Assessment Of Fire Safety Preparedness in Boarding Secondary Schools of Kakiri Sub-County in Wakiso District.

Abstract

Background: Fire disasters in schools continue to raise major concerns about the safety of students in boarding schools. Concerns about sustained injuries, lost lives and destroyed property have been reported both locally and internationally as dire consequences of fires in schools. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the level of fire safety preparedness in boarding secondary schools of Kakiri sub-county in Wakiso district, in order to generate information that will influence policy on safety against fires in schools. Methods: A cross-sectional study using both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods was conducted in 11 boarding secondary schools in the study area. Kakiri sub-county has 16 secondary schools; among them 4 are purely day schools while 12 have boarding facilities. Quantitative data was collected using a structured questionnaire which was subjected to the students and an observation checklist. Key informant interviews were also conducted to collect qualitative data. SPSS version 16 was used to analyse data and associations were established with p-value ≤ 0.05. Results: The results were presented using tables, pie charts and graphs and 36.4% of the schools visited had a history of fire outbreak. Most schools (90.9%) had no fire safety plans, 90% had fire extinguishers, 27.3% had proper fire escape routes and none of the schools ever conducted fire simulations and drills. There was a strong association between history of fire outbreak and availability of fire fighting equipments in schools. A matrix score was used to determine fire safety preparedness and only 18.2% of the boarding secondary schools in Kakiri sub-county were prepared against fire. Recommendations: The Ministry of Education and Sports should formulate and implement policies that govern prevention of fires in schools. In addition to improving facilitation, the fire brigade division in police needs to recruit and train more people on the fire and rescue teams.