SAFETY POLICY IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KENYA

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 watch

men, 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 improv

ing the implementation of safety led to creation of a framework for the implementation of the safety policies in

phases.