School-based factors influencing implementation of safety standards in public secondary schools in Matungulu sub-county, Machakos county - Kenya

Abstract

Despite existence of safety policies in secondary schools in Kenya, student mortality rates attributed to physical accidents in the country are estimated to be on the rise from 3% to 7% annually. This study investigated school-based factors influencing implementation of safety standards in public secondary schools in Matungulu Sub-County, Machakos County. Guided by Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory, this study investigated the extent to which: safety awareness among teachers and students; availability of financial resources; students’ enrolment and school management practices influence implementation of safety standards in public secondary schools in Matungulu Sub-County. Descriptive survey research design was used to collect data from a target population of 35 public secondary schools in Matungulu Sub-County. The target population for this study comprised of 35 school heads, 389 teachers and 2608 form three students. The study adopted purposive, stratified and simple random sampling techniques where a sample size of 11 school heads, 44 teachers and 264 students was drawn from the 35 public secondary schools. Questionnaire and observation checklist were used to collect data. Validity of research instruments was ascertained through piloting by a research expert from school of education while, reliability of the research instruments was determined using the test-re-test method. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean scores, percentages, frequency distribution tables and standard deviations and presented in tables, charts and narratives. Further, correlation and regression analysis methods were used to determine the statistical effect of individual predictor variable on the dependent variable. Qualitative data obtained from open-ended questions was analyzed thematically and presented using descriptive statistics. Overall the study revealed that there is a statistical significant relationship between school-based factors and implementation of safety standards. This is because the p-value as measured between each school-based factor and implementation of safety standards in schools, was less than (≤).05, the acceptable significance level. This study concludes that despite existence of safety manuals and policies in secondary schools in schools, lack of awareness, inadequate funds, increased number of student enrolment and negligence of school management on safety measures were major hindrances to implementation of safety standards. This study recommends among others that, for effective implementation of safety standards in public secondary schools in Matungulu Sub-County, the Government of Kenya through the Ministry of Education should allocate funds to facilitate training of teachers and students on safety measures and purchase of safety equipment such as fire extinguishers. Further, the Ministry should set safety policies to regulate student number constraints based on infrastructural facilities. The findings of this study are considered to be of value to school management, policy makers, researches and scholars when making decisions related to safety in school.