ASSESSMENT OF TEACHERS’ KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE ON STUDENTS’ SAFETY AND SECURITY IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NASARAWA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Schools are important to nation building; the school represents a space where learners are comprehensively educated and developed. This development, however, can be guaranteed only if learning takes place in a safe and secure environment. Teachers play a significant role in promoting school safety hence, this study assessed teachers’ knowledge and attitude on Students’ safety and security in public secondary schools in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The study employed the descriptive survey research design. The population of the study comprised 12, 361 teachers’ all of senior secondary schools in Nasarawa State. A sample size of 380 respondents was selected using multistage sampling procedure. A researcher structured four point Likert-type scale; Teachers’ Knowledge and Attitude on Students’ Safety and Security Questionnaire (TKASSSQ) was used for Data collection. Mean and Standard Deviation was used to answer research questions while t-test was used to test the formulated hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings from the study revealed that; Teachers’ knowledge on School safety of secondary schools students’ is limited in Nasarawa State, Nigeria; Teachers attitude towards school safety is significant to secondary schools students’ safety and security in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The study recommends that; Educational authorities, Non-governmental organizations should as a matter of necessity; organize periodic school safety and security awareness creation programmes for teachers’ and students’ of secondary schools; The ministry of education in collaboration with security agency and operatives should organize timely safety and security school based training for staff members and students’ which will ensure active participation of school community members in safety and security issues.