School Facilities and Academic Achievement of Secondary School Agricultural Science in Ekiti State , Nigeria

The study looked at the provision of facilities as it relates to academic performance of students in agricultural science in Ekiti state of Nigeria between 1990 and 1997. The study population was results of the West African School Certificate Examinations (WASCE) conducted between 1990 and 1997 in 50 secondary schools in both rural and urban areas of the state. One validated instrument (STQF) was used for data collection. One hypothesis was formulated and answered. Data were analysed using mean and t – test. The results showed that there were no significant differences in the performance of students between rural and urban secondary schools in term of availability of library facilities (t = 1.79, p<0.05), availability of textbooks (t= 1.20; p <0.05) and availability of laboratory facilities (t= 1.83, p<0.05). It has been established that facilities are potent to high academic achievement of students; therefore, Ekiti State Government should provide adequate material resources to rural/urban locations to enhance teaching and learning processes. The Parent Teacher Association (PTA), philanthropist and other charitable organizations are also implored to compliment the effort of the government to boost the performance of students in SSCE.


Introduction
School facilities have been observed as a potent factor to quantitative education.The importance to teaching and learning of the provision of adequate instructional facilities for education cannot be over-emphazied.The dictum that "teaching is inseparable from learning but learning is not separable from teaching" is that teachers do the teaching to make the students learn, but students can learn without the teachers.According to Akande (1985), learning can occur through one's interaction with one's environment.Environment here refers to facilities that are available to facilitate students learning outcome.It includes books, audio-visual, software and hardware of educational technology; so also, size of classroom, sitting position and arrangement, availability of tables, chairs, chalkboards, shelves on which instruments for practicals are arranged (Farrant, 1991 andFarombi, 1998).
According to Oni (1992), facilities constitute a strategic factor in organizational functioning.This is so because they determine to a very large extent the smooth functioning of any social organization or system including education.He further stated that their availability, adequacy and relevance influence efficiency and high productivity.In his words, Farombi (1998) opined that the wealth of a nation or society could determine the quality of education in that land; emphasizing that a society that is wealthy will establish good schools with quality teachers, learning infrastructures that with such, students may learn with ease thus bringing about good academic achievement.Writing on the role of facilities in teaching, Balogun (1982) submitted that no effective science education programme can exist without equipment for teaching.This is because facilities enable the learner to develop problem-solving skills and scientific attitudes.In their contribution, Ajayi and Ogunyemi (1990) reiterated that when facilities are provided to meet relative needs of a school system, students will not only have access to the reference materials mentioned by the teacher, but individual students will also learn at their own paces.The net effect of this is increased overall academic performance of the entire students.
In his study on resource concentration, utilization and management as correlates of students learning outcomes in Oyo State, Farombi (1998) found that the classroom learning environment in some schools was poor.He cited examples of schools without chalkboard, absence of ceiling, some roofing sheets not in place, windows and doors removed among others, a situation which the researcher regarded as hazardous to healthy living of the learners.According to Nigerian Tribune on Thursday 25 November 1999, in caption; Mass Failure will Continue until…" the chairman of the National Committee of WAEC, Dr. U.B Ahmed opined that the classroom is the origin of failure… a close look at the public schools and what goes on there shows that nothing good can come out of most schools as they do not have facilities, adequate and appropriate human resources to prepare candidates for WASCE.
The above statement indicates that the problem of candidates' mass failure in WAEC's organized examination will continue until the situation of the nation's public schools change for the better.Writing on how to improve primary education in developing countries, World Bank publication (1990), citing Mwamwenda and Mwamwenda (1987) linked performance of students to the provision of adequate facilities while referring to a survey of 51 primary schools in Botswana that students performed significantly better on academic tests when they had adequate classrooms, desks and books.Earlier, Fagbamiye (1979) attesting to why students' performance standard fall observed 559 cases from 13 secondary schools in Lagos State using age, type of school (Day or Boarding, mixed or single sex), teachers qualification and teaching experience as well as intake quality using students' entrance examination achievement.His findings revealed that schools which are equipped had good records of achievement and attracted more students.He concluded that good quality schools in terms of facilities and younger students' intake perform better in WASCE.
Commenting on why high academic attainment is not in vogue in Nigeria, Adesina (1981) identified poor and inadequate physical facilities, obsolete teaching techniques… overcrowded classrooms among others, as factors.Throwing more light on school facilities and moral guiding provision, Fabunmi (1997) asserted that school facilities when provided will aid teaching learning programme and consequently improve academic achievement of students while the models guiding their provision to schools could take any form as rational bureaucratic and or political model.Whichever model is adopted, according to him, there is always a common feature of differing allocation of facilities to schools.In his words, Ojoawo (1990), however, noted that certain schools are favored in the allocation of facilities at the expense of others.Writing on poor performance of students in public examinations, London (1993) stated that in many developing nations certain physical facilities are none existent, and that those instances where amenities are available many are of sub standard quality.What is even more alarming is the correlation, which these observers claim to exist between quality of facilities and academic performance.Lamenting on the glowing inadequacies of school facilities in our educational industry, Akinkugbe (1994) opined that everywhere you look, primary, secondary, special, technical, tertiary, there is abundant evidence of crippling inertia, criminal neglect and a pervasive decay in values and standard.
Other scholars (Wilcockson 1994, Lawal 1995, Ajayi 1996, Suleiman 1996) have variously identified the significance of facilities in teaching learning spheres.We can say that absence or poor (and or deteriorating) quality of educational facilities can affect academic performance.Gamoran (1992), however, holding a contrary view noted that facilities… teachers' salaries, books in the library and the presence of science laboratory, had little impact on variation in student achievement once student background variables had been taken into account.This statement connotes that before such student could perform well in higher educational level, he must have been groomed or cushioned by availability of resources in his elementary days upon which he now uses as spring board.According to Hallak (1990), facilities form one of the potent factors that contribute to academic achievement in the school system.They include the school buildings, classroom, accommodation, libraries, laboratories, furniture, recreational equipment, apparatus and other instructional materials.He went further to say that their availability, relevance and adequacy contribute to academic achievement.He however, quickly added that unattractive school buildings and overcrowded classrooms among others contribute to poor academic attainment.Describing where these facilities should be located, he ascribed that educational facilities should be located in appropriate places, while the needs of the users should be put into consideration.In another development, Aliyu (1993) as cited by Johnson (1998) found that there was no significant difference between students in secondary schools with and without adequate instructional facilities.However, he submitted that instructional facilities were indispensible to academic achievement of students in English Language, Mathematics, Biology and Geography while students could perform well in other subjects without adequacy of sophisticated instructional materials.He concluded that the effect of instructional facilities on students' academic achievement is more felt in pure and social sciences.
In a comparative study on correlates of school extrinsic variables with students academic attainment in science using a target population of 182 Secondary Schools with 20 schools randomly chosen to represent each of the three science subjects; Physics, Chemistry, and Biology in Bendel State.Arubayi (1987) found a positive relationship between the independent variables of laboratory facilities; recommended textbooks, number of science books in the library and teachers' qualifications and the dependent variable, the academic achievement of students in physics, Chemistry, and Biology.From the various facts highlighted above, attempt will be made to identify the contributions of some elements that constitute these facilities and their impact on academic achievement of students.They are; Libraries, Textbooks, School buildings, Laboratories.

