CLEAN SCHOOL POLICY IN ACTION: A FOCUS ON MORAL CLEANLINESS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE SOUTHWEST REGION OF CAMEROON

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of moral cleanliness on school effectiveness in secondary schools within the South West Region of Cameroon. Guided by B.F. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning Theory (1953), the research examined stakeholder perceptions of school effectiveness, the predictive impact of moral cleanliness, and leadership strategies for managing behavioral misconduct. Employing a convergent parallel mixed-methods design, quantitative and qualitative data were simultaneously collected from a multistage sample of exactly 1,024 participants across Fako, Kupe-Manenguba, Manyu, and Meme divisions. The target sample comprised 24 principals, 500 teachers, and 500 terminal-class (Form Five and Upper Sixth) students. Data collection instruments included structured Likert-scale questionnaires for teachers and students, semi-structured interview guides for principals, and field observation checklists. Quantitative data were processed using EpiData 3.1 (EpiData Association, Odense, Denmark) and analyzed via SPSS 25.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, New York) using descriptive statistics and Simple Linear Regression, while qualitative strands underwent thematic analysis.Descriptive findings revealed a critical moral crisis, with 81.4% of teachers and 76.6% of students identifying their institutions as morally unclean due to pervasive issues such as student fighting (83.8%), substance abuse (83.1%), and gang-related sexual activity (82.7%). Regression analysis confirmed that moral cleanliness is a significant predictor of school effectiveness (R=0.386, p<0.05), explaining 14.9% of the variance (R^2=0.149) in institutional success, with morally clean schools demonstrating a 70% effectiveness rate compared to 57% in unclean environments. Despite existing policies, a significant "responsibility gap" persists, leaving 53.9% of teachers dissatisfied with institutional performance.Based on these findings, it is recommended that MINESEC and school principals apply Skinnerian behavior modification principles to reward positive student conduct through campus integrity awards and proactive morning assembly mentoring. Secondly, principals must reform Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) networks into active family-school partnerships that draw parents directly into the disciplinary loop to support struggling students. Finally, institutional counselors should systematically incorporate moral cleanliness frameworks and reinforcement schedules into their guidance sessions.