SCHOOL PLANT MAINTENANCE APPROACHES OF PRINCIPALS IN PUBLIC SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN PLATEAU STATE: URBAN AND RURAL PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

This study examined the school plant maintenance approaches of principals in public senior secondary schools in Plateau State, Nigeria, with emphasis on urban and rural perspectives. A comparative survey research design was adopted, and a sample of 1,744 respondents, including principals, teachers, and Senior Secondary School Three (SS III) students, was drawn from a population of 18,078 using multi-stage sampling. Data were collected with the School Plant Maintenance Approaches Questionnaire (SPMAQ) and the Document on School Maintenance Records (DSMR), and analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent t-test. Findings reveals that principals commonly adopted committee system, preventive, emergency, condition-based, planned, and self-maintenance approaches to sustain school facilities. The study further shows no significant difference between urban and rural schools in maintenance practices, indicating a largely uniform maintenance culture across Plateau State. The study concludes that effective school plant maintenance depends more on systemic support than school location. It recommended strengthening preventive maintenance, improving government funding, enhancing principals’ capacity, and fostering stakeholder participation.