JONAED

The study which adopted a descriptive survey research design to investigate educating children in secondary schools amidst insecurity in Rivers State: Stakeholders Coping Strategies. The population of the study consisted of 114, 746 teachers and students in the 247 public secondary schools in Rivers State. The sample size of the study was 1,891 teachers and students. The sample size was arrived at using the stratified random sampling technique. A questionnaire titled, “Stakeholders Strategies for Coping with Secondary Education Amidst Security Challenges Questionnaire (SSCSEASCQ) was used for data collection. The instrument contained 32 items. The instrument was properly validated. Test retest method and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient Statistics were used to test the reliability. A reliability index of 0.72 was obtained. Data on research questions were analysed with mean standard deviation and rank order while z-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 alpha significant level. It was observed that developing positive mindset, being security conscious and reporting suspicious people/movement to school authorities were some coping strategies adopted by students in Rivers State; creation of safety plans, placement of security guards at strategic locations and perimeter fencing of school premises were some coping strategies adopted by school heads/teachers and beefing up security in some secondary schools, as well as partnering with community and other non-state security providers were the coping strategies adopted by the government. Based on these findings, conclusion was drawn and the following recommendations among others were made: students should include counseling and rehabilitation therapies as their strategies for coping with the security challenges affecting secondary education in Rivers State and government should show strong commitment to transparency and accountability of people’s lives and properties in the state without political sentiments being attached to security issues.