Students Perception of Campus Safety: A Case of Kumasi Campus of University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

Higher educational institutions are working assiduously towards achieving high security environment to promote teaching and learning. This is undoubtedly changing the learning environment but very little is known about how students experience and perceive safety on campus. This study examined students perception of campus safety specifically the College of Technology Education of University of Education, Winneba, Ghana. The study used convenience sampling techniques to select two hundred and fifty (250) students from distance, sandwich and regular session out of which two hundred and twenty-four (224) responded to the responded to the questionnaires. Questionnaires were used to collect data from students to find answers to four research questions which guided this study: (i) to what extent are students concerned about safety on campus (ii) which areas and routes on campus are considered safe/unsafe (iii) which periods within a day are considered safe/unsafe (iv) what factors contribute to students safety/unsafe on campus?. The study used descriptive statistical techniques for the analysis of the data. SPSS was used to generate the statistics needed for realisation of the objectives. The findings revealed that 87.5% of the respondents were most concerned about safety on campus. It became evident that, places or routes which were relatively poorly lit, isolated and not well travelled, especially after dark were found to be unsafe on campus. Also students felt safer on campus during the day as compared to after dark, especially for females. Last, bushy areas, lack of close circuit television (CCTV), absence of police patrols and emergency phones to call the security were the major factors contributing to students feeling of insecurity on campus.