Assessment of School Health Instruction Implementation in Primary Schools in a Local Community in South-East Nigeria: A Comparative Study between Private and Public Schools.

ABSTRACT

Schools have the responsibility to educate their students and encourage them to live healthy and hygienic behavior. This descriptive cross-sectional study aimed to determine the status of the school health instruction in 56 randomly selected schools in Nnewi North Local Government area of Anambra state using the school health program evaluation scale. It also assessed the extent of implementation of provisions of school health instruction in these schools. Forty six (78.6%) of the 56 schools surveyed had adequate implementation of school health instruction. The proportion of school that met the requisite score (16) for adequate implementation of school health instruction was not significantly different between private and public schools [24(73%) vs. 20(87%), P=0.389]. There was also no significant difference in mean scores attained for school health instruction between private and public schools (17.6±4.4 vs. 17.6±3.6; P=0.939). Private school had more non classroom related heath activity compared to public schools (75.8% vs. 21.7%, P=0.000) while public schools, had significantly more qualified health instructors, ten (43.5%) compared to private schools six (18.2%), P=0.040. Training and retraining of primary school teachers coupled with effective school health policies would be essential in ensuring adequate and optimal implementation of school health instructions in primary schools.