School Plant Maintenance in Public Secondary Schools: A Comparative Study of Rural and Urban Schools in the North West Region of Cameroon

Abstract: Facility maintenance is widely recognised as central to educational quality, yet public secondary schools across Sub-Saharan Africa continue to operate with buildings and equipment in various states of disrepair. Chronic underfunding and weak administrative structures have made this problem persistent and, in many cases, invisible to policymakers. This quantitative study compared the level of school plant maintenance in rural and urban public secondary schools in the North West Region of Cameroon. A descriptive survey design was adopted, and 262 teachers were selected through systematic random sampling across all seven administrative divisions of the region. Data were gathered exclusively through a validated 4-point Likert-scale questionnaire comprising five items focused on school plant maintenance. Mean scores, Pearson Product Moment Correlation, and an independent-samples two-tailed t-test (α = 0.05) were used for analysis. Maintenance levels were found to be low in both urban schools (mean = 1.36; r = 0.132) and rural schools (mean = 1.41; r = 0.132). The null hypothesis was retained (t = 1.909 < t-critical = 1.960, df = 190, p > 0.05), indicating no statistically significant difference between the two settings. Both school types are equally and uniformly deficient in maintenance practice. The study recommends joint government, PTA, and SMB financing, formalised maintenance planning, and structured principal capacity-building across both rural and urban settings.