SAFETY AND HEALTH PRACTISES IN SECONDARY SCHOOL MANAGEMENT IN RIVERS STATE

Presently in the world of business, politics, communication, transport and education; safety and health are regarded as very important issues. The relevance of safety and health is particularly more significant in schools across all levels of education. Children are vulnerable to diseases because their immune system is still in the process of development. As such educating children in an unsafe, unhealthy and un-conducive environment exposes to health hazards which can obstruct learning. Secondary education is a powerful level of education that shapes the perception and knowledge of children around the world including Nigeria. This study explored access to safe and healthy secondary education in Rivers State, the policies that promote safety and health practices in secondary schools and the barriers which affect the implementation of health and safety standards in secondary schools in Rivers State. A total of 535 respondents (382 teachers and 153 principals) were randomly selected using simple random sampling technique. A questionnaire tagged ‘Assessment of Safety and Health in Secondary Schools (ASHSS)’ was used to obtain responses. The study amongst other things discovered that the majority of respondents are of the opinion that secondary schools in Rivers State lack effective safety and health practices. Thus, the researcher recommended that the government should ensure that secondary school syllabus and scheme of work incorporate safety and health issues daily in Rivers State.