Environmental Sanitation Conditions And Knowledge For Students And Teachers In Public Secondary Schools In Cross River State

Abstract

This study investigated the environmental sanitation conditions for students and teachers in public secondary schools in Cross River State, Nigeria. Guided by four research questions, the study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The population comprised of all the 4,430 teachers and 16,662 SS2 students across the 274 public secondary schools in Cross River State in the 2022/20223 academic session. The sample was 698 respondents made up of 140 teachers and 558 students drawn using the simple random sampling technique. The instrument used for data collection was Environmental Sanitation Conditions and Knowledge Questionnaire (ESCKQ). It was validated by three experts; one from each of Environmental Education, Social Science Education (Educational Measurements) and Public Health departments of the University of Calabar. The reliability coefficient of 0.90 was obtained on the instrument using the Cronbach Alpha statistics. Data was collected personally by the researchers with the help of two research assistants. The collected data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics of Mean and Standard Deviation. The findings of the study showed that the environmental sanitation conditions in the public secondary schools for students and teachers are poor; but students and teachers in the public secondary schools have high sanitation knowledge, without any significant influence of gender. Based on the findings and conclusions reached, it was recommended among others that the government, through the ministries of education, environment and health, should organize regular workshops and seminars on safe environmental sanitation conditions, sanitation and hygiene knowledge, and practices for both teachers and students in public secondary schools, in addition to ensuring the provision of water and proper toilets for staff and students.