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THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES & SOCIAL STUDIES Maintenance of School Plant Landscaping in Secondary Schools in Arid Regions of Africa: Role of School Adminstrators

most cases, little or no effort is made to re-plant trees and flowers in order to maintaining a desirable landscape that will create a beautiful and conducive environment for effective teaching and learning. Poor landscaping has exposed school buildings to climatic hazards of wind and rains. In the light of this situation therefore, this paper examines the importance of landscaping, types of maintenance activities required for proper landscaping, problems affecting maintenance of landscaping and recommends ways of improving the maintenance of landscaping in secondary schools in Africa. Abstract: A significant portion of the African landmass lies within the arid tropical region that is currently threatened with desert encroachment, drought and other climatic hazards. The planting and maintenance of trees, flowers and grasses especially in secondary school environments are very critical in sustaining a conducive teaching and learning environment. Inadequate water supply, lack of facilities and poor maintenance culture are among the challenges affecting landscaping in secondary schools in Africa. School administrators should carefully plan landscape maintenance operations, put in place relevant policies and seek the cooperation of all stakeholders to ensure effective maintenance of landscape operations in secondary schools in Africa.


Importance of Landscaping of Secondary Schools in Africa
One of the reasons for school plant landscaping is to beautify the school environment. For this reason, a school should not be seen without trees and beautiful flowers Just as a woman should not be seen without make up. According to Lowe (1990), there is a significant and positive relationship between landscaping, the beauty of the school environment and student's academic performance. He found that secondary schools in Texas that were beautifully landscaped, attracted higher rates of school's attendance with corresponding better academic performance than those that were not beautifully landscaped. He maintained that the beauty of a school largely depends on the quality of landscaping.
In a reference study, Sani (2007) conducted a study on the interrelationship among building characteristics, plant layout, landscaping and student academic performance in Kebbi State Secondary Schools, Nigeria. He used a descriptive research design of the co-relational type conducted ex-post-factor. He used 26 secondary schools and 500 teachers as respondents. He used an observation inventory and a school plant construction, utilization maintenance and school effectiveness questionnaire and applied Pearson Correlation Co-efficient to test his hypothesis. He found that school plant landscaping was significantly, positively correlated to students' academic performance, students' conduct and school community relationship, with correlated value of .96, .98 and .97 at 0.5 level of significance respectively.
According to the International Society for Arboriculture. (I.S.A.) (2005), woody plants, most especially trees and shrubs are planted in cities, communities and schools to serve many purposes. Trees and flowers make the school environment more pleasant because apart from enjoying the shade of trees and admiring their beauty, students, teachers and the general public feel serene, peaceful restful a tranquil in a grove of trees. It was noted that hospital patients have been shown to recover from surgery more quietly when their hospital rooms offered a view of trees. In addition, there appears to be a strong tie between people and trees as is evident in the resistance of community residents to remove trees to widen the streets. Even though trees may be school property, their size often make them part of the community as well. According to Mahmud, (2013) school trees, shrubs and flowers often serve several architectural and engineering functions. They provide a solid and beautiful fence that protect the privacy of a school, emphasize attractive views and at the same time screen out objectionable views. Trees reduce the glare and reflection of the sun's rays. Flowers direct pedestrian traffic and colourfully enhance the architectural beauty of school buildings. In another perspective, Olaoti (2005) observed that by planting of trees and shrubs in the school environment we return to a more natural environment, whereby birds and other wildlife are attracted to the area. The natural cycles of plant growth, reproduction and decomposing are again present both above and below the ground. Thus, natural harmony is restored to the school environment. Kim (1996) listed the benefits of trees, flowers, shrubs and grasses in the community as a whole and the school environment in particular to include the following:  Temperature Control: Trees reduce temperature by shading surfaces, dissipating heat through evaporation and controlling air movement for natural ventilation of school buildings. Temperatures in the vicinity of trees is cooler than away from trees and the larger the trees, the greater the cooling. Labman (1999) found that extreme temperature conditions which are far above 74°F or far below that level, significantly and negatively influence task performance and overall academic performance of students;  Shade: Trees and shrubs provide shade in a school environment. In tropical Africa where there is abundant sunshine, the shade of trees in a school provides a comfortable atmosphere where students and teachers can come out, to rest and recreate in the afternoon;  Wind Shield: Trees help to reduce 80% of wind speed. Trees can be planted to buffer wind away from school area. This is because both vertical and horizontal concentration of foliage can modify air movement patters, by altering wind velocity and direction;  Air Quality: Trees help to control air pollution in a school environment by acting as biological and physical nets which intercept particulate materials such as dust, ashes, pollen and mold spore, as well as desorbing gasses through uptake to inner leaf surfaces. Pollutants controlled by trees include nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and ozone, among others;  Glare Reduction: Trees help to control light intensity and modifies predominant wavelengths on a school environment. Trees block and reflect sunlight and artificial light to minimize eye strain and enhance visibility;  Food: Trees, flowers, legumes and other plants provide fruits, vegetables and spices in the school environment.
For example, fruits in Africa include mangoes, oranges, guava, bananas, cashew, coconut, etc.;  Medical Purpose: Plants are used to manufacture drugs, syrups, antiseptics, oils, mouth wash, teas, dyes, and pesticides; and  Soil Protection: The intricate roots of trees, carpet grass, flowers and creeping plants bind the soil particles together and provide resistance to soil erosion from wind and running water.  Perfumes: Leaves and back of trees provide raw materials for the manufacture of scents which are commercialized to generate income. Scents are also needed to eliminate body odour as they can be sprayed on clothes and also used as room fresheners.  Beauty: Trees, flowers, shrubs and carpet grass make the school environment more beautiful, attractive, colourful and peaceful. Based on the numerous advantages of landscaping examined, it is imperative for school administrators to re-focus on landscaping as a crucial strategy for improving the quality of the school environment in secondary schools in Africa.

