The Management of Safety in Schools in The State of Perak, Malaysia

Abstract

This study was conducted to ascertain the management of safety in secondary schools located in the Northern Kinta District, Perak. The aspects of school safety studied were social dimension and physical dimension. This study was also conducted to find out whether a significant relationship existed between the social dimension and physical dimension towards school safety. The study sample consisted of teachers who had undergone the Higher Order Thinking Skills (KBAT) Course for Lower Secondary and a questionnaire was utilised as the study instrument. The data collected was then analysed to ascertain the practices, effects, limitations and findings from the school safety management programme which had been conducted for 11 years. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20.0 and also using descriptive analysis in the form of percentages and frequencies. The findings showed that 6 factors had a significant co-relational relationship (Truancy, Fights, Classroom safety, Workshop safety, Laboratory Safety and Fire Safety) and only two factors were not significant (Bullying and Co-curriculum activities safety). The R2 value was moderate at .482 which showed that the 48.2% change in school safety was due to the eight independent variables. This showed that there was a significant relationship between the social dimension and physical dimension. As such, the study findings showed that the safety practices were important in influencing the study environment at school especially for the students as they needed to feel safe from any disruption or risks of accident.