Middle Eastern Finance and Economics ISSN: 1450-2889 Issue 11 (2011) EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2011 http://www.eurojournals.com/MEFE.

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Effect of the Availability and the Use of Instructional Material on Academic Performance of Students in Punjab (Pakistan)
Muhammad Arshad Dahar PhD Candidate, Department of Education International Islamic University Islamabad (Pakistan) E-mail: arshid1969@hotmail.com Tel: +92-606313003 Fayyaz Ahmad Faize PhD Candidate, Department of Education International Islamic University Islamabad (Pakistan) Abstract This study investigates the effect of the availability and the use of instructional material on academic performance of students in Punjab (Pakistan). Instructional material plays very important role in the teaching learning process. Population of the study comprised all secondary and higher secondary schools, secondary teachers and secondary students in Punjab. Overall, a total of 288 schools, then 20 students and 10 teachers from each school were randomly selected as the sample of the study. The study used the valueadded approach. School Profile Proforma, a questionnaire for teachers and Result Sheet were the instruments of the study. Pearson correlation was used to find out the relationship (association) and Stepwise Regression analysis with linear function was used to find out the differential impact (causal-relationship). The study identified that there is a great deficiency in the availability and the use of instructional material. The study concluded that the less availability, misallocation and the deficiency in the use of instructional material lead to the wastage of resources, the less effectiveness of instructional material and lower academic performance. The policy implications of the study are that instructional material can have an enormous effect if is properly allocated, equalized per student and efficiently used with the standard quantity and quality. Keywords: Instructional material, deficiency in the availability, inefficient use, academic performance

1. Introduction
Instructional materials are print and non-print items that are designed to impart information to students in the educational process. Instructional materials include items such as kits, textbooks, magazines, newspapers, pictures, recordings, slides, transparencies, videos, video discs, workbooks, and electronic media including but not limited to music, movies, radio, software, CD-ROMs, and online services. Instructional material plays a very important role in the teaching-learning process. It enhances the memory level of the students. At this time, education has spread wide and the entirely oral teaching cannot be the key to successful pedagogy; therefore, the teacher has to use instructional material to

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make the teaching-learning process interesting (Nicholls, 2000; Raw, 2003). The use of instructional material can enhance the learning achievement. Cronbac (1989) states the important elements of behaviour that provides the base for learning theory. Situations, the situation consists of all the objects, persons and symbols in learner environments. Experience in situation prepares a person to respond to similar situation in the future. Situation must be created in which learner may feel satisfaction. Personal characterizes under this heading we include all the abilities and all the typical responses that the person brings to the situation. Use of instructional material can appeal to the individual attention by creating interest. Goal: the goal of the learner is that he wishes to attain. Since goals direct efforts, the teacher problem of motivation is essentially one of arranging situation with instructional material in which the learner will see goals he wants to attain. Interpretation: Person interprets situation in order to take action If relevant aids are made available it will be easy for a teacher and student to predict that what can be expected to happen if various actions are taken. Action: A person chooses whatever action he expects to give him the greatest satisfaction. The use of instructional material can facilitate the decision of a person toward taking right action. Consequence: Actions following by their results are called consequences. If instructional material is used, the prediction would be rewarding and consequences will justify the work done by person, he will feel full satisfaction. Instructional material is used efficiently and actively to facilitate the teaching-learning process in most of the advanced countries. However, the situation is not good in most of the developing countries as well as in Pakistan. Firstly, only the lower quality and the less quantity of instructional material are provided to schools. In this way, the availability of instructional material is very less. Secondly, teachers are not trained properly for using instructional. Thirdly, teachers do not take interest in using the instructional material. The Govt. of Pakistan is spending a huge amount of money in the education sector; however, the quality of education is very low. There are many factors that are responsible for this sorry state of affairs. Less availability and deficient use of instructional material is one of them. This factor needs to be investigated thoroughly the actual data. Therefore, considering the vitality of the problem, this study investigates the effect of the deficient availability and the inefficient use of instructional material on the academic performance of students in Punjab (Pakistan). 1.1. Objectives of the Study 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. To identify the availability of instructional material at the secondary stage To identify the extent of use of instructional material at the secondary stage To find out the prior achievement of students To identify the academic performance at secondary stage To find out the relationship (association) between the availability and the use of instructional material with the academic performance of students 6. To find out the differential impact (causal-relationship) of the use of instructional material on academic performance. 1.2. Assumptions of the Study The availability and the use of instructional material have a strong relationship with academic performance of students at the secondary stage. 1.3. Delimitations of the Study 1. Secondary stage of the public schools 2. Aggregate marks of the Classes VI, VII & VIII (The Middle Standard Examination) are taken as prior achievement (PA) of students. 3. Instructional material includes textbooks, chalkboard, teaching guide, science guide, math kit, science kit, audio-visual aids (maps, models & charts)

