UNIVERSITY OF BENIN

IN AFFILIATION WITH
DELTA STATE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION MOSOGAR

NAME:

MATRIC NUMBER:
DIRECT ENTRY

DEPARTMENT:
EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT

LEVEL:
200

COURSE CODE:
EDM215

COURSE TITLE:
PLANNING EDUCATIONAL FACILITY

ASSIGNMENT TITLE:
DISCUSS THE IMPORTANCE OF DATA IN PLANNING
EDUCATIONAL FACILITY IN HIGHER INSTITUTIONS IN
NIGERIA
ABSTRACT:
The main purpose of this paper is to present how
Nigerian university system could be revitalized through
data involvement in planning. The university education in
Nigeria is faced with a lot of challenges. The result is
that most employers of labour complain about the poor
quality of the products. This paper therefore provide
variable solution to the planning of physical facility with the
aid of data. It also presents the steps in strategic
planning process and how to revive the university system
through physical facility and planning. The measures to be
taken in order to sustain the gains of strategic thinking
and planning in Nigeria universities are also presented and
recommendations were also made.
KEYWORDS: Planning, Physical Facility, Educational
Planning, University Education, Importance Of Data
INTRODUCTION
The importance of education in the development of any
nation cannot be overemphasized. There is an increasing
belief in the power of education to transform the
society. In Nigeria, education is viewed as an instrument
per excellence for national development. Education is
needed for the social, economic, political and
technological transformation of the nation. It is education
that can transform the economy of a country from
where it is to where it should be. Therefore, for
education to play its leading role in the development of
a nation, it needs to be properly planned, taking into
consideration the needs and aspirations of the citizenry,
the social, cultural and technological changes as well as
the impact of globalization on the growth and
development of the country . The success of any
educational system depends greatly on effective panning.
Planning is the process of examining the future and
drawing up appropriate actions for achieving specified
goals and objectives. Educational planning on the other
hand involves the setting of educational goals and
objectives, the formulation of educational policies and
the coordination of educational programmes and activities
that would lead to the accomplishment of the
predetermined educational goals and objectives. It also
involves financial planning and budgeting as well as
human resource planning.
CONCEPT OF PLANNING
Planning is fundamental to the achievement of set goals.
Planning is a deliberate effort to determine the future course
of action for accomplishing predetermined goals and
objectives. Akpan (2011) conceptualizes planning as the
process of examining the future and drawing up or mapping
out a course of action for achieving specified goals and
objectives.
THE CONCEPT OF EDUCATIONAL FACILITY
The quality of education delivered by teachers and the
academic achievement of pupils of any school is
dependent on several factors of which Educational
Facilities is paramount. Educational facilities are materials
resources that enhance teaching and learning thereby
making the process meaningful and purposeful.
Educational facilities can be defined as the entire school
plant which school administrators, teachers and students
harness, allocate and utilize for the smooth and efficient
management of any educational institution, for the main
objective of bringing about effective and purposeful
teaching and learning experience. The school facilities
consist of all types of buildings for academic and non-
academic activities, equipment for academic and non-
academic activities, areas for sports and games,
landscape, farms and gardens including trees, roads and
paths. Others include furniture and toilet facilities,
lighting, acoustics, storage facilities and packing lot,
security, transportation, ICT, cleaning materials, food
services, and special facilities for the physically
challenged persons. Oyesola (2000) sees school facilities
to include permanent and semi-permanent structures
such as machinery, laboratory equipment, the blackboard,
teacher’s tools and other equipment as well as
consumables. Good quality and standard of school
depend largely on the provision, adequacy, unitization
and management of educational facilities. Akinsolu (2004)
asserted that educational curriculum cannot be sound
and well operated with poor and badly managed school
facilities.
PHYSICAL FACILITY
Physical facilities are fundamental for any educational
institution and it is directly connected with school
effectiveness as well as educational development. Obviously,
physical facilities in the school motivate students to learn.
