Sociodemography and Distribution of Students Attending Schools for the Blind in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Aim: To determine the distribution and sociodemographic classification of students attending schools for the blind in Oyo State, Nigeria.
Method: This is a descriptive and interventional crosssectional study. A total sampling of all students in the four schools for the blind in Oyo State was carried out.
Results: A total of 86 students from the four schools for the blind in Oyo State were included in the study. This comprised 2(2.3%) students from School for the Deaf and Blind, Eruwa; 22 (25.6%) from School for the Blind,
Aperin Oniyere, Ibadan; 11 (12.8%) from School for the Blind, Doba, Oyo Town; and 51 (59.1%) from Ogbomosho Training Centre for the Blind, Ogbomosho. The mean age of the students was 19.4 years (SD=8.19).
Thirty percent of the students were less than 16 years, 33.7% were between 17 and 19 years, 16.3% were between 20 and 24 years, 8.1% between 25 and 29 years, and 11.6% were above 30 years. There were more males (73.3%) than females (26.7%), with a male to female ratio
of 3:1. Christians constituted 73.3% of the students while Muslims made up the remainder. Majority were from the Yoruba ethnic group (98.9%).
Conclusion: More attention needs to be focussed on the sociodemography and distribution of students in schools for the blind in Nigeria as this will assist government and non governmental agencies in the planning and implementation of policies which will help to improve the lot of the students in the schools.

Keywords: Distribution, sociodemography, students, schools for the blind, Oyo State