Disaster Awareness And Preparedness Of Secondary Schools In Homa Bay County, Kenya

Abstract

The study examined disaster awareness and preparedness of secondary schools in Homa Bay County. The study objectives were to identifying types of disasters found in secondary schools, establishing levels of disaster awareness and preparedness, establishing administrative strategies put in place by school managers to enhance disaster awareness and preparedness and examining ways through which school facilities have been modified to cope with school disasters. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and targeted 52 principals, 420 secondary schools teachers and 6,000 students. 52 principals were purposively selected for the study, 84 teachers and 600 students were sampled for the study. Data were collected using questionnaires and an observation schedule. Quantitative data from closed-ended items were analysed using frequency counts. Frequencies and percentages obtained were presented in tables and graphs which were then internalized and described. The findings of the study revealed that secondary schools in Homa Bay County are faced with a variety of disasters with varying magnitudes most of which are floods-related as stated by 85.4% of principals, Low extent of planning for disaster awareness attributed to rare planning and attendance of workshops and seminars on disaster awareness given that 81.4% of teachers had never attended these workshops. It 'also established that crucial disaster awareness information ma;e(ia1s such as school safety manuals were not available in most schools (70.9%). If" was also found that most secondary students (75.4%) were not conversant with road safety rules as some of them were flouting these rules which might have exposed them to transport related disasters. The study further revealed that very little efforts had beep. done by school administrations to enhance disaster awareness and preparedness as none of the school had put in place early warning mechanisms, Disaster awareness and preparedness guidelines. were not available in a large number of schools (89.6%) and that most secondary schools (75.0%) did not even have school safety sub-committees. Most school administrations (52.9%) also took roll calls very often before students retire a to bed on a regular basis and that there were regular patrols by the school security personnel to ensure safety in schools. From the findings, most secondary schools in Homa Bay County were not adequately prepared to deal with disasters as a result of floods, landslides, thunderstorm/lightening related disasters, earthquake related disasters, disasters as a result of strong winds, fire related disasters, and disasters arising from poisonous chemical emissions and severe pollution. It was also established that most secondary schools had not modified their school physical facilities in line with safety requirements given that most secondary schools (43.8%) in the County had overcrowded-classrooms, (54.8%) having narrow doors which may have made it hard for students t~ evacuate in case of an emergency and a number of them (39.5%) had doors that opened inwards thus making it difficult to force them open from inside in case of emergency, The study recommends that every secondary school need to have a plan for development of capacity for the staff and students-to be better prepared in responding to disaster, School administrations and other stakeholders ought to provide necessary information and materials support to schools to promote disaster preparedness, and school administration need to protect investment in physical infrastructure and plan for reinforcement or upgrading of existing structures to become more resistant and resilient to the damaging effects of disaster. In view of the limitations and delimitations of the study, the study suggested a study assessing the training needs of Ministry of Education officials and principals regarding disaster awareness and preparedness in secondary schools and similar study be carried out in other parts of the country given that disasters can possibly occur in any school within the country.