EFFECT OF SPORTS FACILITIES ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF THE FEMALE STUDENTS OF ELEMENTARY CLASSES

Sports facilities in educational institutes play a vital role towards sports and academic activities. The aim of investigation was to examine the impact of sports facilities (SF) on academic performance of the students in elementary schools. A sample of size 400 students was selected from public and private schools. At first stage 40 schools were selected through stratified random sampling and at second stage 10 students were selected from each selected school by simple random sampling. Measurement scale of Impact of Sports Facilities on the Performance of Academic Achievement of the students (Tharnhill & Lewis, 2009) was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis were applied for data analysis. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability statistic was 0.85.  The sports infrastructure in elementary and secondary schools was very poor. However, sport facilities in public schools were slightly better than private schools. The athletic and academic performance levels of the students of elementary classes in district Lahore were below average. Students of public schools were better in athletic and academic activities as compare to the students of private sector. SF had positive, linear and significant (p<0.01) correlation with academic performance (r=0.28) of students.  It had positive and significant (p<0.01) impact on academic performance (β1=0.52, t=11.06) of the students of elementary classes in district Lahore. In elementary schools the students’ academic performance was significantly associated with sports facilities in school premises. Therefore, management of public and private schools should provide sports facilities to improve performance of the students in district Lahore