Influence of Planning for Disasters and Emergencies by Boards of Management on Compliance with Safety Standards in Public Boarding Secondary Schools in Embu County, Kenya

Abstract

The safety of learners is ultimate in the provision of quality education as secure school environments foster quality teaching and learning. However, the well-being of school children has remained a global problem due to recurrence of tragedies with safety management in institutions of learning remaining a growing concern. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of planning for disasters and emergencies by Boards of Management (BoMs) on compliance with safety standards in public boarding secondary schools in Embu County. The study adopted pragmatic philosophy and convergent mixed method, and targeted five sub-counties and 64 public boarding secondary schools. Respondents comprised chairpersons of BoMs and Parents Associations, BoM secretaries, Heads of Departments (HoDs) and Sub-County Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (SCQASOs). Stratified sampling was advanced to pick a sample of 55 schools of various categories. Purposive sampling was used to select 275 HoDs from sampled schools and 5 SCQASOs. The total sample was 445 respondents. HoDs responded to a questionnaire while BoM members and SCQASOs were subjected to an interview. The study also used an observation schedule. Expert judgement was sought to determine the validity of the instruments. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.873 confirmed high reliability of the research items while 0.965 was a high reliability for the questionnaire. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics; frequencies and percentages. The Hypothesis was tested using Pearson’s coefficient of correlation ‘r’. Research findings (r ₌ .773) indicated that there is a strong positive correlation between planning for disasters and emergencies and compliance with safety standards in public boarding secondary schools, while a (p ₌ 0.029) direct that planning also significantly influence the levels of school compliance with the safety standards. The study recommend that school boards should plan for safety; allocate financial, infrastructural and human resources to realize high levels of school safety

Keywords: Board of Management, Compliance, Safety standards, Planning, Public boarding secondary schools

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-21-10

Publication date:July 31^st 2023