An Investigation into the State of Disaster and Safety Preparedness in Schools in Kenya

Disasters of various kinds have been witnessed in learning institutions in Kenya for many years. Indeed, disasters disrupt the education process and undermine quality of education. This paper looks at how prepared our learning institutions are in fighting instances of fire outbreaks. The question here is Are learning institutions adequately prepared to cope with these disasters The paper is based on a survey carried out in 12 Counties in Kenya. The purpose of the study was to investigate the state of disaster preparedness in learning institutions in Kenya with specific reference to fire disasters. Descriptive survey research design was used. The study targeted all learners in primary and secondary schools, teachers, school administrators, Boards of Management (BOM) /School Management Committees (SMCs), Chiefs, Sponsors and education officials. Cluster and simple random sampling was used. The research instruments used in collecting data were questionnaires and interview guides. Piloting of the instruments was carried out and validated for reliability. This initial exercise was carried out in three Counties that were randomly selected. The pilot Counties were not part of the main study. Means and standard deviations were used to describe the data gathered during the main study. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS while qualitative data were analyzed thematically. The main finding of the study was that learning institutions were not sufficiently prepared to handle disasters or emergency situations. Recommendations made include developing a coherent safety and disaster/emergency preparedness policy and carrying out sensitization for all directorates in the Ministry of Education and key education stakeholders on issues pertaining to Disaster and Emergency preparedness. It is expected that the findings of this study will provide insightful reference that education stakeholders can rely on in regard to disaster preparedness and management.