Influence of fire safety preparedness on success of fire safety projects in public secondary schools in Nairobi County, Kenya
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Date
2016-11
Authors
Karoki, Mary Wangechi
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
The ministry of education recognise fire disasters in schools as a serious challenge to learners'
ability to attain their full potential. Fire safety projects in secondary schools, have been a serious
challenge as depicted by the many fire incidences experienced in secondary schools thus the
need of combined efforts in establishment of fire safety preparedness mechanisms in all learning
institutions in Kenya. The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of fire safety
preparedness on success of fire safety projects in public secondary schools in Nairobi County.
The study assessed the influence of training, resource mobilization, management team and
monitoring and evaluation on success of fire safety projects in Nairobi County. The descriptive
research design was used for the study. The study targeted 11 fire safety projects in 11 public
secondary schools in Nairobi County. 55 respondents were interviewed in 11 public secondary
schools in Starehe Sub-county. The study used semi-structured questionnaires which were
administered to the 55 respondents. Quantitative data analysis was done through descriptive
statistics such as frequency counts, percentage charts, averages and standard deviation.
Qualitative data was analyzed by content analysis of meanings and implications emanating from
respondents' information. The study used regression model to establish the significance to which
each independent variable influenced success of fire safety projects. The results were presented
in tables and charts. The recommendation made from this study will be of significance to
educational policy makers, administrators and researchers at all levels. The findings of the study
show that training was actually being carried out; almost half of the respondents admitted that
training was taking place in their institutions. However, a considerable proportion of the
respondents disputed the kind of training taking place by terming it obsolete and lacked purpose.
The findings of the study further show that majority of the respondents admitted that
management was actually mobilizing resources from different stakeholders. However, through
interviews and opinion responses, the researcher learned that mobilization of resources was not
commensurate to the success of the projects in reality. Furthermore, most schools lack the right
management as revealed from the respondents. In fact, majority of the respondents disagreed on
.aspects of management that required respondents to show their level of agreement on whether
they existed in their institutions. Monitoring and evaluation happens to be one of the important
aspects of project implementation and hence, its success. On average, majority of the
respondents agreed that monitoring and evaluation was taking place. However, respondents
argued that the process lacked seriousness from the management. The study recommends
training of all the staff, management and students on aspects of fire safety; in line with this, the
study recommends the ministry of Education to develop a framework that makes training of fire
safety programmes especially on practical basis. The study further recommends the government
to allocate resources to schools that strictly caters for fire safety projects. The resources should
include human resource and physical resources. It is a recommendation of this study that the
management team managing fire projects in public secondary schools should be reformed or
rather changed completely. Finally, the study recommends that a programme be developed
through the aid of the ministry of education that compels the management to carry and report
from time to time the strategies they have taken to monitor and evaluate the fire safety projects.
Description
A project submitted to the school of business of Kenyatta University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Master of Business Administration Degree in Project Management. November, 2016