The effects of internal school environment on performance. A case of Busia district secondary schools

Abstract

The world over, education is recognized to have both private and social returns. This has been the justification by individuals, groups and the states in investment in education. Challenges of educational achievements threaten to lead to social classes and tend to widen the gap between the rich and the poor .. Issues of performance by students have dominated educational provision worldwide due to the resources that are invested in education. As an investment issue, students who obtain low grades at Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) have been noted not to benefit from the certificates awarded except from the non quantifiable benefits associated with basic education. Students interact with the schools' internal environment whose characteristics differ from school to school. These characteristics affect the students' concentration in school work and contribute to performance achievement levels in the schools. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of internal school environment on performance among Busia Districts secondary school students. The strategies developed by schools in the districts to improve performance achievements and constraints faced were determined to suggest further measures to curb low performance which is a sign of institutional inefficiency. The researcher adopted Ex ':"post facto research design. This was because performance could be better analysed by exploring the relationship between the internal school environments of the sampled schools and the levels of performance at KCSE in establishing internal efficiency in educational provision. The study was carried out in Busia districts secondary schools namely schools in Bunyala, Samia, Nambale, Butula and Busia districts which were formally under Busia district. The sample or accessible population comprised ten schools which were selected by purposive sampling. These were schools with either impressive or improving performance or with poor or declining performance. Five of the schools were those that had posted high or increasing mean scores at KCSE while the other five were those whose KCSE mean scores had been low or declining over the past five years. Out of this population, all the deputy head teachers from the sampled schools were used in the study. Teachers, students and Director of Studies in the selected schools were identified through stratified sampling to include both male and female respondents. In total the sample population was 160; ten Deputy Head teachers, ten DOS, 40 teachers and 100 students. The researcher used questionnaires for the selected respondents for data collection. These instruments were personally administered by the researcher to ensure that high response rate was realised. The collected information from the respondents were classified according to patterns of responses. The responses were coded and tabulated using frequency distribution tables. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, bar graphs and pie charts. - The study revealed that the internal school environment impact on the student academic achievement at KCSE and that the same environment must be improved in order to realise students' achievement at KCSE. It also found out that there are features in the environment that can be utilized to enhance improved academic achievement thereby calling for able leadership from teachers and the general school administration to make good use of them. The researcher recommended improvement in physical facilities, departmental strengthening & operationalization and greater partnership among the internal school departments in order to detect and act upon circumstances that promote low educational achievements in secondary schools.