TORTS OF NEGLIGENCE AND STUDENTS SAFETY IN SELECTED PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN RIVERS STATE

BACKGROUND TO  THE  STUDY: Safety is an important aspect of human existence since it allows us to reduce the risks that may arise in any given situation. School safety, according to Abali & Nwokedi (2016), is an intrinsic and vital aspect of the teaching and learning process in schools, and it is a responsibility shared by all. Safety, on the other hand, can only be secured if the educational system is properly prepared. In order for students to acquire an excellent education, the school atmosphere must be conducive to learning as well as secure. However, in Nigerian educational system, teachers and administrators are established in a position to chastise students and ensure their safety through the implementation of acceptable rules and regulations in accordance with the theory of in-loco-parentis, or in the place of a parent. Schools are therefore social entities that provide full-time education to children between the ages of eleven or twelve and eighteen plus years old. According to Akpomi and Kio-Jack (2021_, they are comprised of board members, administrators, academic and non-academic personnel, and students from a varied range of ethnic, cultural, religious, political, and socio-economic backgrounds.

Importantly, secondary schools are changing where duties for safety and health management are being refocused, and when these obligations are not met, legal action may be taken against the school. Supporting the need for safety, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (2012) opined that safety is vital and must be tackled in a creative manner hence it should not be viewed as merely another legal burden or bureaucratic duty. Therefore, in order to provide successful educational services, it is essential that schools plan, organize, and maintain a secure and healthy environment for these types of students. More so, to establish  the overall safety and health of students within the schools, it is expected that everyone in the school administration chain of command play a part in this effort without negligence of duty of care.

1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In any educational system, it is the responsibility of school authorities to provide for the needs of students while they are in the learning environment. Nonetheless, in our rapidly evolving and increasingly litigious world, negligence of duty  in school administration has become a common source of embarrassment to school authorities and teachers.  According to Arop and Ukpong (2018), negligence is a breach of a legal obligation to exercise reasonable care that results in harm to the plaintiff that is not wanted by the defendant  which also  referred to as a  negligence tort in legal terms. In their article on tort, Koko and Osasuwa (2019) defined it as a purposeful or negligent conduct that goes against a positional paradigm and results in harm or injury to a person or loss of live and property.  Strikingly, to prevent undesirable repercussions resulting from a lack of responsibility, school personnel are expected to display appropriate diligence in anything they are assigned to accomplish or supervise in the educational system.

Oddly enough, many of the accidents and events that result in hazard in secondary schools today are caused by a failure to manage safety and health in a responsible manner. According to Nweke (2015), there is  rise in the number of lawsuits filed as a result of school instructors or administrators  failing to exercise reasonable care for student as well school functionaries handle students in their charge with culpable disregard has become a major cause for concern. Despite the fact that there is a body of literature on tort liability in the educational system, non has focus on negligence and how it relates to student safety. Therefore upon this background that the researcher seeks to examine torts of negligence and students safety in selected public and private secondary schools in Rivers state.

1.3    PURPOSE  OF  THE  STUDY

The broad purpose of this study is top examine  torts of negligence and students safety in selected public and private secondary schools in Rivers state. Other specific objectives includes:

1. To investigate the prevalence of  torts of negligence in secondary schools in Rivers state.
2. To determine factors that leads to torts of negligence on students safety in  secondary schools in Rivers state.
3. To establish whether principals' supervision of school activities does  significantly influence teachers' tort of negligence on school safety in secondary schools in Rivers state.
4. To investigate whether teachers' maladministration of students' discipline does significantly relate with tort of negligence in  secondary schools in Rivers state.
5. To establish strategies that could be adopted to observe a reasonable standard of safety in secondary schools in Rivers State.

1.4    RESEARCH  QUESTIONS

The research is guided by the following questions in line with the objectives:

1. What is the prevalence of  torts of negligence  in private and public secondary schools in Rivers state?
2. What are the factors that leads to torts of negligence and students safety in  public and private secondary schools in Rivers state?
3. Does principals' supervision of school activities  significantly influence teachers' tort of negligence in private and public secondary schools in Rivers state?
4. Does teachers' maladministration of students' discipline does significantly relate with tort of negligence in private and public secondary schools in Rivers state.
5. To establish strategies that could be adopted to observe a reasonable standard of safety in secondary schools in Rivers State.

1.5    RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

The following tentative assumption were raised as a guide to this study:

 Ho1: The  prevalence of  torts of negligence does not significantly affect students safety in secondary schools in Rivers state.

Ho2: Principals' improper supervision of school activities does not significantly influence teachers' tort of negligence in private and public secondary schools in Rivers state.

1.6    SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings of the study will be useful to school administrators, instructors, and other school workers in both public and private secondary schools. The study's findings will educate owners and principals about the need of establishing a sufficient system of supervision to detect risk factors and create preventative actions. Additionally, it will educate instructors on the need of accepting responsibility for their duty of care in maintaining the safety of students in order to avoid hazards and accidents at school, as neglect is penalized by law. Empirically, the study will add to the body of knowledge and act as a reference for professors and students interested in conducting more research in a similar topic.

1.7    SCOPE  OF  THE  STUDY

The scope of this study borders on torts of negligence and students safety in selected public and private secondary schools in Rivers state. However, the study will be limited to secondary schools in  Port Harcourt Metropolis in River State.

1.8    DEFINITION OF TERMS

Tort: A tort is an act or omission that gives rise to injury or harm to another and amounts to a civil wrong for which courts impose liability.

Negligence: Negligence is a failure to exercise appropriate and/or ethical ruled care expected to be exercised amongst specified circumstances. The area of tort law known as negligence involves harm caused by failing to act as a form of carelessness possibly with extenuating circumstances. 

School Safety: School safety is defined as state where student in a learning environment and school-related activities are safe from hazard, risk, violence, bullying, harassment and injury.