Mitigating the Influence of Climate Change on School Facilities Management in Public Secondary Schools in Rivers State

Abstract

The study examined how the influence of climate change on school facilities management in public secondary schools can be mitigated. Two research questions were posed and answered, while two corresponding hypotheses were tested at a 0.05 level of significance. This study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The population of this study consisted of 208 senior secondary schools’ principals from 104 secondary schools in Rivers West District of Rivers State. The sample size of the study consisted of 144 principals from the purposively selected 72 Junior and senior secondary schools in Rivers West senatorial District of Rivers State. The instrument for the study was designed by the researchers, titled "Influence of Climate Change on School Facilities Management Questionnaire (ICCSFMQ)." The instrument was validated by three experts from Faculty of Education, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt. Cronbach Alpha was used to determine the reliability coefficient, which yielded values of 0.71 and 0.75, respectively. Data gathered from the two research questions were analysed using the mean and standard deviation and the two formulated null hypotheses tested with Z-test at 0.05 level of significance.The findings of the study revealed that no significant difference exists in the responses of Junior secondary schools and senior secondary schools’ principals on the extent to which changes in temperature and humidity levels and perennial flooding influence school facilities management in public secondary schools in Rivers State. It was recommended that schools should perform regular maintenance of HVAC (Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems, ventilation systems, and other equipment to ensure that school facilities are functioning properly and efficiently, and that the state government and its agencies responsible for disaster control should from time to time carry out environmental risk assessments to determine the likelihood and potential impact of disasters on schools and to propose measures to be taken before, during, and after a disaster.