Safety awareness and preparedness in secondary schools in Kenya: A case of Turkana district

Abstract

Safety for students and staff from hazards that can be created by unsafe conditions, behaviour, disasters or emergencies in schools cannot be guaranteed. This is because of inadequate preparedness and awareness programs for safety needs. This study investigated the adequacy of procedures, precautions and infrastructure to respond to fire outbreaks and destructive violence with a view to making recommendations for improving safety conditions in schools in Kenya. The study adopted a survey research design in which a random sample of 210 respondents was drawn from seven secondary schools in Turkana District, Kenya. They included students, head teachers, teachers, non- teaching staff, community members and key informants. Observation method was used to complement interviews in data collection. The data collected were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings showed that there were no awareness programs of school safety needs in Turkana District; teachers and students were poorly prepared to respond to fire outbreak and destructive violence. Based on these findings, the Schools should be advised to conduct fire drills and talks periodically in order to improve the level of awareness on school safety needs; the schools should also conduct training of staff and students on how to prevent violence in order to improve preparedness; schools should not over depend on reactive policies and legislation at the expense of pro-active programs that seek to involve other stakeholders like community in management of students’ discipline. The findings of the study and their implications will assist the teachers, students, parents and educational managers in policy guidelines on school safety.