SCHOOL ACCOMMODATION TYPE AND NEIGHBOURS AS DETERMINANTS OF NIGHT CRAWLING AND SUBSTANCE USAGE TENDENIES AMONG FEMALE STUDENTS

1.1 Introduction

School hostel accommodation is establishment which provides cheap lodging and a place of residence for students (Davies et al., 2008). School hostel accommodation has become an opportunity to develop and improve the quality of education in most academic institutions. The desire to provide spaces for students that allow active interaction, comfort and convenience, and opportunities for socialization is foremost in university and college planning (Perkin & Will, 2001). They also assert that all these need to be considered along with the pragmatic spatial needs of furnishings, integration of efficient effective mechanical, electrical, plumbing and safety requirements when planning for hostel buildings (Perkin, 2001).

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

In the beginning Nigerian universities were established with the intention of providing comfortable hostel accommodation for all students on campus. Up till the early 1970’s there was no problem of student’s accommodation in university campuses. Alaka (2007) sees student’s accommodation beyond mere proposal for development, to embrace the physical structure offering bundles of services either as a facility from which the social, psychological and physiological activities are attained, or one developed strictly for leisure, as an affordable and safe accommodation. As a facility, the design and housing style should address especially the internal space needs, highly needed by the residing students.

The Nigerian higher educational institution was established with the aim of giving a student a very sound and qualitative education, so as to be able to function effectively in any environment in which they may find themselves, so as to become more productive, self-fulfilling and attain self-actualization. This is because in Nigeria, students are the single most important stakeholders in the university/college system. Similarly, student’s accommodation is among the most important facilities that should be provided in a typical Nigeria university campus.

Living in student’s residence on campuses, has been identified as one of the interesting experiences in the life of a university student. This is because it offers them the opportunity to interact amongst their colleagues from faculties other than their own in addition to the unique opportunity for night discussions and social interactions which when put together will help in shaping the social life of the student’s social life, appreciation of their roles and responsibilities in the community and society at large.

Neighbourhoods and schools are particularly important contexts for young people’s social as well as academic development, and the influence of these contexts on educational achievement (i.e. performance) as well as educational attainment (i.e. obtained level) has been widely recognized among scholars and policy-makers (Leventhal et al., 2000). An important way in which neighbourhoods are related to education is through structural differences in concentrated disadvantage / advantage and residential segregation, producing different educational outcomes (Butler and Hamnett, 2007; Sykes, 2011).

Several studies have shown that neighbourhood characteristics, especially the socioeconomic composition, influence educational outcomes (Leventhal et al., 2000; Nieuwenhuis et al., 2016). Schools may be important contexts for mediating the way in which these differences between neighbourhoods affect educational outcomes in several ways (Kirk, 2005).

Therefore, in EKSU EACOED, Oyo where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the School Accommodation Type and Neighbours as Determinants of Night Crawling and Substance Usage Tendenies among Female Students.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that as a result of expansion in student population, accommodations for university students in Nigeria has become a huge problem for both students, parents and university authorities as almost all the universities have failed to provide accommodation facility for students. The very few accommodations that are being provided are not well maintained and also below standard, thereby exposing students to frustrated life on campus. Nigerian university students presently live under a horrible condition on school campus.

Their accommodation is known to be terribly bad, insanity, congested and overcrowded thereby impeding their capability of learning effectively. Some of the very few universities that provide accommodation do not make enough provision. Rooms that are meant to serve just two students now accommodate up to seven students. Yet such arrangement can only provide for just 40 percent of the total students population.

Despite concerted efforts by government and university authorities, solution to student hostel accommodation problems has remained a mirage. It is against this backdrop that a critical search is beamed on this research which leads to the objectives of the study.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to scrutinize the School Accommodation Type and Neighbours as Determinants of Night Crawling and Substance Usage Tendenies among Female Students of EKSU EACOED, Oyo. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To appraise the quality of students’ school accommodation in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions with reference to the area under study;
2. To examine the variation in female students’ housing accommodation based on their quality;
3. To determine the female students’ preferences on school accommodation and neighbours;
4. To determine the factors responsible for female students’ choice of hostel accommodation.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• What are the factors responsible for students’ choice of hostel accommodation?
• What is the variation in female students’ housing accommodation based on their quality?
• What are the female students’ preferences on school accommodation and neighbours?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: There are no significant factors responsible for students’ choice of school hostel accommodation type and neighbours
• H1: There are significant factors responsible for students’ choice of school hostel accommodation type and neighbours

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1.7 Significance of Study

The study will be useful and relevant to the entire workforce of the school authority for planning purposes. The Dean of student affairs, Senate and other planning executive within the confines of the university environment would like to know the percentage of total student accommodated, revenue stream that is forgone due to inadequate provision of hostel accommodation and limiting capacity due to inadequate facilities such as the hostel accommodation.

The Research will also be relevant and useful to Government in the areas of policy formulation and implementation as regards infrastructure development in federal government universities.

This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on School Accommodation Type and Neighbours as Determinants of Night Crawling and Substance Usage Tendenies among Female Students of EKSU EACOED, Oyo State.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).