Libraries and Academic Achievement
Oxford advanced learners dictionary described a library as a building or room in which collection of books, tapes, newspapers etc. are kept for people to read, study or borrow.
Library is an essential factor in teaching-learning process.It forms one of the most important educational services.The educational process functions in a world of books.The chief purpose of a school library is to make available to the pupil, at his easy convenience, all books, periodicals and other reproduced materials which are of interest and value to him but which are not provided or assigned to him as basic or supplementary textbooks.The importance of library has been demonstrated by the government when she expressed in the National Policy on Education (NPE) that every state Ministry needs to provide funds for the establishment of libraries in all her educational institutions and to train librarians and library assistants.As a resource, it occupies a central and primary place in any school system.It supports all functions of school-teaching and provides service and guidance to its readers.According to Fowowe (1988) a library must be up-to-date and at the same time allow access to older materials.It must be properly supported financially to fund materials and services among others.
While itemizing the types of libraries, Ola (1990) opined that secondary school library in whatever form, has replaced the traditional method of 'chalk and talk' in imparting knowledge to students that its effect on academic performance need not to be over-emphasized.He concluded that a well equipped library is a major facility which enhances good learning and achievement of high educational standard.In his words, Farombi (1998) reiterated that school libraries may not be effective if the books therein are not adequate and up-to-date as its impact may only be meaningful if the library could be opened to the students always for a considerable length of time in a school day.With all the above mentioned facts, it is sad to know that many schools operate without libraries (Shodimu, 1998) whereas Ogunseye (1986) had earlier noted that total absence of an organized school library would continue to spell dooms for thousands of secondary school students.This statement clearly implied that many schools operate without libraries and had affected the academic performance of their students.
Moreover, Fuller (1986) identified a school library as an instructional resource which may significantly influence pupils' achievement after controlling for pupils' family background.He found that effect of library size and its activity have been positive in 15 out of 18 analyses.Also, in his study on the relationship between instructional facilities and academic performance, Popoola (1989) discovered that library correlates with academic achievement and those schools with well equipped library normally maintain high academic performance.
In another study on raising school quality in developing countries, Fuller (1985) found that collection of books kept for reading in the library is related to performance.Reporting the state of library in Lagos Secondary Schools, Shodimu (1998) submitted that the guidelines that each school should be provided with a library with 100 students seating capacity was not followed as most of the schools he sampled had seating capacity of less than 100 students.

