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Safety and Health Issues in Selected Schools of Chibombo District in Central Province of Zambia

2016; Volume: 3; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.20431/2349-0381.0310010

2349-0373

Kaiko Mubita, T Phiri, Pauline Namakau Monde, Steria Simooya,

Social Development and Education Research

Safety and health management in schools is a growing concern in Zambia.Media reports on dilapidated infrastructure, unhealthy conditions and other cases of insecurity in schools have been on the rise.According to United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF, 2009) academic attainment is regarded as a decisive factor that determines educational quality.Therefore, in pursuing such academic attainment, children have the right to learn in a safe and healthy environment.With reference to the argument by UNICEF, this paper explored safety and health issues in selected schools of Chibombo District in Central province of Zambia.Using purposive and simple random sampling, a sample of fifty stakeholders in randomly selected schools of Chibombo district was selected.This sample comprised teachers, pupils and auxiliary staff in the selected schools.Data was collected using unstructured interviews and focus group discussion.Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis.This paper established that the selected schools faced many safety and health challenges.This study established that as much as the selected schools in Chibombo district had put in place safety and health measures, there were still outstanding safety and health concerns.It is therefore recommended that the government should provide safe and health school environments through appropriate frameworks, guidance and legislation.