Implementation of the school Health and Safety Standards in secondary schools in Manga District, Kenya

Abstract

The school health and safety are an integral and indispensable component of the teaching and learning process and no meaningful teaching and learning can take place in an environment that is unhealthy, unsafe and insecure to both students, staff, parents and stakeholders. The study established factors influencing implementation of the school health and safety standards in secondary schools in Manga District, Nyamira County, and Nyanza Province, Kenya. It is the policy of the government through the ministry of education to maintain a safe, secure, caring, healthful environment for its institutions, staff, students and visitors. The study employed a conceptual framework in which the independent variables were: architectural design factors in the teaching and learning facilities; environmental factors in recreational areas, structural factors in accommodation areas and the administration factors in water and sanitation areas. The dependent variable in this study was the school health and safety standards. Overcoming these challenges will faster the health and safety of the learners, staff, parents and other stakeholders in secondary schools in the district. The study targeted all the secondary schools teachers, head teachers, students and DQASO in Manga District. This population was involved in the study as it is directly involved in the implementation of the health and safety standards in schools. The target population was therefore 8901. Sample size selection was done in accordance to a statistical calculation for approximating sample developed by Krejcie and Morgan (1970). Therefore the study sample comprised of 24 head teachers, 152 teachers, 368 students from the 24 participating schools and 1 DQASO. Proportionate and simple random sampling techniques were used in selecting schools and a school from each zone respectively. Purposeful sampling was used to select the DQASO in the study. The data collection instruments used in the study were questionnaires, interviews schedules, observation schedules and document analysis. The data was analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences. The study found out that lack of appropriate doors in most classrooms in secondary school in Manga district hindered implementation health and safety standards in school. It was.revealed from the study that lack of fences, poorly kept recreational grounds and play grounds which were not flat and free of potholes in most schools in Manga district hindered implementation of health and safety standards in schools. It is established that lack of funds majorly hindered implementation of school health and safety policy. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that, there is need to have architectures in the Ministry of education to advice on the architectural designs that are flexible and simple to be implemented by the school managers. In addition, Government, parents, teachers and educational stakeholders to combine efforts in order to equip schools with health and safety equipment resources for implementation of health and safety standards.