Textbooks and Academic Achievement
A textbook constitutes an important tool for academic achievement.Many writers (Heyneman and Loxley 1982, Walberg 1984, Beeby 1986) have variously highlighted the contribution of textbooks to academic achievement.Studies have revealed in some instances, that textbooks provide the only source of information for students as well as the course of study for the subject.Exploring the effects of textbooks and other factors on student achievement gain, Lockheed et.al (1986) found in their longitudinal data from a national sample of eight grade Mathematics classrooms in Thailand that textbooks may affect achievement by substituting for additional post Secondary Mathematics education of teachers and by delivering a more comprehensive curriculum.Earlier in his own contribution, Altbach (1983) opined that "nothing has ever replaced the printed word as the key element in the educational process and, as a result, textbooks are central to schooling at all levels".In his empirical studies of use of textbooks and educational achievement involving 1,006 primary school pupils, Fuller (1985) revealed that students who had used more than two textbooks were almost three times as likely to pass… 67 per cent graduating examination compared to students who had no textbooks in schools (only 24 per cent graduating).Squire (1991), writing on teachers reliance on textbooks, stated that those seeking to improve the quality of education believed that improvements in instructional materials would inevitably lead to changes in actual teaching.For many teachers, textbook can provide an excellent and useful resource, without usurping the position of the teacher.While the selection of a textbook has been adjudged to be of vital importance to academic achievement, it is sad to say that relevant textbooks are not available for teaching and learning activities (Soyibo 1987, Odulaja andOgunwemimo 1989).Lack of textbooks could be identified with the high costs.When this happens, he further noted that students cannot afford to purchase, the implication therefore is that the teacher will serve as the only source of information.Where the teacher is the only source of information his selection of a textbook may be biased.Biased in the sense that his selection may be based on reasonably unsatisfactory criteria such as its attractiveness in terms of color, print, photograph, the author's qualifications and the recognition he has accorded in some other publications.In his study on resources and resources utilization as correlates on academic achievement, Oni (1992), reported that there was a significant relationship between recommended textbooks and academic performance in introductory technology, Business Studies and Home Management respectively.

