3131 12403 1 PB PDF
3131 12403 1 PB PDF
3131 12403 1 PB PDF
Abstract:
Does quality of accommodation matter for academic excellence among undergraduate
students in a public university? Does the emerging alternative accommodation provided
by private investors maintain quality standards favorable for high academic
performance? These questions formed the core of this study which was based on
Education Production Function model. Adopting a descriptive survey design, the study
targeted 30,339 students living in the private hostels around Kenyatta University.
Questionnaires were administered to a total of 395 undergraduate students sampled
using stratified and random sampling techniques, and one director of student affairs
purposively selected. In addition, 10 Private Accommodation Providers (PAPs) as well
as the director of accommodation services, having been purposively selected, were
interviewed. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis revealed that 58.3% of hostels
had poor quality sanitary facilities and 65.4% of hostels did not have internet
connectivity. Further, a statistically significant positive correlation (p=.008) exists
between adequacy of the room and academic performance of students. The study
recommends that the University engages more private developers in a public private
partnership in the development of more hostels, direct more resources through social
responsibility towards improving the infrastructure in areas with high student
population and offer PAPs training on ideal student accommodation.
1. Introduction
2. Literature review
2.1 An overview of Private Hostel Accommodation
Housing is both a basic human need and a fundamental human right. The universal
declaration of human rights of 1948 recognizes the right to adequate housing as an
important component to the right to adequate standard of living (Olima & Onyango,
unpublished). Private accommodation refers to the location in which university students
reside while learning at the university. These residential places are outside the university
and are owned by private entrepreneurs. The study may also refer to the private
accommodation facilities as private hostels. These are establishments that do not belong
to the university that provide food and lodging for a group of university students.
In the United Kingdom, a student living in the private residential halls views it as
part of their overall student experience (University of Westminster, 2012). University of
Westminster recognizes its partnership with private sector accommodation as a vital one.
Therefore, the University insists that the landlords take the welfare of the students
seriously. Some of the facilities available in the University’s halls of residence include,
campus restaurant, coin-operated laundry, CCTV, large television/common room, car
park and shared kitchens (University of Westminister, 2012). Whereas the study above
stay in private hostels. Kwesiga and Ahikire (2006) notes that the apparent gain in
enrolment have led to falling academic standards due to lack of necessary investment in
facilities. This prompted the researcher to investigate the status of the private hostels and
how the gains made in increased enrolment have affected the students’ academic life.
to concentrate on their studies, comfortable hostels are a necessity. This in turn eventually
leads to the internal efficiency of an institution. According to Wesonga in Mwiria et al.,
(2007), a university’s physical facilities ultimately affect the quality of an individual
student’s experience. Wesonga in Mwiria et al., (2007) further observes that most Daystar
University students have to commute due to lack of adequate accommodation facilities
and this limits the degree to which they can utilize the University facilities. Therefore,
this study investigated how well KU undergraduate students living in the private hostels
utilize the university facilities like the post-modern library which remains open until
midnight.
3. Methodology
The study adopted a mixed method approach. A mixed methods approach is a procedure
for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting both quantitative and qualitative data in a
single study to understand a research problem (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). Further, a
convergent parallel mixed method research design as proposed by Creswell (2014) was
used. This made it possible to describe the state of student accommodation outside
university halls of residence (Wisker, 2001). This kind of design aims to find out more
about a phenomenon without manipulation of variables and captures it with detailed
information. The study was conducted in KU and focused on the private hostels. KU
being a leading public university provided good representation of public university
students experience in private hostels. The target population for this study was 30,332
undergraduate students at Kenyatta University who were accommodated in private
hostels. The students were scattered in 10 private hostels within the estates neighbouring
the university (KU data section, 2013). Using a formula developed by Israel (2009), out
of the 30,332 students who resided in the private hostels, 395 of them were sampled as
shown in Table 1.
Stratified random sampling was used. The 30,332 students were categorized by
year of study into 1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year and 4th year, and by gender. This ensured
gender differentiation. Simple random sampling was used to select the students.
Purposive sampling was used to select ten hostel PAPs and KU director for
accommodation services. Six PAPs were for the male hostels and four for the female
hostels. According to Mugenda (2003), purposive sampling technique allows a researcher
to use cases that have the required information with respect to his or her study.
This study used three types of research instruments: questionnaires for students,
interview schedules for PAPs and the Director of Accommodation services as well as an
observation guide. The researcher used questionnaires to collect data from the students
as they are appropriate in descriptive survey where the number of respondents is high
(Orodho, 2005). On the other hand, interview schedules are considered appropriate when
the sample is small since a researcher is able to get more information from respondents
than when using a questionnaire (Keith & Bloomsquist, 1985).
4.1 Overall Assessment of the Adequacy of the Hostels for the Students
Adequacy of the hostels means that the hostels are good enough for students’ use. The
variables investigated included study tables and chairs, beds, bookshelves, sanitary
facilities, water, ventilation and internet connections. In hostels where these variables
were rated as very good quality were thus said to be adequate. Table 2 shows that more
than half (57.4%) of the students reported that they did not have adequate study
furniture. About half of the students did not have bookshelves. Only about a quarter
(26.6%) were satisfied with the state of their sanitary facilities. More than half (58.3%) of
the students indicated that the sanitary facilities were of poor quality. The study further
established that a third (34%) of the students reported that water in their hostels was of
poor quality while (9.6%) did not have water at all in their hostels. Nearly two-thirds
(65.4%) of the students noted that the hostels they lived in did not have internet
connections. Only a few (16.5%) students reported that they had good quality internet
connectivity.
5. Discussion
This finding disagreed with Mamman (2011) who identifies security as having a
significant relationship with the students’ academic ability. On the other hand, there was
a significant relationship between the hostel status and students’ academic performance
as p was 0.008 which is less than 0.05. This is in agreement with Agboola et al., (2001)
who reported that for students to concentrate on their studies, comfortable hostels are a
necessity as this leads to internal efficiency of the institution. In addition, adequacy of the
hostels had a significant relationship with performance at p=0.05. The findings are in
agreement with Sicat and Pangaiban’s (2009) study which reported that adequate student
housing gives rise to comprehension and encourages positive learning outcome. Time
wastage in terms of travelling had no significant relationship with performance as
p=0.448. This implies the distance between the hostels and the university had no effect on
education performance. However, it does not concur with Wesonga in Mwiria et al.,
(2007) who observed that students who commuted from long distances made less use of
the university facilities hence low academic performance.
The study concludes that most of the private accommodation facilities were not adequate
for the undergraduate students. There is overcrowding while important items like
furniture that are necessarily for studies are inadequate. The study further concludes that
the status of private accommodation positively correlated with the educational
performance of the students. This implies that the more adequate the accommodation
facilities are, the higher the performance. Further the quality accommodation services for
undergraduate students’ increases performance.
7. Recommendations
The study recommends that universities should ensure that the status of private
accommodation is adequate since the students stay there is part of their overall university
experience. As part of a university’s social responsibility, the university should aim at
improving infrastructure at places where student population is high. Non-resident
students should be guided by the rules and regulations governing student life on campus.
Further, the study recommends that through Public Private Partnership, universities can
engage private developers in developing student satellite villages where low- cost houses
can be built and rented to students at very low rates. This can be done through the Build
Operate and Transfer programme. Finally, the study recommends the establishment of
an association for PAPs which can be used as a link between them and universities and
the PAPs.
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Appendices