The good school toolkit for reducing physical violence from school staff to primary school students: A cluster-randomised controlled trial in Uganda

Background. Physical violence against children by school staff is widespread. We tested whether the Good School Toolkit by Raising Voices could reduce physical violence from school staff to Ugandan primary school children. ... [ view full abstract ]

Background. Physical violence against children by school staff is widespread. We tested whether the Good School Toolkit by Raising Voices could reduce physical violence from school staff to Ugandan primary school children.

Methods. We conducted a two arm cluster randomised controlled trial in 42 primary schools, with cross-sectional baseline and endline surveys with students and staff.
The primary outcome was past week physical violence from school staff, measured by students’ self-reports using the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Child Abuse Screening Tool—Child Institutional. Secondary outcomes included feelings of safety and well-being in school, mental health, and educational test scores. Analyses were intention to treat, and are adjusted for clustering within schools and for baseline school level means of continuous outcomes. The trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01678846.
Intervention. The Good School Toolkit is a complex educational and behavioural intervention implemented by school staff and students with support from Raising Voices, over an 18 month period.
Findings. No schools left the study. At follow-up, 92.4% (n=3820) of sampled students participated in our survey, most were aged 11-14 years. Prevalence of past week physical violence was lower in the intervention schools (31.0%) versus the control schools (48.7%), odds ratio=0.40, 95%CI 0.26 to 0.64, p<0.001. No adverse events related to the intervention were detected, but 434 children were referred to child protective services because of what they disclosed in the follow-up survey. Students in the intervention group also reported increased feelings of safety and well-being at school, but there were no effects of the intervention on mental health or educational test scores.
Conclusion. The Good School Toolkit is an effective intervention to reduce violence against children from school staff in Ugandan primary schools, and increasing feelings of safety and well-being in schools.