School Building and Academic Achievement
Many research findings have shown that the success of any educational endeavor rest on the availability of physical facilities especially the school building.Writing on its importance, Olutola (1982), noted that the availability of the school building and other plans contribute to good academic performance as they enhance effective teaching-learning activities.He further stated that well sited school buildings with aesthetic conditions, playground, lavatory, etc. according to the scholar usually contribute to achieving higher educational attainment by the students.Throwing more light on this, the Encyclopedia of Educational Research recorded that the total environment within a school building should be comfortable, pleasant and psychological uplifting.It should provide a passive physical setting that is educationally stimulating, it should produce a feeling of well-being among its occupants, and it should support the educational process (p.1156).The above condition can only be met through the cooperative efforts of imaginative teachers, administrators and a creative knowledgeable architect.
Tracing the history of school building to the past to give credence to above statement, Samuel (1997) noted that school sites were arbitrarily chosen with little or no consideration for architects, consultants, engineers, and administrators, among others.He observed the flaws as a huge waste of scarce resources.Earlier in his study, Williams (1973) succinctly said that school buildings are very vital input to educational system; emphasizing that even though they do not teach but their use may facilitate or impede learning.However, he did not see school building as one of the critical variables affecting school academic achievement because he found no evidence to show that an expensive school building would necessarily improve academic achievement.Giving credence to the above finding, Owoeye (1991) in his submission, expressed skepticism about any useful relationship between such expensive structures and academic achievement.
Also, in his report on secondary school education in Nigeria, Adaralegbe (1983) reiterated that from Inspector's reports over the years, there is abundant evidence and catalogue of inadequacies in the provision and judicious use of school buildings and materials for instruction.He went further to say that many classes have been held under unhygienic conditions while some schools have no ceiling, some have no doors and windows have no shutters and some classroom floors have not been concreted.The situation is even worst in rural areas and under these unfavourable situations; much learning cannot be expected to take place.As a result of this deplorable condition, Obemeata (1995) submitted that only a small proportion of secondary school products are qualified to enter the University in Nigeria.Akinwumiju and Orimoloye (1987) opined that education institutions from Nursery to University require buildings for their effective operations.Classrooms, offices, assembly halls, laboratories and staff quarters are needed…important items like furniture for staff and students, books, science equipment, games and sport equipment should be adequate in number and they should all be in good conditions for schools to function properly.Writing on the deplorable state of public schools in Nigeria, Ogunmoyela (1994) lamented that school buildings of public schools have no roof, windows and doors, some walls are cracked, instructional facilities are lacking while teachers are frustrated consequent upon lack of equipment/facilities to meet educational endeavours.Comparing schools in developing countries with what obtains in industrialized world, in terms of facilities, materials, utilization, and provision.Akintayo (1997) opined that schooling in developing countries like Nigeria takes place under condition that are very different from those in industrialized countries like Great Britain.He further stated that primary school pupils in developed countries are likely to go to school in modern well-equipped buildings and to have a curriculum that is well thought out in terms of scope and sequence.In line with the above, Lockheed and Verspoor (1991) stated that on the average they receive 900 hours a year of learning time.The situation is not the same in Nigeria, both primary and secondary schools in Nigeria in particularly Ekiti State battle with dilapidated buildings as well as incessant strike action for upward of three to six months that students' average attendance per session is very poor and discouraging.

Laboratory and Academic Achievement
Laboratory has been conceptualized as a room or a building specially built for teaching by demonstration of theoretical phenomenon into practical terms.Farombi (1998) argued the saying that "seeing is believing" as the effect of using laboratories in teaching and learning of science and other science related disciplines as students tend to understand and recall what they see than what they hear or were told.Laboratory is essential to the teaching of sciences and the success of any science course is much dependent on the laboratory provision made for it.Affirming this, Ogunniyi (1983) said there is a general consensus among science educators that the laboratory occupies a central position in science instruction.It could be described as a place where theoretical work is practicalized whereas practicals in any learning experience involves students in activities such as observing, counting, measuring, experimenting, recording, observation and carrying out field work.These activities are totally different from the theoretical work which involves listening to talks and taking down notes from such talks.
According to Ango (1986)  Laboratory helps to provide a forum wherein the learner is given the exercise to subjects, his beliefs, ideas, statements, theoretical propositions etc. to some forms of experimental test (Soyibo, 1990).To maintain and arouse the interests of students in subjects involving laboratory work, the teacher should be effectively involved in order to transfer knowledge and facts to learners for a good performance in any examinations.In line with this, one then pauses to ask, to what extent has laboratory been able to achieve its objectives.Odulaja and Ogunwemimo (1989) highlighted that the teacher assumes a position of dispenser of knowledge with the laboratory serving the function of drill or verification.They further explained that at the other extreme, the teacher assumes the position of guide to learning and laboratory as a place where knowledge is discovered.However, there are growing evidences that teachers do not exhibit behaviours which are complementary to achieving the stated objectives.They include methods of teaching practical work; inadequacy or absence of well-equipped laboratories; high enrollment of students; inadequacy of resources for teaching and learning practical work; quantity and quality of teachers.Nwachukwu (1984) discovered in her survey of the resources for the teaching and learning of Biology in some of the new secondary schools in Lagos that there was a general inadequacy of resources.She also found out among other things that (a) out of 80 per cent of the old schools that accepted as having laboratories, none had a well-equipped laboratory and (b) 40 per cent of the schools had no laboratory at all, while the remaining 60 per cent had rooms labeled "laboratory" without adequate apparatus, she concluded that teaching of Biology practical by teachers would be difficult and that students learning experiences would be limited.In his contribution, Balogun (1982) submitted that no effective science education programme can exist without equipment for teaching.Writing on the situation of our secondary schools today, Okoli (1995) reported that laboratories have become shelves of empty bottles of chemicals.In terms of academic achievement, Soyibo and Nyong (1984) have shown that schools with well-equipped laboratories have better results in the school certificate science examinations than those that are ill-equipped.Corroborating this, Gana (1997) reiterated that students instructed entirely by the laboratory methods had higher attitude's scores but lower achievement scores than students instructed entirely by the traditional lecture or textbook mode.Yadar (2007) opines that no course in science and mathematics can be considered as complete without including some practical work.The practical work ought to be carried out by individuals either in science laboratories or in classes.At school level, practical work is even more important because of the fact that we learn by doing.Scientific practices and applications are thus rendered more meaningful.It is an established truth that an object handled impresses itself more firmly on the mind than the object merely seen from a distance or in an illustration.Thus practical work forms an important feature in any science and mathematics course (UNESCO, 2008).In view of these different and conflicting findings, the study found the relationship between teachers' quality and students' academic achievement.

