Al-Hikmah University Journal

This study examined provisions of cluster staff residential quarters for quality education in Universal Basic Education (UBE) schools in Rivers State, Nigeria. Descriptive research design was adopted for the study. The population comprised all 1,262 head teachers and principals distributed over the 1,262 approved public UBE schools in Rivers State. Out of this population, 301 were principals of public junior secondary schools and 961 were head teachers of public primary schools within the 23 Local Government Areas of Rivers State. A sample of 465 respondents (175 principals and 290 head teachers), which represents 37% of the population was drawn using stratified sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a self-structured 20-item questionnaire tagged: “Provisions of Cluster Staff Residential Quarters for Quality Education Delivery Questionnaire (PCSRQQEDQ).” The questionnaire was structured after the four-point modified Likert rating scale, and was duly validated by three experts. The reliability of the instrument was tested using the Cronbach’s Alpha staistics, and the coefficients of .78 and .80 were obtained for the two clusters respectively. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while z-test was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed, among others, that ways cluster staff residential quarters can be provided to enhance quality education delivery in UBE schools in Rivers State include: ensuring that only teachers who are in need of quarters are given priority; provisions of single family bungalow for less crowded families; semi-detached bungalows should be provided for bigger families; conducting needs assessment analysis of teachers in the quarters and ensuring total elimination of duplication allocation. Based on the findings, it was recommended, among others, that government, public-private sectors, stakeholders, philanthropists, non-governmental organisations, among others should collaborate in providing cluster staff residential quarters in order to enhance quality education delivery in UBE schools.