The purpose of this study was to explore the immediate causes of Fire Disasters (FDs) in Boarding Secondary Schools (BSSs) in Tanzania. The study adopted a qualitative approach so as to allow the researcher to interact socially with respondents in the construction of meanings related to the immediate causes of FDs in BSSs. The study employed a descriptive case study design so as to enable the researcher collect in-depth information for detailed description of the immediate causes of FDs in BSSs in their natural settings. Purposively sampling was used to select 4 heads of schools, 8 teachers, 3 dormitory patrons, 2 dormitory matrons and 20 students, while convenience sampling was used to select 4 easily accessible BSSs from three easily reachable regions namely; Iringa, Njombe and Mbeya. Data was collected through documentary review and face to face interviews. Results indicated that the immediate causes of FDs in BSSs were: indiscipline and riots among students, the use of kerosene lamps and candles for studying during night and electric faults. The researcher recommends the Tanzanian government to ensure that BSSs have reliable electric supply systems so as to eliminate the use candles and kerosene lamps among students.

The issue of fire disasters in schools will no doubt continue being a major problem in the management of education all over the world. The government of Kenya through the Ministry of Education (M.O.E) recognizes that student’s safety is indispensable to effective learning in schools. Cases of fire d isasters in Kenyan secondary schools have been experienced in the last decade with increasing frequency and severity. Over the recent y ears, lives and property worth millions of shillings have been destroyed in these fire disasters. This study assessed the frequency and severity of fire disasters in secondary schools in Vihiga county, Kenya. The main objective of this study was to assess the frequency and severity of fire disasters in secondary schools in the area of study. An evaluation research design was used. Stratified simple random sampling was used to select the schools and the respondents. The study population was composed of secondary school principals, teachers, laboratory tec...

Despite the issuance of policy directives, fire disaster events have continued recurring in Tanzania’s secondary schools unabated over the years. This paper, therefore, is based on a study that was conducted to answer the research question: Why do fire disasters continue to occur in Tanzania’s secondary schools despite the existence of policy directives issued by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) for mitigating the problem? The study was guided by the critical policy analysis theory to investigate the efficiency of policy directives to manage fire outbreaks in secondary schools in three regions of Tanzania namely, Iringa, Mbeya and Kilimanjaro, as well as the MoEST Headquarters. The researcher adopted purposive sampling techniques to draw a sample of 116 participants from Zonal School Quality Assurers (ZSQAs), Regional Education Officers (REOs), District Secondary Education Officers (DSEOs), School Board Members (SBMs), Heads of Schools (HoSs), teachers and s...

this is a detailed report that aims at exposing the reasons that has led to the fire craze among Kenyan high schools. Despite many speculations erupting among the Kenyan audience.

This study assessed the preparedness of fire emergency among public universities in Tanzania a case of the Open University of Tanzania and University of Dar es Salaam as a result of fire occurrences in different public institutions. The main focus was to assess the community awareness on fire outbreaks and safety responses, examine the programmes for fighting against fire outbreaks; examine availability and functioning of fire fighting gears at the study areas. The study adopted a phenomenological qualitative research design which focused on cross-sectional descriptive approach. Both purposive and random sampling techniques were applied whereby 76 respondents were selected from the facility users. Questionnaires, interviews, FGDs and personal observation were used for the collection of data. Data collected were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed using SPSS and QDA Miner 4 Lite software respectively. It was finally revealed from the study that fire emergency preparedness was l...

Fire disasters are accompanied with devastating impact affecting both lives and properties. The magnitude of the impacts has been severe in places with low levels of fire disaster preparedness. A study was conducted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to investigate the level of fire disaster preparedness considering the availability and condition of firefighting facilities as well as the knowledge on fire management among the selected 10 higher learning institutions. Information for the buildings was obtained from the interviews with the managers of the buildings and field observations; information on the user’s preparedness was obtained from interviews using structured questionnaire conducted with the users of the buildings including the visitors. Results from the studied buildings indicated that 60% of the firefighting facilities were not regularly serviced; 50% stored some hazardous materials; 70% of them had not enough water storage for firefighting purposes; 60% had no identifiable fire assembly points; and 90% of the sessions conducted in the buildings involved more than 100 people in a single venue. Further results indicated that 51% of the respondents were not able to operate the installed firefighting facilities; 80.7% of the respondents had never received any training on firefighting and prevention; 95.6% of the respondents had never participated in any fire drills; and 81.5% of them were not aware of the fire responder’s contacts. General situation indicated that higher learning institutions are not well prepared to manage fire outbreaks suggesting that plans to rectify the situation are imperative.

In the last 20 years there has been global increase of episodes of school unrests characterized with violence and arson attacks. They resulted to destruction of schools’ property and death. Arson persists with latest cases seen in 2021. Past studies have not focused on social and cultural aspects in learning institutions as possible causes of arson. The study focused on the application of rules and regulations on students’ involvement in Arson at public boarding Secondary schools in Migori County. Descriptive Cross-sectional survey design. It involved 380 students of form 3 and 4 from 28 public boarding secondary schools which had experienced Arson from 2017 to 2020; and 28 KII’s. Probability sampling techniques were used to arrive at the respondents, KII’s were purposively selected. Questionnaires and FGDs were used on main respondents; and interview schedule for KIIs. Quantitative data was analyzed using Pearson’s product moment correlations and presented in graphs, tables and cha...