The document discusses the health, safety and security measures in 20 schools in Lagos State, Nigeria. It finds that private schools generally have better safety and health protections than public schools. Most public schools lack things like trained nurses, medical supply storage and student medical records. Both public and private schools could benefit from adopting the Child-Friendly Schools framework to help ensure schools are inclusive, effective, healthy, gender-responsive and engage students, families and communities. Overall, the study shows that while some protections exist, Nigerian schools are ill-prepared for medical emergencies and need to improve safety, health and security standards.

2. By
IFENOWO,BAMIDELE OLUFEMI
FEDERAL POLYTECHNIC ILARO
OGUN STATE,NIGERIA.

3. An environment devoid of any form of stress is
presumed to be necessary and conducive for
effective learning.
 Environmental challenges and opportunities
vary considerably among schools around the
world, across countries and within communities.
 Similarly, the resources available to schools to
manage health hazards vary as widely as the
threats themselves.
Apart from being safe, the school environment
must also be healthful.

4.  The American Academy of Paediatrics defines
a “healthful school environment” as “one that
protects students and staff against immediate
injury or disease and promotes prevention
activities and attitudes against known risk
factors that might lead to future disease or
disability.”
 Equally important is the protection from
biological, physical, and chemical risks that
can threaten children’s health.

5.  Three unsavoury events played out in some areas of
Lagos in recent time past, which called into question
the adequacy of safety and security measures put in
place in our Primary and Secondary schools.
 Unknown gunmen stormed the premises of Babington
Macaulay Junior Seminary, co-educational secondary
school in the Ikorodu area of Lagos and snatched three
school girls.
 In a similar fashion, some kidnappers were said to
have attempted to abduct some male students of Senior
Model College, Owutu, Ikorodu.
 Six students were also abducted from Lagos Model
School, Igbonla Epe for months before they were
freed.

6. Kidnapping for ransom Use of Fire Arms in Schools

7.  This unfortunate incidents are pointers to the
fact that our schools must not only be
healthful but safe.
 Creating this condition requires thoughtful and
constant attention to the security and safety of
the facilities and measures put in place by
appropriate authorities.
 The extent to which schools, public and
private, in the country provide a safe and
secure environment plays a significant role in
determining whether the current and next
generation is well educated, healthy, secure and

8.  The thrust of this paper was to examine the
extent of conduciveness of our learning
environment in Lagos State with emphasis on
safety and security measures.
 To realise the study objective, twenty (20)
schools, all located within the Igando-Ikotun
Local Council Development Area (LCDA) were
purposively sampled to ascertain the extent of
security and safety measures put in place by the
authorities of these schools.

9.  Structured interview coupled with observation methods were used
for this study. The following data collection procedures were
employed:
 Desk Review: To get acquainted with or keep abreast of current
thinking and extant knowledge in the area of enquiry, articles,
research findings and relevant reports were reviewed.
 Observation: Using a pre-structured checklist of indicators of
conducive environment, the researcher requested to observe the
existing facilities at various schools surveyed.
 Key Informant Interviews: Interviews with persons who possess
the needed information were conducted. These included school
heads, teachers and pupils.

10.  The study was limited in scope to Igando-Ikotun Local Council
Development Area (LCDA) under the Alimosho Local
Government Area (LGA) of Lagos State.
 The scope covered by the study was determined essentially by
proximity, convenience,cost and easy accessibility to the
researcher.
 Even though the Igando-Ikotun LCDA is just one of the 57
LCDAs in Lagos State, it is believed that the situation in other
schools within the State might not be markedly different from our
findings with perhaps the exception of few elite schools

11.  A total of Twenty (20) schools (Primary, Secondary and
Vocational) were purposively selected. Ten (10) of them
were government-owned while the remaining ten (10)
were privately-owned.
 The reason for purposive selection was to overcome the
problem of cooperation from the respondents. In a way,
the social status and characteristics of the pupils in the
selected schools to a large extent were homogenous given
the economic and social characteristics of the population
in the LCDA.