Adequate attention is currently on physical facilities in
Nigeria educational system and it has been repeatedly found
to have positive relationship with standard and quality of
educational system. Education is the primary agent of
transformation towards sustainable development goals. All
countries including Nigeria strive for quality education for
their sustainable development. Government cannot satisfy
the educational needs of its increasing population, so the
private sector also plays a great role in educational
development by creating schools known as private schools
which operate at all level of education from nursery to
tertiary and enroll a good number of students. It is the
general opinion of people that private schools are better in
terms of the availability of physical facilities and this situation
has made many parents to enroll their children in private
schools (Akomolafe & Adesua, 2016; Sanusi, 2018).
IMPACT Of PHYSICAL FACILITIES PLANNING ON SCHOOL
EFFECTIVENESS
Physical facilities and school effectiveness are very closely
interwoven and related. Apart from protecting learners from
sun, rain, heat, cold, the school building represents a learning
environment which has tremendous impact on the comfort,
safety and performance of the teachers and students. Sanusi
(2018) stressed the importance of physical facilities in the
management of educational system. The study opined that
all stakeholders need to ensure adequate provision of
physical facilities in all educational system; be it primary,
secondary and tertiary levels to enhance learning and
improved productivity. It is true that the central figures in
any learning situation are always the students and not the
teachers, but it is equally true that teaching and learning may
be greatly enhanced by the utilization of the physical facilities
available in the school. Olanrewaju (2016) corroborates
Ahmed (2003) view and observed that it is imperative that
teachers be thoroughly acquainted with the teaching
resources and services available to them. These resources are
quite important in achieving school effectiveness. A school
with conducive classrooms and facilities improve teaching
and learning process. Unfortunately, there are inadequate
infrastructures and facilities in many secondary schools in
Nigeria which dampened teachers‘ morale and also affects
students negatively.
SCHOOL FACILITY MANAGEMENT
The management of academic and administrative affairs
of schools traditionally falls within the purview of the
Vice Chancellor. Unerringly, formal education in Nigeria is
rapidly changing and technically tailored towards meeting
certain set goals, such as “education for all” (Nwaogu,
2013). The requirements of these various goals from the
school managers are centred on the advancement of
teaching and learning through the implementation of
performance-based management, which is led by a
management team, with the principal at the fulcrum.
Given this onerous task, the principal, as a matter of
fact, must understand the role of school managers to
effectively manage not only staff but the facilities to
meet the overall objectives of the school system.
According to Ukeje (2000), the unsatisfactory
performance often experienced in schools by students
and educational programmes is always attributed to lack
of basic infrastructure, lack of adequate and accurate
statistics, inadequate funding, embezzlement, bureaucratic
bottleneck and poor attitude to work. Generally, the VC
responsibility in the management of educational facilities
entails bringing together individuals as a group that will
control, coordinate and articulate activities to achieve
tangible and holistic learning for the overall benefit of
the society (Sunday, 2014). The school management team
headed by the VC must develop, support and equip staff
with knowledge and skills to respond positively to the
ever-changing phenomenon of education to meet
contemporary societal challenges. This he can do among
other things in ensuring the effective management of
school facilities at his disposal in order to ensure they
are properly maintained and safe for use for educational
purposes. Some effective school facility management
techniques include: Maintenance, testing and inspections:
Maintenance, testing and inspection schedules are
required to ensure that the facility is operating safely
and efficiently, to maximize the life of equipment and
reduce the risk of failure. Statutory obligations must also
be met.
STATE OF UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN NIGERIA
In Nigeria, university education has become a major
concern for so many reasons. Firstly, the concerns about
poor learning in Nigerian universities amplify as many of
the Nigerian youth found it increasingly difficult to gain
employment in the formal sector or end up working in
poor conditions in the informal economy. Secondly,