Middle Eastern Finance and Economics - Issue 11 (2011) 4. Aggregate marks of students in the Annual SSC Examination 2008 at secondary stage are taken as academic performance.

1.4. Limitations of the Study 1. SES, peers group and Family-background: Owing to limited time and resources, this study cannot measure the contributions of SES, peers group and family background at secondary stage. 2. Tuition: Some students utilize extra time for study with their tutors in their school or at home while others cannot afford this facility. However, this factor or determinant cannot be measured within the limited time and resources.

2. Review of Literature
Instructional material is the school resource inputs (SRIs) that is used within the classroom to facilitate the teaching learning process. However, the instructional material provided to the classrooms in Pakistan is substandard in quality and lesser in quantity as compared to the advanced countries. The availability of textbooks, appropriate chalkboard, math kit, science kit, teaching guide, science guide, audio-visual aids (overhead projector, maps, models and charts) are the important instructional material. However, many facilities are missing in approximately all the secondary and the higher secondary schools First instructional material is the textbook. Various definitions of textbook emphasize the role of textbook as a tool for learning. Textbook is the nucleus of all the learning activities related to a particular curriculum. Certainly, teacher is not a sufficient source of knowledge for a number of reasons such as the large class size and the time factor etc. Besides, student has to improve the knowledge received from teacher by reading the textbook. Textbook plays a vital role in imparting knowledge to the students in the third world countries. Furthermore, there is no choice other than textbook in many developing countries. Therefore, it is one and the only source of knowledge. In Pakistan, there is only one textbook available for a particular subject in a particular class. Students are asked to depend on this single source of information. Teachers teach only what is written in the textbook. At present, the Government of Punjab provides textbooks to all the students from class I to X. The second instructional material is chalkboard/ blackboard. Chalkboards/ blackboards are the teaching aids that teachers frequently use, particularly during the lectures and discussions. These are of different kinds such as chalkboard, blackboard, marker board, felt board and magnetic board. However, only blackboard or chalkboard is provided in public schools. Teachers use it in classrooms to write the important words, to draw diagrams, figures and maps. The third instructional material is math kit. Math kit is a study kit for the subject of Mathematics. Usually, study kit is a box containing a variety of visual aids, artistically assembled and displayed pertaining to a single topic. It includes different types of visual aids that are useful for the subject of Mathematics. The fourth instructional material is science kit. Science kit is a study kit for science subjects i.e. Physics, Chemistry and Biology. It includes the necessary aids that are useful for the teaching of these subjects. These aids may be models, charts, maps, apparatus and some other types. The fifth instructional material is teaching guide. Teaching guide is a booklet provided to teachers. It provides guidance to teachers about the matters regarding teaching, from lesson planning to the teaching learning process completely. Furthermore, it guides them to adopt a suitable teaching methodology and a suitable instructional material for a topic. The sixth instructional material is science guide. Science guide is a booklet for the guidance of science teachers only. It guides them in the teaching of theory and experiments of science subjects. It guides them how to use apparatus and chemicals in the practical laboratories (PL). The seventh instructional material is audio-visual aids. Audio-visual aids are the teaching aids that are used in the teaching learning process. These aids play a very significant role in the teaching learning process. These aids make the teaching learning process

