Safety preparedness of secondary schools in Kyuso District, Kenya
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Date
2012-04-02
Authors
Mwenga, Sammy Boniface
Journal Title
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Abstract
The increasing global rates of accidents and ugly incidences in the past twelve years
involving students and staff have raised concern for the safety and security of schools
than ever before. In 1998, the USA experienced eight school shootings prompting the
congress to create the safe school initiative. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) was
directed to develop new, more effective safety technologies such as less obstructive
weapons detection and surveillance equipment and information systems that provide
communities with quick access to information they need to identify potentially violent
youth (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/topics/schools/technology.htm). Back here at home,
cases abound. This study was conducted in Kyuso District-Kenya. This is among the
newly created districts in the year 2007. The district is located in the semi-arid lands of
Eastern Province of Kenya. It is inhabited by Kamba and Tharaka ethnic communities.
The district has 20 secondary schools: two are provincial and the rest are district schools.
Two of them are boys only: three of them are girls only and the rest are mixed schools.
All are boarding schools. On average, each school has a population of 250 students. Boys
have tended to be more than the girls. Just like in other parts of the country, schools in
Kyuso District have been experiencing cases of arson, students riots, and disease
outbreaks leading to loss of life and property. The purpose of this study was to establish
the safety preparedness of secondary schools in Kyuso District, Kenya. Eight out of
twelve schools from the district were chosen for study. Using questionnaires administered
to the students, teachers and the headteachers using drop and pick techniques, data
collected from the respondents data were analyzed quantitatively whereby descriptive
analysis such as frequencies and percentages were used. A checklist was also used to
verify the headteacherldeputy information received. Data were analyzed using the
statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). Out of the eight schools where the
questionnaires were administered, two schools declined to respond giving the researcher
a response rate of 75% which was adequate for this study. The findings were presented
using frequency distribution tables, pie charts, bar-graphs and percentages among others.
The study established that in this district there are no adequate fire fighting equipments in
the schools as majority, 43% had between 1 - 5 fire fighting equipments. In addition, the
number of fire fighting equipment, fire fighting points and first aid kits were found to be
un-proportional to the size of the schools and the number of students hence inadequate to
deal with any emergency. The schools rarely trained their students on safety measures as
indicated by 44.5%, hence the students were not well-equipped with necessary training
needed to handle emergencies in the schools. In addition, the members of staff and school
m:atrons were not well-trained on fire fighting techniques since only 56.0% were fairly
trained. This study recommends that the school management embark on intensive training
on health and preparedness for all students and members of staff to improve the level of
knowledge on health and safety in the schools with more emphasis on the fire fighting
techniques. This will make the students and staff well-equipped to handle emergencies
incase they arise in the schools. The study found that there is need to increase the number
of fire fighting equipments, fire fighting points and first aid kits in schools to increase the
efficiency of emergency response.
Description
Department of Educational Management, Policy and Curriculum Studies, 81p. The LB 2864.5.M85 2011
Keywords
Schools --Kenya --Security measures | School crisis management --Kenya | Safety relugations --Kenya