| dc.description.abstract | Governance practices adopted by schools play a key role in ensuring safe learning
environment in schools. However, in public secondary schools in Makueni County, the
situation is quite different with cases of accidents to learners and staff as well as
destruction of school infrastructure being on the rise. Thus, the purpose of this was to
investigate the influence of governance practices on provision of safe learning
environment in public secondary schools in Makueni County, Kenya. The objectives
were; assessing the influence of compliance with safety standards and guidelines,
stakeholder participation and in-service training programmes on provision of safe
learning environment. The study was guided by the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Theory. The study adopted mixed methodology and applied quantitative and qualitative
approaches A descriptive research design was employed to collect and analyze data
using questionnaires and interview guides. The target population comprised 400
principals, 3769 teachers and 5600 members of school BoM in public secondary
schools in Makueni County totaling 9769 respondents from which a sample of 379
respondents was obtained using Yamane’s Formula. Stratified sampling was used to
create nine strata based on the number of sub-counties in Makueni County From each
sub-county, five principals and 20 members of school BoM were selected using
purposive sampling. However, simple random sampling was applied to select 26
teachers. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data from teachers whereas
interview guides were used to collect qualitative data from principals and members of
school BoM. There was also document checklist analysis guide for the researcher.
Piloting was conducted among 38 respondents from a sample of public secondary
schools in Makueni County to establish validity and reliability. Validity was ascertained
with the help of university supervisors and experts in educational administration.
Reliability was determined using split-half technique and a reliability index, r = 0.725,
between two ‘halves’ was obtained using Cronbach Alpha Method, which indicated
high internal reliability. Data analysis began by identifying common themes.
Qualitative data were analyzed thematically along the study objectives and presented
in narrative forms. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as
frequencies and percentages. Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS Version 29)
was used to analyse data was presented using tables and percentages. The study
revealed that provision of a safe learning environment poses significant challenges in
many public secondary schools. Many of these schools have reported various incidents
of accidents and injuries affecting both staff and students, alongside recurrent damage
to physical facilities. This is partly attributed to the failure of such public secondary
schools to adhere to safety standards and guidelines, rare stakeholder participation as
well as irregular in-service training programmes on how to create safe learning
environment in schools. Thus, the study recommends that principals should ensure that
schools comply with safety standards and guidelines, establish a structured safety audit
and monitoring system to ensure continuous compliance with safety standards and
guidelines. They should actively engage all stakeholders in collaborative decision making to ensure a safe learning environment. Principals should regularly conduct
specialized training sessions on conflict resolution, mental health awareness and
emergency preparedness for staff and students. | en_US |
