COLLEGE CONVERSION INTO QUARANTINE CENTRE: PARENTS' PERCEPTION ON SAFETY AT KENYA MEDICAL TRAINING COLLEGE, MOMBASA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47604/gjhs.1174Keywords:
Conducive, COVID-19, Kenya Medical Training College, Mombasa, Perception, Quarantine centre, Safety, ParentsAbstract
Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine perception of parents on safety of their children upon resumption of face-to-face studies at Kenya Medical Training College, Mombasa after its temporary conversion into COVID-19 quarantine centre.
Methodology: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional design done at KMTC-Mombasa. 85 (10%) parents were sampled by convenience method from total population of 850. Multi stage sampling was used to select 85 participants. Data was collected through structured phone administered interview. Response rate was 85.8% (73). Descriptive analyses were carried out using SPSS 26. Presentation of the results was done by use of graphs, pie charts and tables.
Findings: 65.8% (48) of parents were aware of KMTC Mombasa having being converted into COVID-19 quarantine centre. Most parents 91.8% (67) felt safe for their children to go back to college. Availability of clear information about safety measures was cited by 69% (46) of the parents as the reason they felt the students would be safe. Only 6 parents (8.2%) felt unsafe for their children. They explained that COVID-19 spreads quickly in congested places like schools and that the college was "˜highly infectious' as a quarantine centre. There was a significant relationship between parents perception of safety of the college and their proposition of dates of reopening the college (p=0.01). Parents generally considered the college facilities conducive for use (Mean=61.33%).
Unique contribution to theory, practice and Policy: The views of parents as key stakeholders when learning institutions are converted into quarantine centers during a pandemic have not been explored in literature. Parents who perceived the college as safe would allow their children to go back to college and resume face-to-face learning as soon as possible. However, parents who perceived the college as unsafe would stop their children from going back to college. For smooth learning, it is important for college management to ensure that necessary safety measures are put in place and communicated to parents before reopening of college.
Downloads
References
Bonaya, M. (2020, July 21). Why State settled for January 2021 school reopening date. Nation. https://nation.africa/kenya/blogs-opinion/opinion/why-state-settled-for-january-2021-school-reopening-date-1902386
Cheng, S., Wang, C. J., Shen, A. C., & Chang, S. (2020). How to safely reopen colleges and universities during COVID-19: Experiences from Taiwan. Annals of Internal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.7326/m20-2927
Cheung, S., Wang, H., Mascola, L., El Amin, A. N., & Pannaraj, P. S. (2015). Parental perceptions and predictors of consent for school-located influenza vaccination in urban elementary school children in the United States. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, 9(5), 255-262. https://doi.org/10.1111/irv.12332
Chua, K., DeJonckheere, M., Reeves, S. L., Tribble, A. C., & Prosser, L. A. (2020, June 26). Plans for School Attendance and Support for COVID-19 Risk Mitigation Measures Publication Date: June 26, 2020 Among Parents and Guardians of Public School Children in Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio. Home. https://ihpi.umich.edu/sites/default/files/2020-06/plans%20for%20school%20attendance%20and%20support%20for%20risk%20mitigation%20measures%20among%20parents%20and%20guardians_final.pdf
Durisic, M., & Bunijevac, M. (2017). Parental Involvement as a Important Factor for Successful Education. Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 7(3), 137-153. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1156936
Gentili, D., Bardin, A., Ros, E., Piovesan, C., Ramigni, M., Dalmanzio, M., Dettori, M., Filia, A., & Cinquetti, S. (2020). Impact of communication measures implemented during a school tuberculosis outbreak on risk perception among parents and school staff, Italy, 2019. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(3), 911. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030911
Harris, A. (2020). COVID-19 - school leadership in crisis? Journal of Professional Capital and Community, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print). https://doi.org/10.1108/jpcc-06-2020-0045
Logie, C. H., & Turan, J. M. (2020). How do we balance tensions between COVID-19 public health responses and stigma mitigation? Learning from HIV research. AIDS and Behavior, 24(7), 2003-2006. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-020-02856-8
Merriman, L. S. (2008). Managing parent involvement during crisis. New Directions for Student Services, 2008(122), 57-66. https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.275
Rabe, N. S., Osman, M. M., Bachok, S., Abdullah, M. F., Shuid, S., & Ponrahono, Z. (2017). Parents' perception on children safe distance: A case study of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Advanced Science Letters, 23(7), 6083-6086. https://doi.org/10.1166/asl.2017.9210
Rabi, F. A., Al Zoubi, M. S., Kasasbeh, G. A., Salameh, D. M., & Al-Nasser, A. D. (2020). SARS-Cov-2 and coronavirus disease 2019: What we know so far. Pathogens, 9(3), 231. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9030231
Soliman, H. H., Koran, J., & Gomaa, A. (2018). Parents' perception of school violence, awareness of risk factors, and school safety: An ecological perspective. International Journal of School Social Work, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.4148/2161-4148.1033
Solórzano, D. A. (2020). Education before the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Advanced Research in Dynamical and Control Systems, 12(7), 604-610. https://doi.org/10.5373/jardcs/v12i7/20202043
Texas Education Agency. (2020, September 2). SY 20-21 Public Health Planning Guidance. Retrieved September 21, 2020, from https://tea.texas.gov/sites/default/files/covid/SY-20-21-Public-Health-Guidance.pdf
Winerip, M. (2013, February 3). Hold the gold watch. Kid in college. The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/booming/older-parentswith-children-in-college-are-taking-on-more-debt-and-more-work.html
Wood, M., & Su, F. (2019). Parents as "stakeholders" and their conceptions of teaching excellence in English higher education. International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, 21(2), 99-111. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijced-05-2018-0010
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
