School Based Violence Assessment Report

Using School Violence Index

Name of School: Sululta Secondary School
_______________________________________________

Address: Sululta Town, Oromia Special Zone Surrounding Finfine

Assessment No: 1

Participants:

1. Administrative Staff = 3;1M + 2F

2. Teachers = 3;2M + 2F
3. Students = 4 ;2M + 2F

Facilitators:

1. Gudeta Adugna; Abidisa Aga secondary School principal

2. Gemechu Bekele; Program Manager, Shalom Humanitarian Development
Association

About the School

 Established in 2000 EC
 It is a Government School.
 The school has students from grades 9 to10
 Its current enrollment is 1670 students.
 Has a total 62 of teachers.

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 1. Assessment Objectives
The basic objective of the School Violence Index is to assess the level of school violence
within the secondary schools targeted in the “Safe School Project” of the “Making Change
Happen” Program, run by Initiative Africa (IA), to help develop violence free school
environment. IA is persuaded that measureable decreases in violent and non-violent incidents
in schools can be achieved through an assessment tool that enables the schools to make a
rapid appraisal (a quick ‘health check’) which can identify the problem areas and the extent.

The assessment is primarily done to:

 Build understanding of the complex issues involved in school violence reduction
 Determine strength and weakness of the school regarding addressing school violence
 Recommend ways to improve the effectiveness of the violence reduction programs in
the form of action plan
2 Assessment Scope

The assessment covers the following four dimensions on the target school:
Dimension 1: School Violence Prevention & Reduction Program:
Dimension 2: School Physical Security Improvement:
Dimension 3: School Policies & Rules to Combat Violence:
Dimension 4: Handling School Violence Incidences:
The indicators are given a score, minimum 0 and maximum 4, according to the level of
agreement which refers to the degree to which the indicator is applicable to or practice within
the school, translated into the level of agreement with the indicator.

Score Level of agreement Description: This indicator is…

0 None/not applicable …not applied in our school
1 Disagree …hardly applied in our school
2 Tend to disagree …sometimes applied in our school and occasionally put
into practice
3 Tend to agree …applied in our school and most of the time put into
practice
4 Agree …very much applied to our school and always put into
practice

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 3. Major Issues Raised During the Discussion
3.1 Dimension 1: School Violence Prevention & Reduction Programs

Key points raised

Indicators
Students Teachers Principals & admin
1.1 School leadership leads violence 2 2 3
prevention programs
1.2 The school has periodic training 0 1 1
sessions on violence prevention
1.3 Teachers are aware of their code of 1 3 3
conduct
1.4 Students have sufficient perception 3 2 2
of violence & its types
1.5 There are discussions about 2 0 2
violence issues among school
community members
1.6 There are activities that maintain 3 3 3
positive relationships among all
school members
1.7 Special programs on violence 2 3 3
prevention, health, safety and
security are in place for students
1.8 Local law enforcement bodies are 2 3 3
involved in the violence prevention
education
1.9 Parents are involved in the violence 3 2 3
prevention education
1.10 Resources have been allocated to 1 2 3
support and sustain school’s
violence prevention programs
Average 1.9(47.5%) 2.1(70%) 2.6(86.7%)

Average Response: Students-47.5, Teachers-70, and Principal/admin-86.7

3.1.1 Ratings and analysis

The students’ response assessment on ‘school violence prevention programs’ is 7-25% less than
those of teachers and principals/admin. Students agreed with teachers and principal/admin on that
there are activities in their school that maintain positive relationships among all school members
and the school has no periodic training session on violence prevention. Students agreed with the
principal/admin on the involvement of parents in the violence prevention program. Students rated
low on teachers’ awareness of their code of conduct. Students rated low (0-2) on 7 of the 10
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indicators while principal/admin rated high (3) on 7 of the 10 indicators. This shows that students
lack information regarding violence prevention program or the school is no transparent on its
violence prevention program.
To be effective, violence prevention program requires community-wide collaborative efforts that
include students, families, teachers, administrators, staff, health professionals, law enforcement,
and others. Thus school principal/administrator should bring together all of the above
constituencies to develop strategies appropriate for their own particular school environments.
Therefore;
 While school administrators create a climate of safety in school, teachers, especially, must
be directly involve and support in all stages of developing and implementing programs to
achieve safer school.
 The school should transparent on its violence prevention program
 The school needs to conduct a needs assessment to determine the types of conflict that tend
to occur and how they are best resolved.

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 3.2 Dimension 2: School Physical Security Improvement

Key points raised

Indicators Students Teachers Principals &
admin
2.1 The school has a supervised fencing 4 3 3
2.2 All exterior entrances are monitored 4 3 3
not to allow intruders
2.3 Restrooms are separate for boys & 2 2 3
girls in different direction
2.4 The school monitors the use of the 1 3 3
school compound during afterschool
programs
2.5 The school maintains a smoke-free 2 3 3
environment
2.6 Restricted areas within the school are 3 3 3
properly identified and secured
2.7 Plantings in the school allow visual 0 2 2
surveillance and are not hiding places
2.8 The school surrounding has no 0 1 0
activities that divert students’
attention
2.9 The local law enforcement patrols 2 2 3
and assures the safety of the school
surrounding
2.10 Students (especially girls) are safe on 0 1 1
the way to and from the school
Average 1.8(45%) 2.3(76.7%) 2.4(80%)

Average Response; Students-45, Teachers-76.7, and Principal/admin-80

3.2.1 Ratings and analysis

The students’ response assessment on ‘school physical security’ is 32-35% less than those of
teachers and principals/admin. Almost students agreed with teachers and principal/admin on the
school has supervised fence, all the exterior entrances are monitored not allow intruders, and
restricted areas within the school are properly identified and secured. Students, teachers and
principal/admin rated low (0-1) on there are no activities surrounding the school that divert students’
attention and girls are safe on the way to from the school. This shows that there are activities around
the school that divert students’ attention not to follow their school properly and the security of girls
are not safe.
The school need to
 Establish a cooperative relationship with law enforcement and owners of adjacent
properties to the school that allow for joint monitoring of student conduct during

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 school hours. Encourage neighboring residents and businesses to report all violence
activity and unusual incidents. Establish a protocol at the school to handle calls from
the neighborhood.
 Establish a closed campus policy that prohibits students from leaving school
compound during lunch.

