MANAGEMENT OF STUDENTS HOSTEL ACCOMMODATION PROBLEMS IN FEDERAL COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN SOUTH EASTERN NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Colleges of Education are teacher education institutions which have as their objective the production of highly motivated, conscientious and efficient classroom teachers for the primary and post-primary levels of our educational system. (Ogbonnaya, 2010). Colleges of Education is the institution solely meant for the training of teachers. It is a vehicle for economic and social development in different parts of the world. They have the responsibilities of equipping individuals with knowledge and skill required for positions of responsibilities in government, business and other spheres of life. The crucial roles Colleges of Education play in the education of future leaders and development of high level manpower cannot be overemphasized.
Okoh (2004) in support of the above stated that:the growth of students enrolment in Federal Colleges of Education in Nigeria has created serious accommodation problems in all the Federal Colleges of Education to the extent that some students have resorted to living in laboratories, workshop and even in the classrooms and this has gone a long way in affecting them psychologically, emotionally, socially, and even in their academic performance. (p,165)1.
For the objective of Colleges of Education to be achieved, there should be adequate provision, proper allocation, and effective supervision of student hostel accommodation in order to ensure effective teaching and learning processes and all-round development of students. Akuchie, (1998).
Accommodation has to do with privacy, personal space and territoriality. Student accommodation can be seen as a place of abode for students; it is also a place where students live and it is usually situated within the College where students are accommodated in hostels or halls of residence Ezeukwu, (1999). This hall of residence, apart from protecting students from sun, rain, heat and cold, represent a learning environment which has tremendous impact on the comfort, safety and performance of students. The essence is to enable students settle down and have a place of rest. According to Onyegiri (2004), the essence of hostels in Federal College of Education is to accommodate students and to encourage effective teaching and learning.
Ozioko (1997) affirmed that adequate accommodation is one of the student’s personnel services that enhance the achievement of educational objectives or instruction in an educational institution.The Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004) in her NPE stated that the goals of higher education include the acquisition, development and inculcation of the proper value orientation for individual and societal survival and the development of intellectual capacities to enable the individual understand and appreciate his environment.
These goals, as far as colleges of education is concern cannot be achieved unless students in the colleges of education are adequately accommodated and provided with safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, regular supply of electricity and access to affordable means of transport.
Lack of or inadequate living space among students is one of the causes of psychological difficulty, and the likely hood of disposition to aggression is high among students when they are not properly accommodated or when they are crowded. This is because when an environment is not conducive, it leads or results in aggressive behaviours emanating from such environment. Ozioko, (1997).Hence, the quality of an environment goes a long way to influence the behaviour of the individuals found in and around it. Credence has been lend to this assertion by Omu, (2003) who stated human behaviour is fundamentally related to attributes of physical environment, that is, an environment determines the range of behaviour or activities that can occur in it and most of the times determines in a more positive sense particular aspect or pattern of an individual’s behaviour. Therefore, the physical environment of the school including condition of hostels and the transport system, affect student behaviours either negatively or positively.
The problem of students accommodation started in 1973 when the Federal Government took over the existing tertiary institutions and even established new ones without giving serious consideration to the implications of such policy decision including the large students population it inherited from the take-over. For instance, this increasing student enrolment also affected students.