Assessing the Safety of Pupils and Teachers in Secondary Schools: A Study of Chikun Local Government Area, Kaduna State, Nigeria
Keywords:
Secondary school, Safety, Insecurity, Self-defenseAbstract
This current research paper investigated the factors contributing to an insecure school environment, with reference to Chikun Local Government Area (CLGA), Kaduna State, Nigeria. We adopted the mixed-method approach to gather both quantitative and qualitative data, utilizing semi-structured questionnaires and interviews with 420 respondents, including pupils, teachers, and school administrators from twelve randomly selected secondary schools. The findings revealed that the major factors contributing to insecure school environments include bullying (95%), trespassing (95.2%), illicit drug and substance abuse (84.2%), sexual harassment (72%), and banditry activities (66.4%). Results showed that the majority (86%) of respondents reported their unawareness of school safety and emergency procedures. The study also identified inadequate funding for security measures (93.0%), a lack of training on safety measures (92%), and fear of reporting safety concerns to school management (88%) as the major challenges hindering efforts to ensure the safety of pupils and teachers in schools. In line with these results, the study suggests implementing mass awareness campaigns, maintaining physical infrastructure, implementing safe school initiatives, personal safety, and self-defense, reporting security concerns, and increasing funding for school security.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Kamal Muhammad Sani, Muhammad Tasiu Dansabo, Abdullahi Garba Kangiwa, Aslam Idris

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