Development of Zero-Waste School Project Management in Educational Institutions in Songkhla Province

Abstract

This research aimed to 1) investigate the current state of zero waste school projects in educational institutions in Songkhla Province and 2) propose guidelines for the development of the management of the project. It is a quantitative and qualitative research. The research was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 examined the current state of these projects through a two-step process: Step 1 involved administering five-point Likert scale questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 1.00. The sample consisted of 136 respondents, determined using Krejcie and Morgan’s sample size table, and selected through stratified random sampling. The respondents included school administrators, teachers, and educational personnel involved in the project during the academic year 2023. Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation. Step 2 involved in-depth interviews with 20 school administrators and teachers responsible for the project, selected through purposive sampling, analyzing data qualitatively. In Phase 2, the study focused on developing management guidelines using a focus group discussion with 10 purposively selected participants. Data were analyzed using content analysis. The research findings revealed that the overall implementation of the zero waste School Project was at a high level, with a mean score of 3.95 and a standard deviation of 0.62. The key aspects, ranked from highest to lowest, included waste management based on the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy and Net Zero emissions, processes for promoting knowledge and participation in waste management, policy support and operational planning, project outcomes and sustainability, and school waste management based on the three Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). In Phase 2, recommendations for improvement included: 1) establishing systematic policies and operational plans; 2) promoting knowledge sharing and participation among students and parents; 3) managing waste according to the three Rs principle; 4) utilizing innovative waste management technologies; and 5) integrating sufficiency economy philosophy to enhance sustainability towards achieving Net Zero goals.