Knowledge of School Health Programme Among Teachers and its Practice by Secondary Schools in Sabon-Gari Zaria.

Abstract

School Health Programme (SHP) which focuses on promoting safe environment for school children has not been given proper attention in Nigeria.The success of school-based health program relies on the personal knowledge and perspective on the health needs of students by their teachers. This study determined the awareness and knowledge of SHP among teachers and the practice of SHP in secondary schools in Sabon Gari Zaria, Kaduna State.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 160 teachers in 11 Secondary schools using multistage sampling technique. A self-administered, semi-structured questionnaire was used. Informed consent was sought and obtained from each respondent. Analysis was done using IBM^® Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 19 statistical software.

Mean age of respondents was 35.35 years. Females were in the majority (55.1%). All (100%) the respondents were aware of SHP. However, majority (96.2%) had poor knowledge. The practice of SHP was also poor in all the schools although majority 8(72.7%) of them provided some form of health services. Only 9.7% of the schools had a sick bay. Majority 72.7% of the schools did not provide immunisation services. Most 72.7% of the schools practiced regular environmental sanitation.

There is a high level of awareness of SHP among the teachers, however their knowledge was poor with a low practice of school health in all the schools. There is an urgent need for concerted efforts by the Ministries of education and health to upgrade the standards in secondary schools in the State.

Keywords: School Health Programme, Sanitation, Head Teachers, School Based Healthcare.