ADMINISTRATORS’ ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR STUDENTS SAFETY IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN RIVERS STATE
Abstract
ABSTRACT
This paper investigated administrators’ environmental hazards management strategies for student safety in senior secondary schools in Rivers State. Three research questions and three corresponding null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of the study consisted of 302 principals and 6557 teachers, totaling 6859 in 302 public senior secondary schools in Rivers State. The sample for this study was 823 respondents, comprising 680 teachers’ and 143 principals. The respondents were stratified into principals and teachers of selected schools. The instrument that was used for data collection was a self-constructed questionnaire titled “Administrators’ Environmental Hazards Management Strategies for Students’ Safety Questionnaire" (AEHMSSSQ)The results of the tests were analyzed using Cronbach's alpha statistics based on the three sections of the instrument. Cluster A of the instrument yielded 0.68, cluster B 0.76, and cluster C 0.82. The overall alpha yielded 0.78, showing that the instrument is reliable enough to be used in the study since it is above the 0.60 level of reliability acceptance. Mean and standard deviation statistics were used to answer the research questions, while a t-test was used to test the null hypothesis at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings of this study indicated that the majority of the respondents agreed to a high extent that administrators use risk assessment strategies in the management of environmental hazards for student safety in senior secondary schools in Rivers State. It concluded that the study on Administrator's Environmental Hazards Management Strategies for Student Safety in Senior Secondary Schools in Rivers State sheds light on the proactive measures taken by school administrators to ensure the safety of students amidst environmental hazards. The study therefore recommended that government regulatory bodies should mandate periodic assessments and audits of risk assessment strategies in schools. School administrators should establish dedicated facility management teams within schools to oversee routine inspections, maintenance, and upgrades of infrastructure, and school administrators should collaborate closely with local emergency services such as fire departments, police, and medical services to ensure alignment of school emergency response strategies.
Keywords: Environmental Hazards, Management Strategies, Students Safety
