Basic Facilities and Academic Achievement: A Comparative Study between Boarding and Non-boarding Schools

Abstract

One of the reasons parents send their children to boarding schools is the standard of basic facilities, which it is believed is higher than in non-boarding schools, and can have a positive impact on academic achievement. These basic facilities include buildings, water and electricity, which this study investigated, along with the correlation between them and academic achievement of Grade 12 learners of the Capricorn District in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. A simple random sample was drawn from the population of 339 schools, comprising of 51 principals, 158 teachers and 290 learners from 51 schools. Ten of the 51 schools accommodated boarders, whereas the remaining 41 did not. The instrument used to collect data was the School Environmental Questionnaire (SEQ), consisting of closed questions to determine if the school was boarding or non-boarding and the availability of basic facilities. The Capricorn District Academic Summary Report of the Grade 12 results was used to collect data on academic achievement. The data analysis technique used was the t-test. The results showed a significant difference in basic facilities between boarding and non-boarding schools, with the former having more basic facilities. It also revealed a significant difference between low and high achieving schools in basic facilities, with high achieving schools being boarding schools. The implication of this study is that basic facilities have a positive correlation with academic achievement.