ineffective learning becomes a prime suspect as research
findings increasingly reveal that universities graduates in
Nigeria acquire skills in discipline such as economics, law
and medicine that are neither demanded by the labour
market nor required by the economy especially in the
growth sectors such as petroleum, gas, agriculture,
manufacturing, solid minerals, tourism and ICT (Federal
Ministry of Education, 2005 and Babalola, 2007).
IMPORTANCE OF DATA IN PLANNING EDUCATIONAL
FACILITY
Data is information in a processed form that consists
of facts and figures which are generated from
educational programme (Aghenta: 1993). Data are
needed for projection concerning future changes in
population structure based on the present population.
• ACCURATE DEMOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: This will
make it easy to project school enrolment to
primary school, from primary school to post-primary
and lastly to post-secondary schools. It will make it
easy to estimate the number of pupils and students
by age, sex, class, and levels as well as students
flow from one system to the other.
• ACCURATE RESOURCES: This will help in the
numbers of schools, classrooms, teachers needed
and resources for the smooth running of the
schools at various level of education.
• ERADICATION OF FALSE INFORMATION: In Nigeria
today inaccurate and inadequate data has given
way to unreliable estimates. Where rudimentary
data are available, they are deficient in vital detail
and sharp discrepancies in the nature of the data
are found from state to state.
• GOVERNMENTAL AWARENESS: The federal office of
statistics which is expected to be the store house
 of data that will show correct number of students
enrollment per year and classes, teachers and
facilities needed.
• PROVISION OF REQUIRED FACILITIES: We have over
populated and overcrowded students at all levels of
education as well as shortage of teachers, facilities
and financing, the result is confusion in the National
Educational System. (Akpa: 2002).
RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations are forwarded for sound
educational planning and development. Government
should have accurate and adequate data, sound teachers
training programme which will meet the demands and
supplies, also enough money for recurrent and capital
expenditures, good building with beautiful design and
structure as well as curriculum base on the societal
needs now and in future. Sufficient facilities and
materials needed at all levels of schools, balance supply
and demand between primary schools, secondary schools
and tertiary schools, in terms of admission and
vacancies. The programmes must be relevant to the
socio-politico-culture and economic needs of the
community for which education is planned. Parents must
be given opportunity to fully participate in education
process of their children and lastly all sectors particularly
social services programmes must be integrated for better
planning and policy implementation of educational system
of the country.
 CONCLUSION
Circumstance in Nigeria have changed sufficiently in the
past years that many vice-chancellors now appear willing
to consider the use of strategic thinking and planning as
important tools in determining how best to revitalize and
modernize their institutions. A fundamental requirement
for institutional success in any strategic planning process
is the need to engage the end users of university
products and services in a more systematic way. It seems
that few institutions in Nigeria have realized the extent
to which Nigerian employers have become concerned
about the declining value of undergraduate education.
The institutions also seem to comprehend fully the
potential value that developing partnership with their
end-users could bring to them. It is therefore concluded
that the integration of strategic thinking and planning
provides an instructive opportunity for involving end-
users in the process of determining how institutions can
best be revitalized.
 REFERENCE
Abraham, S. (2005), “Stretching Strategic Thinking” Strategy
and Leadership, 33(5), 5-12. Adekanmbi, G.
(2007). “Tertiary distance education in Africa: A
response to trends in world higher education”.
Lead paper presented at second HERPNET
conference at IITA Ibadan, 13th -16th August.
Fielden, B. (1996). Strategic planning for school
improvement. Financial times Harlow; Prentice- Hall.
Aiuepeku, T. F. (1989). 6.3.3.4 System of Education in
Nigeria: Ibadan NPS Educational.
Abdulkareem, A (2011). Management of educational
facilities in Nigerian secondary schools: The roles
of administrators and inspectors. International
Journal of education and research, Vol., 2(4). 103 -
110
Agabi, O.G. (2012). Managing educational facilities.
Theoretical perspective on practice and research.
Port Harcourt Bengray Publishing Company.