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not only realistic but also very pleasant. The use of audio-visual aids can revolutionize teaching and can help decrease forgetting and increase the permanence of what is taught (Quddus, 1990). Ahmad (1993) described that the important audio-visual aids are pictures, charts, models, maps, diagrams, filmstrips, television, tape recorders, radio and motion pictures. All these audio-visual aids are used in the classrooms of the advanced countries and many developing countries. However, the situation in Pakistan is that less than 5% of teachers are using only the ordinary audio-visual aids in the classrooms. These ordinary audio-visual aids are maps, graphs, charts, diagrams etc. Computer is regarded as a necessary tool for learning. It is used as an instructional material in the western countries. Contrary to it, computer is not used as an instructional material at school level in Pakistan. Maps, models, charts and overhead projector are the four types of audio-visual aids provided to the secondary schools. Map is a non-projected and two-dimensional aid. It is an accurate representation in a diagrammatic form of the geographical features of the earth or some part of it. There are varieties of maps like geographical maps, picture maps, political maps and navigation maps, etc. However, an outline map should be used if a particular view is required. Likewise, the individual atlases are used for the detailed study of a problem. Furthermore, teacher use blackboard for clarification of points derived from map. Model is a non-projected but three-dimensional visual aid. It has not only length and width but also has depth. Teacher show models to students instead of the real object. Model is used when there is impossible to show the real object to the class owing to its size or their inaccessibility. Models also provide the interior views of objects that are normally covered or otherwise invisible. It conveys the exact shape of the object whether its size would be smaller or larger. Furthermore, it may have almost the same appearance and color except its size. The model in one piece with its parts not moving is called the static model. However, if the parts of a model are detachable, the model is called sectional. A sectional model is helpful in explaining the function of each part and its relation to the whole object, for example human eye, steam engine. However, teacher explains and demonstrates its working in the classroom. A chart is a pictorial way of representing relationships between the several variables or objects and ideas or things. Das (1993) described that charts are generally used during lecture and discussion about the relationships of the things. The author, then, counted some characteristics of chart. According to him, words are written neatly and perfectly in block letters in Charts. Likewise, each item may be written inside a box, lines are drawn, and if necessary, arrows are placed to indicate relationships and directions of flow. Colors may be used to make the chart attractive. The author also described that different items of food and their proper proportion to constitute a balanced diet can be shown in a chart. Similarly, a chart may also be prepared to compare and contrast two things. In the same way, a flow chart may be prepared to show how a particular thing or products flows or moves through different steps or departments in an organization. Furthermore, the device that projects the small transparencies in to larger views on the board is called overhead projector. Through overhead projector, students are able to read, look and understand the text, graph, picture or anything other written or drawn on the transparencies. Overhead projectors are becoming common and popular, and are widely used in normal teaching, especially in the seminars and workshops. An overhead projector is provided only to the urban public secondary schools. However, it is rarely used as an instructional material in the classrooms of public schools in Pakistan. 2.1. Research Studies Most of the studies dealt with instructional materials in the school facilities. Therefore, instructional material is also discussed here under this heading. The studies are of the different opinions about school facilities whether they are related to academic performance of students or not. Heyneman & Loxley (1980) found that there were inadequate and poor school facilities in the developing countries. These inadequate and poor school facilities affected the students to perform

