Abstract
Social amenities in primary schools play an important role in the provision of quality education. Social amenities include play materials and sanitation facilities. This study aimed at examining the impact of social amenities on academic performance in primary schools in Gichugu Constituency, Kenya. The objectives of this study were to assess the status of social amenities, to establish how sanitation amenities influence pupils’ performance and lastly, to evaluate challenges facing provision of social amenities in primary schools in Gichugu Constituency, Kenya. This study was guided by Social Constructionist Theory. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The target population consisted of 75 primary school head teachers. Kathuri and Pal’s Table for Sample Size Determination was used to arrive at a sample size of 63 school head teachers who were randomly selected from the target population. A questionnaire and an observation guide were used to collect data from the respondents. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 20). The study established that in majority of the primary schools, pupils had access to clean and safe drinking water though pupils in some schools used water from nearby rivers and stream. The study also found out that majority of the schools had adequate sanitation amenities. However, the study established that sanitation facilities did not cater for learners with physical disabilities. The study established that social amenities influenced learners’ academic performance in primary schools. Further, the study established that financial challenges affected provision and maintenance of social amenities in primary schools in the study region. The study recommended that the Ministry of Education and other education stakeholders should facilitate the provision and maintenance of social amenities in primary schools in Kenya in order to improve pupils’ academic performance.
Highlights
One of the Millennium Development Goals calls on countries to reduce the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by half (Guy and Haller, 2007)
The study sought to establish the status of social amenities in primary schools in Gichugu Constituency, Kenya
The study concluded that social amenities play a pivotal role in development of communication, intellectual and physical growth among learners in primary schools
Summary
One of the Millennium Development Goals calls on countries to reduce the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by half (Guy and Haller, 2007). Social play amenities include play materials which allow social development of children within the school and at home. In a study conducted in American schools on the role of athletics and academic performance, Gorman (2010) studied how provision of play amenities influences growth and development of intellectual capacity of children. Gorman noted that there are children whose motivation in play influenced their intellectual development. Lack of these materials reduces their level of motivation and eventually results in poor intellectual development. This study disputed earlier findings of McMillen (1991) who had argued that athletics eligibility did not have any positive relationship with academic performance. Gorman’s study was based on senior school learners who were highly involved in athletics and the findings involved learners who were at advanced stages in their formative years unlike the current study that is exclusively on primary school children
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