RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AND STUDENTS' COMMITMENT FOR EXCELLENCE: A STUDY OF MALAYSIAN PUBLIC BOARDING SCHOOLS

School students who have successfully completed their primary education in Malaysia are specially selected to join public boarding schools based on merit. As these boarding schools are established to shape and nurture potential students to be future leaders and perceived to be the springboard for success, the physical boarding school environment and socialization process, among others may have influence on students' commitment for excellence. This paper reports the overall findings of a study conducted at three renowned public boarding schools in Malaysia. The objective of the study was to investigate the influence of three environmental factors i.e. community living and affection, basic physical facilities and importance of family support on students' commitment for excellence. A structured questionnaire was developed to gather data for the study. Overall results had favourably shown that community living and affection as well as physical facilities were significantly related to students' commitment for excellence. However, the importance of family support was found to have no impact on commitment for excellence. In addition, a comparative analysis by schools had consistently indicated that for the boys' schools, there was a significant correlation between commitment for excellence and community living/affection as well as physical facilities. Interestingly, for the girls' school, only community living and affection had significantly influenced commitment for excellence. The study findings and conclusion will provide an insight to education planners while enhancement efforts are initiated to upgrade the Malaysian boarding school system in support of sustainable development and nation building.