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much below as compared to the student performance of the developed countries. This study pointed out that the achievement of standard eight students of Malawi in science and mathematics was low. This achievement was low as compared to that of Thailand, Iran, Chile and the developed countries such as Sweden, USA and UK. This study also presented some arguments about the developing countries, in general and Malawi, in particular. These arguments are: At the minimum a school is acceptable if it can provide a place for students to work without the danger of a roof collapsing; if neither wind nor rain sends students into a corner for protection; if there is a place for each to sit down, a place to write, material to write with, and a certain minimal number of maps, charts, and reference books from which to derive information. (p. 13) Afterwards, Jamison et al. (1981) described that physical facilities, availability of materials, and levels of teacher education collectively created a classroom quality that appeared as the predictor of student achievement. Likewise, Mwamwenda & Mwamwenda (1987) described that school facilities including textbooks are the factors those contribute to student achievement. Research studies in both the developing and the developed countries show that school facilities have a positive relationship with student achievement. However, in the developed countries, this positive relationship is to a certain point. Similarly, Ahmad (1993) found that scholastic factors including basic facilities in school and academic facilities in schools were subjected to significant correlation with the examination results. These factors play a significant role in the improvement of educational standards. However, a positive effect on education standards may be obtained if appropriate conditions are created in relation to these factors. Some other studies (Lance et al., 1999; Lance, 2000; Todd & Kuhlthau, 2004) confirmed a significant correlation between the presence and the use of library materials by students and teachers with better student performance. Similarly, there found a simple correlation between the school inputs and better student achievement (Todd & Kuhlthau, 2005, p. 82). The discussion continues whether school facilities have effects on student achievement. Government of Pakistan (2005) showed the mixed effects of school facilities. According to this study, the availability of the blackboard did not have a significant effect on students Urdu achievement. However, it had a significant effect on students mathematics achievement. The availability of a library, also, did not affect student achievement. Similarly, Yousaf (2005) found that physical facilities were not favorable for students successful transition to higher education.

3. Methodology
Population of the study comprised of all the 4801 secondary schools and all the secondary students in Punjab. A total of 288 secondary and higher secondary schools and 20 students from each school were the sample of the study. However, a total of 4860 students participated in the study. Three instruments i.e. School Profile Proforma, Questionnaire for teachers and Result Sheet were developed and the data were collected. The study used the value added approach and the longitudinal data of academic performance of the same students. Mean of the annual marks of the classes VI, VII & VIII (session 2003-06) was used as the prior achievement (PA) of the students. However, marks of class X (The Annual SSC Examination 2008) were used as academic performance of the secondary stage (session 2006-08). The collected data were summarized at the school level. Then the summarized data showing the between school variation were carried into the SPSS data file to analyze the data. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient was used to analyze and find out the value of relationship (association) between the availability and the use of instructional material and academic performance of students. However, the Stepwise Regression Analysis was used to analyze and find out the differential impact (causal-relationship) of instructional material on academic performance of students.

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4. Results and Discussion

The data of the study were analyzed first at school level and then for the whole study. The following tables show the analysis of data:
Table 1: Availability of the Instructional Material 1
Max. 1 2 1 25 20 Total Sample Min. Mean 0 0.68 0 .66 0 .59 0 7 0 3.82 Max. 1 2 1 20 12 Urban Areas Min. Mean .34 .71 0 .89 0 .72 0 9.79 0 5.08 Max. 1 1 1 25 20 Rural Areas Min. Mean 0 .64 0 .39 0 .45 0 4.29 0 2.56

Name of the Variable Chalkboard Math Kit Science Kit Teaching Guide Science Guide

Table 1 shows the availability of instructional material 1 (textbook, chalkboard/ blackboard, teaching guide, science guide, math kit and science kit)
Table 2: Availability of the Instructional Material 2 (Audio-visual Aids)
S 55 36 3 Combined Sample T Ins N 108 120 127 99 105 48 120 114 51 S 33 36 105 Urban Areas T Ins 78 27 69 33 39 0 N 6 6 0 S 0 0 18 Rural Areas T Ins 30 93 30 72 72 51 N 21 42 0

Name of the Variables Maps Models Charts

Table 2 shows the availability of instructional material 2 (audio-visual aids i.e. maps, models, charts and overhead projector)
Table 3: Analysis of the Instructional Material 2 (Audio-visual Aids)
Name of the Variable Instructional Material (Audio-visual aids) Mean of the Total Sample 1.74 Max. 3 Urban Areas Min. Mean 0.67 2.21 Max. 2.33 Rural Areas Min. Mean .67 1.25

Table 3 shows the analysis of the analysis of instructional material 2 (audio-visual aids).
Table 4: Identification of the Use of Instructional Material
1 2.5 3.27 2 2 2.94 3 1.15 2.46 4 1.40 2.06 Questionnaire Items 5 6 7 1.23 0.167 0.79 2.08 0.81 1.67 8 0.63 1.23 9 0.94 1.79 10 0.77 1.54 11 0.73 1.65

Items Rural Areas Urban Areas

Table 4 shows very low level of the use of instructional material. The mean was calculated for all the indexed items at school level. Textbooks are provided to all the schools. A set of textbooks is provided to each student at the secondary stage. There is no variation in the provision of textbooks to the secondary schools; therefore, SPSS cannot calculate correlation for the textbooks. However, the use of the textbooks has variation in the different schools. The use of textbooks was identified through item 22 of questionnaire.