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 3.3.Dimension 3: School Policies & Rules to Combat Violence

Key points raised

Indicators Students Teachers Principals &
admin
3.1 The school plan defines violence 1 2 2
behavior/act
3.2 The school uses school guideline to 3 3 3
alleviate disciplinary problems
3.3 The school is committed to apply 2 2 3
basic regulations
3.4 The school involves the whole school 0 2 2
community in its violence prevention
program
3.5 The school periodically evaluates its 1 1 1
violence status
3.6 The school uses regulation to 1 3 3
promotes teachers’ code of conduct
3.7 The school uses an up to date 1 0 2
discipline guideline
3.8 The school adopted the code of 1 1 2
conduct developed by the Ministry of
Education
Average 1.3(39.1%) 1.8(72.9%) 2.3(93.8%)

Average Response: Students-39.1, Teachers-72.9, and Principal-93.8

3.3.1 Ratings and analysis

The students’ response assessment on ‘school policies and rules to combat violence’ is 34-55% less
than those of teachers and principal/admin. Students rated low on 7 of the 8 indicators show that
they have low awareness about their school rules and regulations or are not satisfied with the
existing school rules and procedures/code of conduct. Students agreed with teachers and
principal/admin on the use of school guideline to alleviate disciplinary problems. Students, teachers
and principal/ admin rated low on the school periodically evaluate its violence status. Students
rated low on the involvement of school community in violent prevention program. This shows that
participation of school community in violence prevention is weak; and the principal/admin and
teachers play the role in preventing violence by themselves alone.

The school need to

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 Establish rules of conduct pertaining to improper student behavior using inputs from students,
parents, staff, public safety officials and legal counsel.
 Collaborate with the full participation and support of the school community members, parents,
community members and law enforcements to set violence prevention policies. Without such
shared responsibility, the chances of safe school policies being successfully implemented and
accepted are law.
3.4 Dimension 4: Handling School Violence Incidences

Key points raised

Indicators
Students Teachers Principal &admin
4.1 Students know how to report school 3 2 2
based violence
4.2 School based violence are usually 2 2 3
reported to the school
4.3 Perpetuators often identified 2 3 2
4.4 Causes of the violence incidences are 1 3 2
known
4.5 The school has provided specific 0 0 2
support for students who are victimized

4.6 The school has provided specific 0 1 1

support for students who are
perpetrators
4.7 The school often applied the code of 1 2 3
conduct
4.8 The school has a violence recording 0 0 1
system that differentiates the type of
violence
4.9 The school involved parents in treating 1 1 2
victims of school violence
4.10 The school community is involved in 1 1 2
helping victims of school violence to
recover
4.11 The school distinguished the type of 1 2 2
violence incidents to be reported to
local law enforcement bodies
4.12 Incidents happened were used as 0 1 2
springboard for prevention of violence
Average 1 (20.8%) 1.5(41.7%) 2 (55.6%)

Average Response: Students-20.8, Teachers- 41.7, and Principal-55.6

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 3.4.1 Ratings and analysis

The students’ response assessment on ‘handling school violence incidences’ is 21-35% less than
those of teachers and principal/admin. The response of students, teachers and principal/admin
almost the same on how and where students report school based violence. Students, teachers and
principal rated low on the specific support that school provided for students who are victimized and
perpetrators, and on the school has a violence recording system that differentiates the type of
violence. This shows that the school has no counseling services for students regarding violence and
violence recoding system.
School need to
 Establish training programs under the supervision of a trained counselor in which
teachers, students and other school community can be taught to help other students;
victimized and perpetrators.
 Ensue the students understand that when reporting concerning violence behavior, the
goal is intervention, not punishment.
 Develop violence recording system that differentiates the types of violence
 Provide or refer students to counseling services

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 4. Conclusion and Suggestions
School violence has become an issue for the students, teachers, principal/administrators and
communities alike. The school has experienced multiple victims, where people previously
believed ‘it couldn’t happen here’. For safe school program to be effective, it is necessary to
obtain the active participation of the community in planning and implementation. Thus, the
community has to audit their schools’ existing policies, procedures, and plans with regard to
violence.
Therefore, violence prevention program work best when they incorporate multiple strategies and
address the full range of possible acts of violence in school.
Average scores for each dimension in Sululta secondary school.
Dimensions Average score
School Violence prevention &reduction programs 2.2(73.3%)
School physical Security Improvement 2.17(72.3%)
School Polices , Rules and regulations 1.8 (60%)
Handling School violence incidences 1.5 (50%)
Average 1.9 (47.5)

 The school needs to establish a climate that encourages and enables students, teachers, and
parents to report threats and act of violence.
 Invite parents to help design and implement safety plans. Information and training session
sessions should be provided on school safety policies and programs.
 The local law enforcements/police should consult with school administrators, teachers and
parents about school security.
 Develop a consistent, timely, and effective means to notify parents of rule violations and
consequences

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