COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SCHOOL HEALTH PROGRAMME IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN ILORIN, NIGERIA

Abstract

School Health Programme (SHP) denotes all aspects of the school programme that contributes to
the understanding, maintenance and improvement of the health of the school community. It is
essentially a preventive service whose aim is to ensure that school children achieve their
maximum physical, mental and social health which will enable them benefit maximally from
their education. Although a National School Health Policy was introduced in 2006 to improve
the state of school health programme in Nigeria, how far primary schools in Ilorin have
implemented the programme is yet to be assessed, hence, this study.
This study aimed to assess the level of implementation of SHP in the domains of School Health
Services (SHS), School Health Instruction (SHI) and Healthful School Environment (HSE) in
primary schools in Ilorin, and to compare the implementation between public and private
primary schools.
It is a comparative, cross-sectional study in which 128 schools (64 public, and 64 private) were
sampled, using a multi-staged sampling technique. Data collection was with the use of the
School Health Programme Evaluation Scale. These were scored, and schools were categorised
based on performance.
Fifty three (82.8%) public and 54 (84.4%) private schools attained up to the minimum acceptable
score of 19 in the SHS; 52 (81.3%) public and 46 (71.9%) private schools attained up to the
minimum acceptable score of 27 in the SHI; while only 6 (9.4%) schools (all private), attained
up to the minimum acceptable score of 57 in HSE. The difference in the HSE scores of the
public and private schools was found to be significant at p = 0.037. Only 2 (3.1%) public and 25
(39.1%) private schools attained up to the minimum acceptable score of 103 in the total SHP.

This was also found to be significant at p = 0.001. The mean score ± SD in the total SHP of 89.9
± 8.5 in the public schools was significantly lower than the 98.0 ± 12.8 found in the private
schools (p = 0.001).
Though the SHS and the SHI in the surveyed schools were satisfactory, the HSE and the total
SHP were grossly inadequate, with the private schools faring better than the public schools. Both
types of schools compared favourably in the aspects of the SHS and SHI, while the private
schools performed better in the HSE than the public schools. Overall, the implementation of the
SHP in the private primary schools was better than that in the public schools.
There is a need to improve the implementation of the SHP (especially in the aspect of the HSE)
in primary schools in Ilorin, if health targets such as the SDGs are to be achieved in Nigeria.

COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SCHOOL HEALTH PROGRAMME IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN ILORIN, NIGERIA