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Table 5: Relationship of the Use of Textbooks

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Correlation No. of Schools: (Arts Students)-N = 258 (Science Students)-N = 252 Use of Textbooks Correlation Sig. Academic performance Arts Students Science Students .314 .670 .003** .000**

Table 5 presents the magnitude of correlation between the use of textbooks and academic performance as measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient. The value of relationship is significant and positive for both types of students.
Table 6: Relationship of the Availability of Appropriate Chalkboard
Academic performance Arts Students Science Students .103 .057 .344 .604

Correlation No. of Schools: (Arts Students) -N = 258 (Science Students)-N = 252 Availability of Appropriate Chalkboard Correlation Sig.

Table 6 presents the magnitude of correlation between the availability of chalkboard and academic performance as measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient. The value of relationship is positive but insignificant for both types of students.
Table 7: The Differential Impact of the Availability of Appropriate Chalkboard
Coefficients No. of Schools: Arts Students--N = 258 Science Students--N = 252 Appropriate Chalkboard a. Dependent Variable: Academic performance Arts Students Science Students
a

t 1.573 -.293

Sig. .117 .769

Table 7 presents the magnitude of the Differential impact of the availability of chalkboard on academic performance as measured by the Stepwise Regression analysis coefficient. The t-value is insignificant for both types of students. However, the impact is positive for arts students and negative for science students.
Table 8: Relationship of the Use of Chalkboard
Correlation No. of Schools: (Arts Students)-N = 258 (Science Students)-N = 252 Use of Chalkboard Correlation Sig. Academic performance Arts Students Science Students .208 .486 .054 .000**

Table 8 presents the magnitude of the correlation between the use of chalkboard and academic performance as measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient. The relationship is significant for both types of students.

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Table 9: Relationship of the Availability of Math Kit
Correlation No. of Schools: (Arts Students)--N = 258 (Science Students)-N = 252 Availability of Math Kit .079 .468 Academic performance Arts Students Science Students .355 .001**

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Table 9 exhibits the magnitude of correlation between the availability of math kit and academic performance as measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient. The value of relationship is significant for science students and insignificant for the arts student. It is positive for both types of students.
Table 10: Relationship of the Use of Math Kit
Correlation No. of Schools: (Arts Students)-N = 258 (Science Students)-N = 252 Use of Math Kit Correlation Sig. Academic performance Arts Students Science Students .277 .508 .010** .000**

Table 10 exhibits the magnitude of correlation between the use of math kit and academic performance as measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient. The value of relationship is positive and significant.
Table 11: Relationship of the Availability of Science Kit
Correlation No. of Schools: (Science Students)--N = 252 Availability of Science Correlation Kit Sig. Academic performance .129 .243

Table 11 exhibits the magnitude of correlation between the availability of science kit and academic performance as measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient. The relationship is positive but insignificant.
Table 12: Relationship of the Use of Science Kit
Correlation No. of Schools: (Science Students)--N = 252 Use of Science Kit Correlation Sig. Academic performance .356 .001**

Table 12 exhibits the magnitude of correlation between the use of science kit and academic performance as measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient. The relationship is positive and significant.
Table 13: Relationship of the Availability of Teaching Guide
Correlation No. of Schools: (Arts Students)- N = 258 (Science Students)-N = 252 Availability of Teaching Guide Correlation Sig. Academic performance Arts Students Science Students .088 .243 .422 .026**

