Assessment of child protection policy awareness in secondary schools

Abstract

This study was designed to assess the awareness of child protection policy in secondary schools. This is due to the widespread violence against children in many places, including schools. This study adopts a quantitative research design to explore the convenience sampling technique, used to sample 139 teachers in public and private schools in Lagos State, Nigeria. The collected data were analysed with a chi-square independent test at .05 significance level. The study found a relatively moderate awareness of child protection policy among the teachers. There was also a significant positive relationship between educational qualification, school ownership type, and teachers’ awareness of the policy. However, gender and years of teaching experience have no significant relationship with teachers’ awareness of the policy. The study’s finding implies that all educational stakeholders, especially policy planners and implementers, should go back to the drawing board and brainstorm ways to cover the loopholes in policy awareness strategies. Recommendations were made that the school management should set up a standing committee to create awareness of all policies emanating within and outside the school to bridge the communication and awareness gap among school community members, and as part of the induction programme for new teachers, training should be organised for teachers on child protection. This study is unique because it traces the root cause of policy failure and the problem of violence against children in society.