Role of Infrastructure in Improving Students’ Outcomes

Abstract

The repute index of an institute of higher education (HEI), offering many different programs and courses, depends primarily on its ability to satisfy not only its internal stakeholders (students, faculty, staff), but also the community and society at large. To ensure success and quality delivery in aspects ranging from course curriculum, infrastructure, facilities, career placement, etc. to co-curricular activities, research, life skills etc., a students’ perspective through a comprehensive students’ feedback becomes pivotal in planning for its future development. Research has shown that an institutes’ facilities have a profound impact on both teacher and student outcomes. The state and type of facilities available directly affect a teachers’ commitment towards the institute and efforts to promote its status. Since any HEI caters to a large number of students coming from different social and economic backgrounds, its facilities and resources affect behavior, learning, and growth in achievement. Hence, without adequate facilities, it is extremely difficult to achieve satisfaction and improve faculty profile. Educational infrastructure like Buildings, classrooms, laboratories, and equipments are crucial elements of learning environments in schools and universities. There is strong evidence that high-quality infrastructure facilitates better instruction, improves student outcomes, and reduces dropout rates, among other benefits. Many studies have been conducted and it was found that environmental and design elements of an institute’s infrastructure together showed positive variation in students’ academic progress. Although education policymakers are increasingly focusing on the quality of education and learning environments, there is no uniform approach to invest in their educational infrastructure. Demographic trends, needs of education institutions, transportation alternatives and labor market skills are key points in determining the functioning of an educational institute. Therefore it is necessary to develop not only the strategies for managing educational facilities but also to do research to better understand how facilities influence student’s behaviour and achievement. It is important to identify roles, responsibilities and scope, set up the database systems to support the development, monitor the capital investments, maintenance and running programmes, identify areas of concern, consider development plans, develop overview of priorities and finalize budgeting. Our paper presents a study of the role of infrastructure in the working of an educational institution with respect to the implementation, review & evaluation of the above mentioned points and also presents some ways to enhance its performance.