12. Name of School Ownership Nature/Level
Igando Community High
School
Government Secondary
Ikotun secondary School Government Secondary
Government Technical College
Ikotun
Government Vocational
Local Govt Nursery & Primary
School 1
Government Elementary
Local Govt Nursery & Primary
School 2
Government Elementary
Abaranje Primary school 1 Government Elementary
Abaranje Primary School 2 Government Elementary
Okerube Primary School Government Elementary
Ikotun Primary School Pako Government Elementary
Community Primary School
Igando.
Government Elementary

13. Name of School Ownership Level/Nature
Rutnel School ,Abaranje Rd Private Secondary
Kings anchor College Ikotun Private secondary
Shesfuns Secondary school
abaranje.
Private Secondary
Phidels College Isheri. Private secondary
Bridge International Academy
Ikotun
Private Secondary
Famous Land school,Irede
Abaranje
Private Elementary
Jophathera Nursery & Pry
school Abaranje
Private Elementary
Capstone Primary School,
Ijegun.
Private Elementary
Divine Confidence Schools
Abaranje
Private Elementary
Barbican Private School
Abaranje
Private Elementary

14.  According to the psychological theory behind Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of
needs , for people to self-actualise or achieve their intellectual potentials, basic
needs such as food, shelter, and safety must be met. Pyramid showing our
Hierarchy of Needs according to Maslow must start with the obvious - physical
safety.
 Safety is often used interchangeably with security, but distinctions are made as
well. Generally, safety looks at issues related to non-intentional acts, whereas
security deals with intentional acts. Non-intentional acts include natural
disasters, building maintenance issues, accidents, and are without premeditation
or deliberation.

16.  Intentional acts include trespass, assault and battery, weapons
violations, property damage and involve some degree of
premeditation on the part of the perpetrators.
 Some of the literature reviewed use safety and security terms
interchangeably (Beauford, 1971), while other authors make a
distinction (Benne, 2008; Lindle, 2008).
 Terms used in this study included both safety and security as a
comprehensive look at crisis preparedness . Either safety or security
issues could be a crisis situation, so for purposes of this study, they
were used interchangeably.

17.  Talking about school health, Ademuwagun and Oduntan (2000)
asserted that school health is an integral part of community health.
 According to them, it mainly refers to all the health activities and
measures that are carried out within the community to promote and
protect the health of children of school age and school personnel.
 Ajala (2003) described the school health programme as a
combination of various procedures and activities designed to protect
and promote the well being of students, school administrators and
teachers.
 School health as a concept defines an area of practice, which is
wide in scope, embracing school health education, school health
services and healthful school environment (Udoh, 1999).

18.  This section presents and discusses current practices and
state of health and safety in the 20 selected schools.
 The current state analysis is based on structured-
interviews and observation.

19. ITEMS NO OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS NO OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS REMARK(S)
CCTV is installed to monitor
activity in and around school.
NIL NIL
Security personnel (e.g. crossing
guards) monitor student
movement at crosswalks and areas
involving vehicular traffic. 4 NIL
For the four private schools that
responded in the affirmative, their
gatemen doubled as road guards
during peak hours.
Some school staff are trained on
safety and emergency operations None None
Students are taught personal
safety and basic first aid skills ALL 8 This was possible because it happened
to be part of their curriculum.
Visitors are required to sign in and
out at the main office, and a visitor
log is maintained.
ALL NIL
Only private schools are more security
conscious with regard to visitors and
duty of care to the students.
Non-custodial parents and others
are required to have written
permission to pick up students and
are required to show a photo ID.
ALL ALL
Hazardous chemicals, including
cleaning solvents and science
laboratory chemicals, are properly
labelled, stored, disposed of and
secured at all times
ALL 4 The researcher could not confirm the
claims by the four private schools.

21. ITEMS AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE
(NO OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS)
AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE
(NO OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS)
REMARKS
Availability of a trained health
practitioner ( e.g. Nurse) to attend
to students basic health challenges.
ALL NONE
The Public Schools claim they use
closest government hospitals or make
emergency call to parents.
Designated room, furniture ,
medical storage cabinets and
refrigerators
ALL NONE
First Aid Supplies ALL ALL
First Aid Boxes could be seen in 60%
of the classes & Head Teachers’Office
Disposables:Towels,Tissues,Linens
,Wipes,syringes ,cotton wool etc
8 NONE
Medical Consumables. ALL ALL
Even though paltry in some, these are
sighted in all schools sampled.
Medical History files of students 6 NONE
Apparently, all public schools sampled
,don't keep medical records of
students
Availability of common infant and
juvenile analgesics and drugs
ALL ALL
Like the consumables ,these are also
available in varying amount.
Adequate ventilation of the
classrooms.
ALL ALL
Gender-sensitive clean toilet
facilities
ALL ALL
Seven ,public schools, mostly Primary
use Pit latrines though kept clean.
Water supply for drinking and
washing
ALL 3
All the public schools have water
supply but only 3 have boreholes.

