CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1Â Â Â Â Background to the Study
In Nigeria, rural life seems to be more uniform, homogeneous, and less complicated than urban life, with cultural variety being accused of influencing students’ academic success. This is due to the fact that metropolitan regions are more preferred in terms of the distribution of social amenities such as piped water, electricity, and healthcare facilities, whilst rural areas are less favored (Chineme, 2015). This is also true in terms of educational facility and instructor dispersion. Because of these underlying conditions, learning chances in Nigerian schools range from one another. As a result, students in Nigerian urban schools appear to have greater educational chances than their peers in rural schools (Samedo, 2012). While some studies have found a favorable benefit of school location on students’ learning outcomes or success, others have found a detrimental influence.
Several scholars have studied the relationship between school location and academic achievement, doing a rigorous study of locational elements. According to Hallak (1977), education in rural areas is typically fraught with the following difficulties and problems: qualified teachers refuse appointment in isolated villages; villagers refuse to send their children to schools because they rely on them for help; parents are hesitant to entrust their daughters to male teachers; some villagers have too few children for an ordinary primary school; and a lack of roads or satisfactory means of communication (Adeshola, 2016).
In other words, differences in performance reflect differences in educational opportunities available in rural and urban areas, as well as characteristics of these locations such as population density, labor market distribution, and the extent to which urban and sub-urban areas are sought and populated by people from various backgrounds (OECD, 2011). According to a research conducted in Nigeria, the location of schools is related to pupils’ academic performance. The assumption is that, while some students benefit from having to travel short distances to obtain an education, others suffer from having to travel long distances. According to Onokerhoraye (2015), a shortage of proper school locations has led to the disparities in Western education from one region of Nigeria to the other.
1.2Â Â Â Â Statement Of The Problem
According to Debnath (2010), the location of a school causes a variety of issues such as poor attendance, which leads to low accomplishment, increases the dropout rate, and exacerbates a variety of social problems. According to Walter (1998), one of the factors that impact academic success is school location/site of the school, hence it is critical to recognize this and ensure that schools are located in the appropriate area to reduce failure. Despite the fact that this reality is understood in Nigeria, schools are still not located in the greatest location possible; most schools are located near express routes, market areas, and so on, which distracts children and hinders their performance. Against this context, the study will investigate the influence of school location on students’ academic performance.
1.3 Objectives Of The Study
The overall aim of this study is to critically examine the impact of school location students academic performance. Hence, the study will be channeled to the following specific objectives;
1.       Ascertain whether home to school distance affects students academic performance.
2.       Ascertain whether environmental pollution in school location affects students academic performance.
3.       Ascertain whether environmental noisiness in school location affects students academic performance.
4.       Determine whether rural and urban variation in school location influences the academic performance of students.
1.4 Research Hypotheses
The study will validate the following statement;
H01: Home to school distance does not affect students academic performance.
H02: Environmental pollution in school location does not affect students academic performance.
H03: Environmental noisiness in school location does not affect students academic performance.
H04: There is no difference in the academic performance of students in schools located rural and urban areas.