Research Questions
The study answered the following research hypothesis.
There is no significant difference between rural and urban secondary schools in term of availability of library facilities, availability of textbooks and availability of laboratory facilities.

Research Design
The research design for this study is descriptive survey design of the ex-post facto type.This is because the researchers will not be able to manipulate the variables for the simple reason that they have already occurred.

Population and sampling procedure
The research respondents for this study were final year students of schools in the rural and urban areas of Ekiti state, Nigeria.A total of 50 secondary schools formed the target population comprising 4 Federal unity schools and 46 public schools.The schools were those that sat for the West African School Certificate Examinations (WASCE) between 1990 and 1997.

Instrument
The research instrument was Student and Teacher Questionnaire on Facilities (STQF) designed by the researchers.It has section A with seven items dealing with profile of the respondents such as gender, age, school type (rural/urban), and grade among others.Section B has 12 items that measured availability of facilities like laboratories, school building, textbooks and libraries.The respondents were asked to respond to the questions on a four point Likert scale of strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree.

Results
The results of the findings are presented below.
There is no significant difference between rural and urban secondary schools in term of availability of library facilities, availability of textbooks, availability of laboratory facilities and academic performance in agricultural science.The findings are answered using tables 1, 2 and 3.
From Table 1, a comparison of the mean score of rural and urban schools in terms of availability of library facilities showed a no significant result.The mean for the rural school achievement score was 1:100 while the urban had an achievement score of 1.350, a mean difference of 20 and a t-value of 1.79.Considering the mean score of the rural urban, this result suggests that they are not well disposed to library facilities.This was found not to be significant at 0.05 alpha level as indicated in table 1 (i.e.t=1.79, not significant at p<0.05).From the result, it shows that there is no significant difference between rural and urban secondary schools in term of availability of library facilities, availability of textbooks and availability of laboratory facilities.
Table 2 showed a comparison between rural and the urban schools in terms of textbooks availability.The result showed a mean score of 1.0.667 with standard deviation of 0.3665 for 29 rural schools while the mean score of1.200 with standard deviation of 0.410 for 21 urban schools was recorded.With 48 (DF) the result upholds the view that a rural and urban secondary schools do not differ significantly in terms of availability of textbooks (t= 1.20; not significant at P <0.05).The result showed that there is no significant difference between rural and urban secondary schools in term of availability of library facilities, availability of textbooks and availability of laboratory facilities.
Table 3 showed the significant difference in terms of availability of laboratory facilities between rural and urban schools in the area covered by the study.The t-test result showed a mean score of 1.1000 with standard deviation of 0.305 for the observed 29 rural schools while a mean score of 1.300 with a standard deviation of 0.470 was recorded for 21 urban schools in the area covered by the study.With 48 degree of freedom (DF) the result shows that rural and urban secondary schools do not differ significantly in terms of availability of laboratory facilities (t=1.83,not significant at p<0.05).This showed that there is no significant difference between rural and urban secondary schools in term of availability of library facilities, availability of textbooks and availability of laboratory facilities.

