Good Schools Study (GSS)

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Status: Completed

Conditions: Physical Violence; Educational Achievement; Sexual Violence; Violence Against Children; Mental Health

Treatments: Behavioral: Good School Toolkit

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01678846

LSHTM_6183

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to determine whether use of the Good Schools Toolkit is effective in reducing violence against children in primary schools.

Full description

Violence against children has profound effects on both children's health and their ability to do well at school. Fear, anxiety and injuries caused by violence may play a large role in both children's absenteeism and low educational achievement, and there is increasing interest from large bilateral donors in investigating this link in low income countries. The Good School Toolkit has been developed and refined for 6 years in Uganda by Raising Voices. The toolkit takes a systemic approach, involving an entire school in a process of change to reduce violence and improve teaching techniques. The Toolkit draws on the Transtheoretical Model and incorporates standard behaviour change techniques such as setting a goal and making an action plan, which are effective in modifying behaviour. This study aims to determine whether use of the Good School Toolkit reduces children's experience of violence by school staff. The investigators will also examine the effects of the Toolkit on children's educational outcomes, mental health and well-being.

The investigators will conduct a cluster randomised controlled trial in 40 primary schools in Luwero District, Uganda. More than 3500 children in Primary 5, 6 and 7 will be surveyed (aged about 11-16 years). Half of the schools will receive the Toolkit, and other half will be put on a waiting list to receive the Toolkit at the end of the study. The results from this evaluation will be used to brief policy-makers within the Ministry of Education and Sports involved in developing country-wide policy and practice around violence against children in schools.

Enrollment: 3,820 patients

Sex: All

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

1. Inclusion Criteria:

   • Schools

     • in Luwero District, Uganda
     • more than 40 students registered in Primary 5

   • Participants

     • registered as a Primary 5, 6 or 7 pupil
     • any school staff member

2. Exclusion Criteria:

   • Schools

     -- existing program related to prevention of violence against children or school governance

   • Participants -- not able to understand consent and study procedures

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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3,820 participants in 2 patient groups

Good School Toolkit

Experimental group

Description:

Schools in the intervention arm will receive the Good Schools Toolkit materials and implementation support.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Good School Toolkit

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Schools in this arm will receive the Good Schools Toolkit materials and some implementation support after the end of the trial.