 which was considered high

enough for the study. The instrument was divided into three sections. Section A dealt

with the provision of science equipment in the school laboratories, section B was

concerned with the provision of book and non-book materials in school libraries while

Florence Ukamaka Akudo, Innocent Chiawa Igbokwe, Israel Chijiuka Oparaji

SCHOOL MAPPING AS THE DETERMINANT OF THE PROVISION OF

EDUCATION RESOURCES IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS

European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 8 │ Issue 3 │ 2021 256

section C was about the provision of education facilities. For the purpose of analysis, each

of the item was scored. The four points rating scale was used in rating the responses of

the respondents’ responses. Each item was weighted and calculated as: Strongly Agreed

(SA) = 4points, Agreed (A) = 3points, Disagree (D) = 2points and Strongly Disagree (SD)

= 1point. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions while

Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to test the hypotheses. The

null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 significant level by computed correlation index for

decision making. In testing the hypothesis, when P-value is less than 0.05 (< -0.05), the

null hypothesis was rejected, where it is otherwise, it is accepted.

4. Results

Research Question 1: How does school mapping influence the provision of science

equipment in secondary school laboratories in Imo State?

Table 1: Respondents’ mean ratings and standard deviation on influence

of school mapping on provision of science equipment (n = 156)

S/N

Questionnaire Items

Remarks

School mapping makes for the provision of science

laboratory equipment in schools.

2.86

0.89

Agree

School mapping makes for the provision of science

laboratory supplies.

2.82

0.75

Agree

It helps students to use science equipment in the school

laboratories.

3.62

0.88

Strongly Agree

It makes science students to conduct their practical easily.

2.86

0.91

Agree

School mapping helps to enhance science students’

knowledge of science subjects.

3.00

0.67

Agree

It makes science students to avoid hazards during science

practical.

2.65

0.65

Agree

School mapping makes for the provision of modern ICT

technologies for science practicals.

3.41

0.49

Agree

It will produce inventory of available science equipment in

schools.

3.68

0.87

Strongly Agree

It will show which of the science equipment are utilized or

underutilized.

3.00

0.88

Agree

Grand mean

3.10

Agree

Data in Table 1 reveal that out of 9 items listed on how school mapping influence the

provision of science equipment, school principals rated items 3 and 8 strongly agree with

mean scores ranging between 3.62 and 3.68 while they rated the remaining six items agree

with mean scores ranging between 2.65 and 3.41. The grand mean scores of 3.10 shows

that on the whole, school principals agree that school mapping have an influence on the

provision of science equipment in secondary school laboratories in Imo State. Standard

deviation ranges between 0.49 and 0.91 indicating that the respondents are not wide apart

in the mean ratings.

Florence Ukamaka Akudo, Innocent Chiawa Igbokwe, Israel Chijiuka Oparaji

SCHOOL MAPPING AS THE DETERMINANT OF THE PROVISION OF

EDUCATION RESOURCES IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS

European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 8 │ Issue 3 │ 2021 257

Research Question 2; How does school mapping influence the provision of book and

non-book materials in secondary school libraries in Imo State?

Table 2: Respondents’ mean ratings and standard deviation on influence of school

mapping on provision of book and non-book materials in secondary school libraries (n = 156)

S/N

Questionnaire items

Remarks

School mapping helps in the provision of book in the school

library.

3.04

0.87

Agree

It facilitates the provision of audio-visual materials in the

school library.

2.86

0.76

Agree

It provides students with journal and serials used for

research.

3.74

0.71

Strongly Agree

The library materials make for the availability of resource

materials for teachers.

2.57

0.61

Agree

Grand mean

3.05

Agree

Data in Table 2 shows that out of 4 items listed on how school mapping influence the

provision of book and non-book materials, school principals strongly agree that school

mapping provides students with journal and series used for research while they agree on

the remaining three items (items 10, 11 and 13) with mean scores ranged between 2.57

and 3.04. The grand mean scores of 3.05 shows that on the whole, school principals agree

that school mapping influence the provision of book and non-book materials in

secondary school libraries in Imo State. Standard deviation ranges between 0.61 and 0.87

indicating that the respondents are not wide apart in the mean ratings.

Research Question 3: In what ways do school mapping help in the provision of education

resources to rural areas in Imo State?

Table 3: Respondents’ mean ratings and standard deviation of how

school mapping help in the provision of education resources (n = 156)

S/N

Questionnaire items

Remark

School mapping helps to provide teaching and learning in the

rural areas of the state.

3.18

0.71

Agree

It gives children of school age the opportunity of going to school

from their homes.

2.64

0.66

Agree

It gives parents the opportunity of monitoring their children as

they go to school from their homes.

3.81

0.59

Strongly

Agree

School mapping makes education cost effective for both the

government and parents.

3.02

0.81

Agree

Grand Mean

3.16

Agree

Data in Table 3 shows that out of 4 items listed respondents strongly agree on item 16

with mean score of 3.81 while they agree on the remaining three items with mean scores

ranged between 2.64 and 3.18. The grand mean scores of 3.16 shows that on the whole,

school principals agree that school mapping helps in the provision of education resources

Florence Ukamaka Akudo, Innocent Chiawa Igbokwe, Israel Chijiuka Oparaji

SCHOOL MAPPING AS THE DETERMINANT OF THE PROVISION OF

EDUCATION RESOURCES IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS

European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 8 │ Issue 3 │ 2021 258

to rural areas in Imo State. Standard deviation ranges between 0.59 and 0.81 indicating

that the respondents are not wide apart in the mean ratings.