Discussions
The analyses in tables 1 to 3 clearly indicate that there are no significant difference between availability of facilities in rural and urban secondary school locations and that rural and urban secondary schools do not differ significantly in terms of availability of library facilities, textbooks and laboratory facilities.Although availability of facilities have been found to influence both efficiency and productivity (Oni, 1992), it has also been found to influence learning (Farombi 1998) but the findings of this study have revealed that availability of facilities in both rural and urban locations in Ekiti State have no significant difference.From the researcher's personal experience, most of these materials that were even claimed to be available apart from being inadequate were obsolete.In fact, some of the schools used for this study had between two to five microscopes of different sizes but were non-functional.The irony of it is that these schools claimed to have such equipment available for use.
The situation in the libraries is not different as they contain few books supplied by the state government packed inside cartons of beverages.The findings therefore confirm the submission of Sofolahan, the Chairman of the National Task Force on implementation of the new Educational Policy, the 6-3-3-4 (cited in Adedeji 1998) that what we have today apart from Federal Government colleges are 'barren' schools which lack the bare necessities and as such the children are not getting enough good education.
The findings also agreed with the findings of Ajayi (1987) and Ahmed (1999) that linked the decline in students' academic achievement with non-availability of teaching materials, non-availability of class rooms, libraries and laboratories, among others.It also agrees with Ibukun (1983) who found that resource situation in Ondo State Secondary Schools was not significantly favourable -staff quality was not significantly high while material resource was not significantly favourable.The findings also confirmed the observation of Durosaro (1985) who in his study on performance of students in vocational education opined that there was no distinct budget for secondary schools in Bendel State, his study area, pointing out that only about 1% of school expenditure went to materials and equipment would be announced on the radio and television as being provided to all schools which is mere propaganda; whereas these materials are purely inadequate.He concluded that this type of expenditure would have negative effect on the academic achievement of students.The findings also lend credence to the submission of Akinwumiju and Orimoloye (1987) and Obilade (1989) that items like books, teaching aids and educational materials were not only unavailable and those available were grossly insufficient, under utilised and poorly managed.They concluded that such situation would result in sharp decline in the quality of the professionals and students that graduate from our educational institutions.
The insignificant difference between availability of facilities in rural and urban secondary schools also support the findings of Jencks et al (1972) that the students characteristics are more significantly related to academic performance of students, and that the other educational inputs in terms of human and material resources allocated to schools are either 'secondary or irrelevant' to student learning.Similarly, the findings can be linked with the report from Economic Commission for Africa (ECA cited in Johnson 1998) that the quality of West Africa secondary education has suffered partly due to inadequate teaching aids and partly due to poorly equipped laboratories and technical workshops.
The finding is also in consonant with Johnson (1998) who found no significant relationship between school physical facilities and the students' academic achievement the SC/GCE English Language Examinations in State Secondary Schools and associated it with non-availability and poor condition of such physical facilities as buildings furniture and fittings, sanitation equipment and playgrounds in many secondary Schools.The finding is also in line with the findings of Hallam (1969).The results of this study is in consonant with the findings of Yara and Otieno (2010) who found out that classroom/laboratories and textbooks/student-ratio could be used to predict academic performance in mathematics in secondary schools in Bondo district of Kenya.The findings also corroborate Oni's (1992) submission that although there was a difference between urban and rural schools in the supply / acquisition of material resources, there was no difference among the zones.He concluded that an urban or rural school remained the same; irrespective of the zone such a school might be located.The findings also corroborate Aliyu's (1993) who submitted that there was no significant difference between students in secondary schools with or without adequate instructional facilities.He, however, noted that instructional facilities are very indispensable to students' academic achievement in English, Mathematics, Biology, and Geography while students can still perform well in History and Economics without adequate sophisticated materials.However, the findings disagrees with Johnson (1998) who found a significant relationship between instructional materials and students' academic achievement in English Language and Mathematics examinations under schools with adequate instructional materials stressing that result higher than what he got could not be obtained as a result of inadequate or lack of instructional materials.He concluded that the resultant effect might also be due to inadequate utilization of the available instructional materials.The finding also lends credence to Ayodele (1988) who submitted that the drift to the urban areas in recent years had resulted in gross inadequacy of facilities in most urban areas.

Conclusion
The study has also proven that school facilities were the most potent determinant of academic achievement.Facilities in terms of qualifications of personnel, who are directly involved in the pedagogy; laboratory, library, school buildings, chairs/tables, administrative blocks, chalk-board, school maps and the likes are very crucial to high academic attainment.The study indicates that achievement is a function of availability of facilities to students in unity schools compared with public schools.Experience cannot be ruled out in this study, however, as an important factor in achieving academic excellence.It has been established that facilities are potent to high academic achievement of students; therefore, Ekiti State Government should provide adequate material resources to rural urban locations to enhance teaching and learning processes.The Parent Teacher Association (PTA), philanthropist and other charitable organizations are also implored to compliment the effort of the government to boost the performance of students in SSCE.
There are some facilities that could be improved by the teachers and the students in order to facilitate teaching and learning hence such facilities should be provided by the teachers and students respectively.

Table 1 .
Availability of Library Facilities in Rural and Urban schools *sig at p < 0.05 Table 2. Textbooks Availability in Rural and Urban Schools Compared

Table 3 .
Availability of Laboratory Facilities in Rural and Urban Schools Compared