Abstract:
This study dealt with the development of a safety policy implementation framework for secondary schools in Kenya. This was due to the fact that safety is becoming a global issue and yet teachers at University level have not been trained on safety implementation and management. The target population included 18 public National secondary schools in Kenya which had sat for KCSE since 2010. National schools were purposively selected to participate in the study. Stratified random sampling was used to sample 6 schools to take part in the study. The six national secondary schools had 6 head teachers, 120 class teachers, 300 form three students, 6 watchmen, and 4 Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (QASOs), making a total of 436 respondents. Instruments which were used for data collection included Questionnaire for Teachers and Students, Interview schedules for Principal, QASOS and school Watchman, and observation schedules. Qualitative data collected from interviews was transcribed and analyzed on an ongoing process as themes and sub-themes emerged. Quantitative data was analyzed by use of descriptive statistics in form of percentages, means and standard deviations. The significant differences in terms of implementation, level of awareness, attitudes of teachers and students, and strategies in enhancing school safety, were tested using One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The findings indicated that national secondary schools had done moderate implementation of safety policies due to a number of factors. There was minimal safety awareness, with variations in attitude among teachers and students. Head-teachers, Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (QASOs), teachers, students and security personnel were found to be playing a significant role in the implementation of safety policies in schools. It was also established that schools had various strategies in place for the implementation of safety policies. Suggested solutions towards improving the implementation of safety led to creation of a framework for the implementation of the safety policies in phases.
