SAFETY PRACTICES IN PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA.

The major purpose of the study was to evolve safety practices in pre-primary schools in Enugu state. Specifically, the study was designed to identify the common types of accidents in pre-primary schools; identify the common causes of accidents in the activity areas in pre-primary schools; identify safety practices that are presently being adopted by the stakeholders in the activity areas in the pre-primary schools; determine safety practices that still need to be adopted by the stakeholders in the activity areas and determine the ways stakeholders could be assisted in the adoption of the needed safety practices in pre-primary schools. The area of the study was Enugu state. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. Seven research questions and twelve null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. The population for the study was made up of 2,242 pre-primary schools. The sample for the study was 1060 stakeholders from 400 pre-primary schools drawn from the population through a multi-stage sampling technique. Structured questionnaire, checklist and observation schedule were the instruments used for data collection. The instruments were validated by three experts. Twenty copies of the questionnaire were administered to stakeholders at Awka in Anambra state in order to determine the internal consistency and stability of the instrument. Coefficient of 0.93, 0.97, 0.87, 0.82, 0.96, 0.89 and an overall value of 0.91 were obtained. Data was analyzed using mean and percentages to answer the seven research questions. t-test was used to test null Ho1, Ho¬2, Ho3, Ho4, Ho9, Ho10 and Ho11 while chi -square was used to test null H05, Ho6, Ho7 and Ho8 at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed twenty six types of accidents in the pre-primary schools. These include: falls, slips, cuts, and bruises, fingers getting caught in doors / windows and human bites. One hundred and twenty seven causes of accidents in the various activity areas include: inadequate provisions of age appropriate facilities, lack of ample space. One hundred and seven important required safety practices for the activity areas include: provision of well equipped first aid kits, safety training for workers. Fifty eight safety practices presently adopted in pre-primary schools in Enugu state include: provision of adequate lighting, adequate ventilation, and proper arrangement of the classroom. One hundred and forty safety practices that still need to be adopted in the activity areas include: installation of safety devices like fire extinguishers, use of finger jam protectors on the doors. Twenty four constraints to the adoption of safety practices include: unqualified workers, lack of safety training for workers and preschoolers. Fifteen ways stakeholders could be assisted in the adoption of the required safety practices include: organizing seminars, workshops and conferences on safety. The result showed that there was no significant difference in the prevalent types of accidents based on pre-school types. There is no significant difference in the mean responses of administrators and teachers on the causes of accidents in the activity areas in preschools (p > 0.05). There is no significant difference (P > 0.05) on the mean responses of administrators and teachers on constraints to adoption of safety practices in pre-primary schools. There is no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the mean responses of administrators and teachers on the ways stakeholders could be assisted in adoption of the required safety practices in pre-primary schools in Enugu state. Based on the findings of this research work, eight recommendations were made and some of these include: standard and uniform pre-primary education programme detailing the components should be made available in the pre-primary schools in the state by the state ministry of education unit for pre-primary schools; vibrant and functional government body or committee for early childhood education to oversee the programme should be appointed to oversee the facilities, standard, establishment, personnel selections among others in the state; the identified required safety practices in the activity areas should be implemented in the pre-primary schools through the government unit in charge of early childhood education in Enugu state to ensure safe pre-primary school environment so as to cut down or eradicate common accidents among preschoolers in the school.