ACTUALIZATION OF COMPETENCY BASED CURRICULUM: INFLUENCE OF SCHOOLS PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT ON ATTAINMENT OF LEARNING OUTCOMES IN KENYA

The quality of the internal physical environment of a school is critical in enhancing the achievement of learning outcomes and therefore the actualization of competency based curriculum in schools. The main objective of this study was to establish the relationship between the internal schools physical environment and student achievement in public secondary schools in Nairobi City County. The purpose of the study was to assess the influence of the internal environment of schools on the attainment of learning outcomes. The study sought to empirically fill the knowledge gap of establishing the strength of correlation between schools internal environment and learning outcomes. The study employed ex facto research design targeting a population of 75(N) public secondary schools. Using stratified, systematic and simple random sampling techniques, the study drew a sample size of 39 (n) schools from the study population. A revised Commonwealth Association of Physical Environment (CAPE) questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. The study revealed that the school environment influenced the learners achievement as manifested in the test scores; (Pearsons r, there was a positive correlation between the school environment and student achievement; r = 0.370, n = 35, p = 0.029). The study concluded that school physical environment contributes to student achievement. A framework of redesigning school facilities was therefore suggested with key features of; cost effectively upgrading old facilities, improving school grounds and controlling physical development around educational facilities.