Hypothesis 1: There is no significant relationship between school mapping and the

provision of science equipment in secondary school laboratories in Imo State.

Table 4: Correlation coefficient of the relationship between

school mapping and provision of science equipment

Provision of

science equipment

School mapping

Pearson Correlation(r)

.785

Sig. (2-tailed)

.000

156

The correlational analysis on school mapping and provision of science equipment as

presented on Table 4, (r (156) = .785; p = .000), shows a significant relationship between

school mapping and provision of science equipment in secondary school laboratories in

Imo State, since p-value of .000 is lesser than 0.05. Therefore, the null hypothesis is

rejected.

Hypothesis 2: There is no significant relationship between school mapping and the

provision of book and non-book materials in secondary school libraries in Imo State.

Table 5: Correlation coefficient on the significant relationship

between school mapping and provision of book and non book materials

Provision of book and

non-book materials

School mapping

Pearson Correlation(r)

.690

Sig. (2-tailed)

.014

156

The correlational analysis on school mapping and provision of book and non-book

materials as presented on Table 5, (r (156) = .690; p = .014), shows a significant relationship

between school mapping and provision of book and non-book materials in secondary

school libraries in Imo State, since p-value of .014 is lesser than 0.05. Therefore, the null

hypothesis is rejected.

Hypothesis 3: There is no significant relationship between school mapping and the

provision of education resources to rural areas in Imo State.

Florence Ukamaka Akudo, Innocent Chiawa Igbokwe, Israel Chijiuka Oparaji

SCHOOL MAPPING AS THE DETERMINANT OF THE PROVISION OF

EDUCATION RESOURCES IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS

European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 8 │ Issue 3 │ 2021 259

Table 6: Correlation Coefficient on the Significant Relationship

between School Mapping and Provision of Education Resources

Provision of

education resources

School mapping

Pearson Correlation(r)

.815

Sig. (2-tailed)

.003

156

The correlational analysis on school mapping and provision of education resources as

presented on Table 6, (r (156) = .815; p = .003), shows a significant relationship between

school mapping and provision of education resources to rural areas in Imo State, since p-

value of .003 is lesser than 0.05. Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected.

5. Discussion

The findings of the study as shown in Table 1 explained that there is a significant

relationship between school mapping and the provision of science equipment in schools.

The responses were all agreed that school mapping has been a veritable instrument to

ensure that science equipment would be made available in public secondary schools.

Another finding of the study indicated in Table 2 is that there is a high and positive

relationship between school mapping and the provision of book and non-book materials

to school libraries. School mapping involves the process of taking stock of what is

available and identifying what is not available in order to supply them. Through

responses from the respondents showed that school mapping facilitates the provision of

learning facilities are provided in the school libraries. These facilitates are book covering

the various subjects offered in the school and non-book materials like audio and audio-

visual materials that are needed by both staff and students to enhance registrar.

One other finding of the study as indicated in Table 3 is that there is a significant

relationship between school mapping and the provision of education resources in

schools. Beyond science equipment and library facilities there are many other education

resources that help to facilitate learning. These are plants, furniture for both staff and

students and other instructional or resource materials that make learning possible. School

mapping addresses this to make sure that pedagogy and general school climate favour

learning process.

6. Conclusion

From the findings of the study, it could be understood that there is a positive and

significant relationship between school mapping and the provision of education

resources. School mapping as it were, is a periodic engagement of education authorities

and planners to take inventory of school plants and other facilities that ventilate learning.

In most cases, it is capital (money) intensive and as such government and education

Florence Ukamaka Akudo, Innocent Chiawa Igbokwe, Israel Chijiuka Oparaji

SCHOOL MAPPING AS THE DETERMINANT OF THE PROVISION OF

EDUCATION RESOURCES IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS

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authorities should deliberately work to ensure that the purpose, which is to make

available learning facilities in school is achieved.

6.1 Recommendation

In view of the above findings, the following recommendations are made;

1) Government and education authorities should embark on school mapping at the

end of every academic session in order to replace education facilities that are

subject to wear and tear of use.

2) School authorities should develop maintenance culture. Most learning facilities

break down and become unusable due to lack of care.

3) Government should also recruit and post specialised and competent teachers who

have the technical – knowhow to use the science equipment correctly during

teaching. Sometimes inexperience teachers engaged to handle science equipment

break them through wrong use.

4) Seminars and workshop should be periodically, organised for teachers to update

their knowledge and use of learning facilities that are becoming sophisticated with

new production.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

About the Authors

Florence Ukamaka Akudo is a senior lecturer in the department of Educational

Management and Policy, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. She is specialized in

Educational Administration, Supervision and Management. Her research interests

include but not limited to personnel management, research funding and quality

assurance.

Innocent Chiawa Igbokwe is a research fellow and lecturer in the department of

Educational Management and Policy, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. His area of

specialization is Educational Management and Policy. His research interests include

educational management, artificial intelligence in education, educational policy and

migration. His orcid id is orcid.org/0000-0002-3296-5777.

Israel Chijiuka Oparaji is a lecturer in the department of Educational Management and

Policy, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. His area of specialization is Educational

Management. His academic records include SC/GCE, BLS, M.ED, PhD, LLB. His research

interests are educational management and personnel management in education.

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SCHOOL MAPPING AS THE DETERMINANT OF THE PROVISION OF

EDUCATION RESOURCES IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS

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SCHOOL MAPPING AS THE DETERMINANT OF THE PROVISION OF

EDUCATION RESOURCES IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS

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