School Plant Planning for Improved Academic Performance of Business Studies Students in Secondary Schools in Rivers State

Abstract

This investigation sought to examine how entrepreneurs’ restrictive strategic practices are perceived to affect employee–customer relationships, as assessed by postgraduate entrepreneurship education students in Rivers State universities. To achieve this objective, two research questions were formulated and addressed using descriptive statistics, specifically mean and standard deviation. In addition, two null hypotheses were developed and tested at the 0.05 level of significance. The study employed a correlational survey design and was conducted within public secondary schools across Rivers State. The target population comprised 735 business studies teachers drawn from public secondary schools located in all 23 Local Government Areas of the state. Using the Taro Yamane formula, a sample size of 259 respondents was determined, and participants were selected through a stratified random sampling technique. The research instrument underwent appropriate validation procedures and consisted of a self-developed questionnaire derived from relevant literature, titled “School Plant and Academic Performance Questionnaire (SPAPeQ).” Although not standardized, the instrument was structured into two sections: Section A captured respondents’ demographic characteristics, while Section B contained two clusters comprising a total of 28 items. Reliability of the instrument was established using Spearman’s rank-order correlation, yielding a coefficient of 0.77, indicating acceptable internal consistency. Data analysis for the research questions was conducted using mean and standard deviation, whereas the hypotheses were tested using z-test statistics. A decision benchmark of 2.50 was adopted, whereby mean scores above this threshold were accepted and those below were rejected. Similarly, null hypotheses were retained where the calculated z-value was less than the critical value and rejected otherwise. The findings revealed that instructional resources and classroom infrastructure significantly influence students’ academic performance in secondary schools within Rivers State. Consequently, it was recommended that adequate provision of instructional materials—including textbooks, computers, internet access, and other ICT facilities—be ensured to enhance students’ academic outcomes.