Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies: Home

Abstract:
The study assessed the state of Emergency Preparedness in secondary schools in Kenya. Thiswas motivated by the persistent media reports on insecurity and school violence, a fact that projects a grim picture that Kenyan schools are not the safe havens that the public might have thought them to be. The study was based on the Chaos Theory which offers lessons for managing periods of extreme instability in a system. Descriptive survey design was employed. Stratified and purposive sampling techniques were used to determine the sample size. Respondents included head teachers, teachers, students and security officers. The research instruments used were questionnaire, interview schedule and observation checklist. A pilot study was administered to verify the validity and reliability of the instruments. Data obtained was analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Presentation of data is in form of tables, charts, graphs, frequencies, and percentages. Microsoft Excel and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program aided in data analysis. The findings revealed that most schools were not adequately prepared for emergencies both in terms of planning and equipment. For instance only 33.3% of teachers had been trained on firefighting while 33.8% had a safety policy in their schools. In light of these findings,the study recommends that the government should emphasize frequent assessment of schools by QASOs so as to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the safety policyand provide adequate funds for the purchase of safety equipment in schools.In conclusion, the study purposed to establish themechanisms put in placein the selected schools to enhance emergency preparedness, and the findings will be useful to the policy makers as this will guide in theformulationof a future safety policy for schools.The respondents may not have been very honest and may have given some false information which may threaten the validity of the findings. However, the limitation wascountered,by the use of triangulation of research methods to enhance validity.

Keywords: emergency, preparedness, public, boarding, secondary schools

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