KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF HEALTHFUL SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT AMONG PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN IBADAN NORTH LOCAL GOVERNENT AREA, OYO STATE

Abstract

A healthy school environment is concerned with the provision of a conducive environment for learning and healthy practices which is not adequate in most schools thereby exposing staffs and students to various health hazards. Adequate knowledge and practice of healthy school environment is necessary to promote health among staffs and students in schools. This study was therefore, designed to investigate the knowledge and practice of healthy school environment among teachers. The study was a cross sectional survey that used a four-stage sampling technique to select 278 teachers in both public and private secondary schools in Ibadan North Local Government Area. A pretested semi-structured questionnaire which contained a 19-point knowledge scale of school health policy, 10 point knowledge scale on healthy school environment, 12 point practice scale and factors influencing implementation of healthy school environment was used for data collection. Knowledge scores on school health policy <6, >6<12 and >12 was graded into poor, fair and good respectively, knowledge score on healthy school environment <3, >3<6 and >6 were classified into poor, fair and good respectively. Practice scores <6 and >6-12 were categorized as poor and good practices respectively. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test at p<0.05. Respondents’ mean age was 38.3±7.8 years, 54.3% of the respondents were females, 25.5% have spent more than fifteen years in service, 31.3% have post graduate degrees and 55.8% are public school teachers. More than half (73.7%) of teachers had fair knowledge of the school health policy document with a mean knowledge score of 9.3±2.6, 82.7% of the respondents had a good knowledge of healthy school environment with a mean score of 6.9+1.5 and the reported practice of teachers on healthy school environment was good 85.3% with a mean score of 8.3+1.7. Barriers factors influencing the implementation of healthy school environment includes inadequate fund (72.3%), maintenance culture (73.7%), lack of infrastructure (75.2%), inadequate enlightenment on the part of the government (76.6%) were factors identified as hindrances to the

implementation of healthy school environment. No significant association was found between the knowledge of healthy school environment and its practice among teachers in secondary schools. The respondents’ knowledge on school health policy document was fair while knowledge on healthy school environment and practice of healthy school environment were good. Barrier factors identified to influence the implementation of healthy school environment include funds, maintenance culture, enlightenment on the part of the government and outbreak of diseases. There is need for advocacy which will help to enforce the existing school health policy.