22.  Our findings are based on the data collected through the interview conducted on
designated key-informants.
 These findings are partly presented in the preceding tables, partly because
researchers know how difficult it is to compile the outcome of an elaborate
interview process.
 In the area of safety awareness and compliance to safety measures, the private
schools, expectedly so, faired far better than their public counterparts. This is not
unconnected with the State’s regular inspection and regulation.
 Ditto for health and hygiene observance in these schools as opposed to the public
schools.
 The usual excuse and argument of the various heads of the surveyed public
schools is paucity of running fund.

23.  On the other hand, few of the private schools whose identities would
not be disclosed run short of the minimum standards expected.
These shortcomings were my personal observations as a lot of
things were not openly disclosed.
 Summary in the preceding tables is very apposite.
 It is likely that a significant number of school students will suffer
harm from abuse or neglect during their time within the education
system.
 School staff have a duty of care to protect and preserve the safety,
health and wellbeing of children and young people in their care and
staff must always act in the best interests of those children and
young people.
 If a staff member has any concerns regarding the health, safety or
wellbeing of a child or young person it is important to take
immediate action.

24.  Society as a whole shares a responsibility for
protecting the safety and well-being of children.
 Schools must take immediate action in relation to
concerns about possible abuse and neglect including
student sexual assault.
 This means that the school needs clear and
accessible policies & procedures about responding to
concerns for the safety and/or wellbeing of a student
 Staff must be able to seek appropriate advice and
know who can provide it.

25. We did not set out in this study to apportion blames but to
unearth and highlight the level of our preparedness or
otherwise for any physical assault or medical emergencies.
It goes without saying that we are ill-prepared; ownership
structure notwithstanding.
We are concluding by recommending the recognition
adoption of the CFS concept in our various schools.
 Child-friendly Schools (CFS) are a means of transporting
the concept of Child Rights into classroom practice and
school management. The Child-Friendly School (CFS)
framework has been evolving since it was first developed in
1997 in Thailand.

26.  It is now firmly established as a framework that is made up of the
following five dimensions:
 1. Proactively inclusive, seeking out and enabling participation of all
children and especially those who are different ethnically, culturally,
linguistically, socio-economically, and in terms of ability;
 2. Academically effective and relevant to children’s needs for life
and livelihood knowledge and skills;
 3. Healthy and safe for, and protective of, children’s emotional,
psychological, and physical well-being;
 4. Gender-responsive in creating environments and capacities
fostering equality; and
 5. Actively engaged with, and enabling of, student, family, and
community participation in all aspects of school policy, management
and support to children.
 In principle, it is believed that if our policy-makers recognize these
five dimensions ,it would address most, if not all the issues raised in
this study.

27. • Ademuwagun and Oduntan (2000) in Moronkola, O. A. (2003). School health programme.
Ibadan: Nigeria: Royal People (Nigeria) Limited.
• Ajala, J. A. (2003). Health education for nursery schools. Ibadan, Nigeria: Mary Best Publications.
• Akutu,G(2017).Creating Safe Environment for Nigerian school Children ,Retrieved from
www.thenationnewspaperonline.com on 13/03/2018
• Beauford, B. (1971). Health and safety codes in secondary schools. NASSP Bulletin, 55(357),
75-80.
• Benne, P. (2008). Eye on you. American School & University Journal, 81(2), 25-28.
• Http://www.education.vic.gov.au/healthwellbeing/safety/childprotection/childprotection.html
• Lindle, J. C. (2008). School safety: Real or imagined fear? Educational Policy Publication, 22(1),
28-44.
• Udoh, C. O. (1999). Teaching health education. Lagos: Kitans Academic Industrial Publishers.
• UNICEF(2006).Assessing Child-Friendly Schools: A Guide for Programme Managers in East Asia
and the Pacific,Thailand,Keen publishing Co.