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Table 13 presents the magnitude of correlation between the availability of teaching guide and academic performance as measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient. The relationship is positive for both types of students. However, the relationship is significant only for science students.
Table 14: Relationship of the Use of Teaching Guide
Correlation No. of Schools: (Arts Students)--N = 258 (Science Students)-N = 252 Use of Teaching Guide Correlation Sig. Academic performance Arts Students Science Students .160 .283 .141 .009**

Table 14 exhibits the magnitude of correlation between the use of teaching guide and academic performance as measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient. The relationship is significant for science students and insignificant for arts students.
Table 15: Relationship of the Availability of Science Guide
Correlation No. of Schools: (Science Students) N = 252 Availability of Science Guide Correlation Sig. Academic performance .186 .090

Table 15 shows the magnitude of correlation between the science guide and academic performance as measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient. The relationship is positive and insignificant.
Table 16: Relationship of the Use of Science Guide
Correlation No. of Schools: (Science Students) N = 252 Use of Science Guide Correlation Sig. Academic performance .360 .001**

Table 16 presents the magnitude of correlation between the use of science guide and academic performance as measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient. The relationship is positive and significant.
Table 17: The Differential Impact of the Use of Instructional Material (Others)
Coefficients No. of Schools: Arts Students--N = 258 Science Students--N = 252 Science Students Instructional Material Arts Students a. Dependent Variable: Academic performance
a

t 4.909 Excluded Variable .295

Sig. .000** .769

Table 17 indicates the magnitude of the differential impact of the availability of instructional material (others) on academic performance as measured as measured by the Stepwise Regression analysis. The t-value is significant for science students but insignificant for arts students. However, the impact is positive for both types of students.

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Table 18: Relationship of the availability of Audio-visual Aids
Correlation No. of Schools: (Arts Students)------N = 258 (Science Students)-N = 252 Audio-visual aids (Maps, Models and Charts) Correlation Sig. Academic performance Arts Students Science Students .071 .511 .256 .000**

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Table 18 exhibits the magnitude of correlation between the availability of instructional material: audio-visual aids with academic performance as measured by the Pearson correlation analysis. The relationship is positive and significant for both types of students.
Table 19: The Differential Impact of the Availability Audio-visual Aids
Coefficients No. of Schools: Arts Students--N = 258 Science Students--N = 252 Audio-visual Aids Arts Students Science Students a. Dependent Variable: Academic performance
a

t -5.315 3.653

Sig. .000** .000**

Table 19 shows the magnitude of the differential impact of the availability of audio-visual aids on academic performance as measured by the Stepwise Regression analysis. It is evident that t-value is significant for both types of students. However, the impact is negative for arts students and positive for science students.
Table 20: Relationship of the Use of Audio-visual Aids
Correlation No. of Schools: Arts Students----N = 258 Science StudentsN = 252 Maps Correlation Sig. Correlation Models Sig. Correlation Charts Sig. Academic performance Arts Students Science Students .237 .444 .028** .000** .307 .596 .004** .000** .279 .558 .009** .000**

Table 20 exhibits the magnitude of correlation between the use of audio-visual aids and academic performance as measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient. It is evident that relationship of the use of maps, models and charts is positive and significant for both types of students.
Table 21: The Differential Impact of the Audio-visual Aids
Coefficients No. of Schools: Arts Students--N = 258 Science Students--N = 252 The Use of Audio-visual Aids Science Students Arts Students a. Dependent Variable: Academic performance
a

t 3.102 Excluded Variable .215

Sig. .002** .830

Table 21 shows the magnitude of the differential impact of the use of the audio-visual-aids on academic performance as measured by the Stepwise Regression analysis. The t-value is positive for both types of students. However, the impact is significant only for science students.