Planning of Landscape Maintenance Operations in Secondary Schools in Africa
Activities for landscaping involve many experts and professionals such as town planners, designers, architects, engineers, artists, cartographeFTRrs, farmers, labourers etc. Maintenance of school plant landscaping requires careful planning and sustained efforts by secondary school administrators in Africa. In a school, there should be landscapes where children can work in safety, pick fruits, cycle, listen to birds and enjoy cool shade. When constructing a school, landscaping should serve to conserve the natural vegetation and remake the countryside (Lackney, 1994). Listed basic maintenance operations for effective laboratory in secondary schools in Africa include the following:  School Heads must evolve a clear policy that deliberately makes regular planting maintenance of trees, flowers, and other fauna in their school a top priority. Policy making on school landscaping should be a collective and democratic process that emphasizes participatory decision making;  For effective landscaping a careful study of the environment in which a school is located should be conducted. The climatic and soil conditions of the school environment should be determined so as to ascertain the types of plants that can best survive in the area. The type of natural vegetation prevalent in the area should also be studied so as to determine the variety of trees, shrubs, grasses and flowers that exist in the environment;  In constructing new schools, the site plan and building specification should make adequate provision for conservation of the natural vegetation and blending it with the buildings and infrastructures in such a way that each building, ground and space should contribute to the overall urban or rural landscaping;  The entire school environment should be mapped so as to pinpoint where trees, shrubs, flowers and grasses should be planted for optimum beauty, comfort and convenience of facilities. School mapping is necessary in order to ensure that variety of trees and flowers are planted in an orderly way at entrances, walkways and in strategic places in school environment. This will make it possible for landscaping to project a positive image of the school as a public facility that symbolizes the community's heritage;  Funds need to be generated to finance landscaping expenses. Money is needed to purchase seedlings and flowers, transport plants to the school, and pay for the services of florists, labourers and other experts involved in landscaping activities. An adequate budget must be made to also purchase the necessary tools needed for planting, weeding, trimming, transplanting, watering and other maintenance operations. Also, protective devices such as wire nets, nails and baskets need to be budgeted. There is also the need to purchase seedlings, plants, working tools such as hoes, cutlasses, diggers, wheel barrows, rakes, clippers, forks, water storage tanks, watering cans, buckets and fertilizers. There is also the need for construction of wells or boreholes, connecting the school with community pipe-borne water supply or purchase of water tankers for fetching water;  A team of experts and labourers must be hired to handle various aspects of land preparation, planting of seeds, transplanting, fixing of protective fences, weeding, watering, pruning and trimming among others.  A duty roaster for daily execution of maintenance operations must be drawn. A school plant landscaping committee should be appointed for regular inspection or supervision maintenance operations. Problems affecting the maintenance of landscaping are noted, reported and prompt action taken by the school administrator to address them; and  Periodic evaluation of landscape maintenance operations is required in order to determine areas that need improvement and possible innovations that might be required;

Problems of Maintaining Satisfactory Landscaping in Secondary Schools in Africa
Maintenance of flowers, shrubs and grasses is not an easy task in the dry zones of Africa. Among the challenges faced by school administrators in sustaining plants in secondary schools were identified by Alaoti, (2005), Kim (1996) and Lowe (1990) to include the following:  Inadequate Water Supply: Many countries in Africa especially those in the Savannahs and deserts have the perpetual problem of water shortages. The problem is more acute in the dry season when most plants shed their leaves and many flowers dry up and die. Due to poor level of infrastructural development, many secondary schools in Africa do not have functional pipe borne water supply. Some schools depend on wells and boreholes which some time dry up in the dry season when the water table goes lower. Most schools do not have functional water tankers or vehicles to fetch water from streams and dams to the schools. Without adequate water supply it is extremely difficult to maintain plants in arid zones (Alaoti, 2005)  The Cost of Landscaping Facilities: The digging of boreholes, purchase of vehicles, water storage tanks, water pumping machines, pipes and other essential equipment connected with landscaping options are too expensive for schools to afford. Poor budgeting allocation to education from the government coupled with meager funds generated by schools from other sources. all affect the amount of funds that can be channeled to maintenance of landscaping in schools (Kim, 1996)  Lack of Administrative Will: Most school administrators do not make maintenance of landscaping their priority.
Apart from lack of interest in landscaping they are mostly discouraged by the problem of getting steady water supply for the plants. Their efforts are also crippled by lack of funds to execute maintenance operations to sustain the plants. Many schools' administrators also lack maintenance culture;  Pests and diseases: Schools in Africa have to battle constantly with pests and animals such goats, sheep, cattle that eat up the plants especially in dry season when there are no green grasses for grazing. Some plants and flowers are also destroyed by pests and diseases. Many schools do not have sprays and insecticides to combat plant