College Conversion Into Quarantine Centre: Parents' Perception On Safety At Kenya Medical Training College, Mombasa

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine perception of parents on safety of their children upon resumption of face-to-face studies at Kenya Medical Training College, Mombasa after its temporary conversion into COVID-19 quarantine centre. Methodology: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional design done at KMTC-Mombasa. 85 (10%) parents were sampled by convenience method from total population of 850. Multi stage sampling was used to select 85 participants. Data was collected through structured phone administered interview. Response rate was 85.8% (73). Descriptive analyses were carried out using SPSS 26. Presentation of the results was done by use of graphs, pie charts and tables. Findings: 65.8% (48) of parents were aware of KMTC Mombasa having being converted into COVID-19 quarantine centre. Most parents 91.8% (67) felt safe for their children to go back to college. Availability of clear information about safety measures was cited by 69% (46) of the parents as the reason they felt the students would be safe. Only 6 parents (8.2%) felt unsafe for their children. They explained that COVID-19 spreads quickly in congested places like schools and that the college was "˜highly infectious' as a quarantine centre. There was a significant relationship between parents perception of safety of the college and their proposition of dates of reopening the college (p=0.01). Parents generally considered the college facilities conducive for use (Mean=61.33%). Unique contribution to theory, practice and Policy: The views of parents as key stakeholders when learning institutions are converted into quarantine centers during a pandemic have not been explored in literature. Parents who perceived the college as safe would allow their children to go back to college and resume face-to-face learning as soon as possible. However, parents who perceived the college as unsafe would stop their children from going back to college. For smooth learning, it is important for college management to ensure that necessary safety measures are put in place and communicated to parents before reopening of college.