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In the following paragraphs, instructional materials are discussed with reference to the results of the study. The first instructional material is textbooks. The study found that there is no variation in the availability of the textbooks in the schools. Therefore, SPSS did not show results for it. However, the use of the textbooks was analyzed. The study found the positively significant correlation of the use of the textbooks with academic performance. The findings of the study support Mwamwenda & Mwamwenda (1987) and Glewwe et al. (1995) that textbooks significantly contribute to student achievement. Likewise, the findings of the study support Harbison and Hanushek (1992) that textbooks have positive impacts. The second instructional material is appropriate chalkboard. The study found that the relationship and the impact for the availability of chalkboard are insignificant for both types of students. However, the use of chalkboard has positively significant relationship for science students. Contrary to it, the results of the study show the insignificant relationship for arts students. The findings of the study partially support and partially reject the findings of Glewwe and Jacoby (1993) that found greater impacts for blackboards. The findings of the study partially support and partially reject Government of Pakistan (2005) that the availability of the blackboard did not have a significant effect on Urdu achievement but it had a significant effect on Mathematics achievement. After all, the use of chalkboard is the predictor of academic performance for science students. The third instructional material is math kit. The relationship of both the availability of math kit and its use is significant for science students. However, the relationship is insignificant for its availability but significant for its use for arts students. Additionally, the relationship is positive for the availability and for the use of math kit for both types of students. Therefore, math kit is important for science students when it is used effectively. The fourth instructional material is science kit. It is derived from the results of the study that the availability of science kit is not important until it is used effectively. The fifth instructional material is teaching guide. The study found that the availability and the use of teaching guide are significantly correlated with academic performance for science students. However, this relationship is insignificant for arts students. Furthermore, the relationship is positive for both types of students. It is derived that teaching guide is an important predictor for science students. The sixth instructional material is science guide. The results show that the science guide has positive correlation with academic performance, insignificant for its availability but significant for its use. Therefore, it is an important SRI when it is actually used. The use of all the above items was indexed into a single item to find out the differential impact of the use of instructional material on academic performance. The impact of the use of instructional material (the indexed item) is significant for science students but insignificant for arts students. Therefore, the use of all these items of the instructional material is important for science students. The study found that the relationship and the impact of the availability of audio-visual aids are positively significant for science students. However, the relationship is insignificant but the impact is negatively significant for arts students. Furthermore, the relationship and the impact of the use of audio-visual aids are significant for science students. However, the relationship is significant but the impact is insignificant for arts students. Overall, the audio-visual aids are very important predictors of for academic performance when these aids are actually used

5. Conclusions and Policy Implications

The scores of the use of textbooks and that of the availability and use of chalkboard are very less. Teachers do not use textbooks and chalkboards effectively. It is concluded that if appropriate chalkboards are better provided and teachers use the textbooks and chalkboard effectively, academic performance may be enhanced. Analysis shows that the availability and the use of chalkboard, math kit, teaching guide, science guide, audio-visual aids and the use of science kit have some positive impact on academic performance for science students. The use of instructional material for the science subjects is very essential.

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Furthermore, the less scores of the availability and the use of the instructional material mean that these SRIs are less provided and ineffectively used. It is also concluded that the effective use of these SRIs may enhance academic performance. The study concluded that misallocation and the deficiency in the use of instructional material lead to the wastage of resources and lower academic performance. Thus, it is recommended to allocate funds and resource inputs on a suitable formula. The economy of Pakistan is not such that can afford the provision of school resource inputs to schools as compared to the advanced countries. However, within the scarce resources, policy decisions are to be made for the provision of the quantity and quality of resource inputs to schools. It is also to be decided how school resource inputs should be used efficiently and what outcome a unit of school resource inputs has to produce. Therefore, it is recommended to develop the education standards for the provision, the use and the outcomes of instructional material within the scarce funds provided to the education sector. In addition to the education standards, policy and guidelines for the efficient use of instructional material should be formulated and intimated to all the stakeholders of education. The education system of Pakistan is still underdeveloped. Funds for education are very less and goals and targets are the biggest. These goals and targets can be achieved by multiplying the growth rate. The higher growth rate can be achieved only if the resource inputs are effectively used in the education process at all the levels of education in the country. Therefore, it is recommended that the efficient use of instructional material should be ensured at all the levels of education. The policy implication of the study is that instructional material can have an enormous effect on the academic performance of students if the standard quantity and quality of instructional material items are properly allocated, equalized per student and efficiently used.

References
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