STUDENTS AND STAFF AWARENESS ON SCHOOL SAFETY MEASURES IN PUBLIC BOARDING SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN TRANS-NZOIA COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

The Kenyan government is committed to ensure access, equity, participation, retention, completion and quality of education at all levels. Education is bound to be affected if safety and security concerns of students are not addressed fully. The objective of the study was to find out the levels of awareness of school safety measures among students and staff in public boarding secondary schools in Trans- Nzoia County, Kenya. The study used descriptive survey research design. The study targeted 40 principals, 754 teachers, 22,562 students and 84 security officers in 40 public boarding secondary schools in Trans-Nzoia County. Simple random sampling and purposive sampling procedure were used to select boarding secondary schools. The total sample was 403 respondents which comprised of 20 principals, 143 teachers, 220 students and 20 security officers. Questionnaires, interview schedule, document analysis, observation checklist and focus groups were used as data collection instruments. Data was analysed using descriptive statistical techniques that were frequencies and percentages. Data was presented in tables. The study established that, students and staff were not trained on safety requirements as per the Ministry of Education Safety Manual and therefore not aware of the safety measures. The student, teacher and any other stake holder should be sensitized on the safety rule. The school principals should ensure that all students and staff are trained on safety measures in order to prevent insecurity issues in boarding schools. Article visualizations: