EVALUATION OF SCHOOL HEALTH PROGRAMME IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF SABON GARI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KADUNA STATE

ABSTRACT

This study evaluates the school health program in selected secondary schools of Sabon Gari Local Government Area Kaduna state Nigeria the study employed survey instrument design. Using a sample of 50 drawn from the population of 200 in the study area. 2 instrument mainly questionnaire and interview dully validated by expert were used for data collection, the research questions were answered using frequency distribution table while research hypothesis were test using t-test statistics at 0.05 level of significance one of this studies show that based on research finding it was recommended among others that workshop seminal and conference should be organized to student/teacher on need for school health programme.     

 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

DEFINITION OF OPERATIONAL TERMS

SCHOOL: An educational institution with a group of people sharing the same ideals or following the nice principles (thesaurus oxford dictionary).

HEALTH: Is the existence to which an individual or group is able, on the one hand, to realize aspiration and satisfy need and on the other hand to change or cope with the environment. Health is seen as a resource for every life not the objective of living, it is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources as well as personal capacity.  Watson’s clinical nursing 7^th Edition WHO,(1986)

PROGRAMME: A planned series of Future events or action (thesaurus ox ford dictionary).

SCHOOL HEALTH PROGRAMME: Is an important branch of health service which provides an excellent opportunity for early detection of abnormality during the anatomical and physiological growth of the school Child and correction of same as early as possible (health line network.com 2007).

CHAPTER ONE

1.1       BACKGROUND TO TIIH STUDY

School health has been described as, the neglected component of Primary Health ("are in Africa. Since almost every small community has a primary school in those communities without health centers, it should be possible to use the secondary school as a center for primary health care delivery not just for the pupils but also for the community. A well organized and properly executed school health programme can be used to create safe environment for school children. School health programme can become one of the strategies for promoting primary health care services. All efforts at addressing the school health programme in Nigeria have remained largely at policy level, with minimal implementation. Where implementation has been attempted the emphasis has been on outside rather than within the schools,

A comprehensive school health service program is an organized set well being of students and staff which has traditionally included health services, healthful schools environment and health education. It should also includes, but not be limited lo, guidance and counseling, physical education, food service social work, psychological services and employee health promotion. (Joint committee on health education technology. 2009

In many countries, the first public schools were often establish by churches, charities and others to socialize and lake care of children whose parents has moved to orders during industrialization.

This concept of school-based and school-linked health promotion evolved alone similar, yet slightly different paths on five continents, in Europe, it was called the health promotion school (young and Williams 1989). With the support of the European commission and council of Europe, the European network for health promotion schools (HNHPHS) was established and is present) over 43 countries in the region. In North America, the concept of comprehensive school health education was used widely in the 1980s denoting a curriculum-focused approached. This was broadened in the 1990s to a comprehensive approach (addressing multi-health issues by multiple agencies at multiple levels) through the delivery of coordinated school health program (Kolbe 1993. WHO 1991). The western pacific region of the WHO developed guidelines tor health promoting schools for its 32 member’s states in 1995 (WHO 1995). Developments similar to these have fostered health promoting schools (11PS) and coordinated school health (\\ 11) in Latin America, north America , south America, the middle east Asia and Africa. However, there is still confusion about what school health promotion, which has major implications for assessing its effectiveness as well as implementing sustainable programs.

While in developing countries, the school children are exposed, to several physical, social and mental health hazards. This affects serious) the health of school children. It has been observed that, the health care services delivering to the secondary school pupil's is not adequate since most common illness that are to be handled or treated in the school health facilities or clinic are referred to the neighboring chine outside the school for management. And this could be due 10 shortage of health facilities, lack of health, personnel, inadequate and lake drugs and poor provision of health services.

The National Academics Press (2007) slates that, around me turn of 18^th century the role and advantages of school health programme began to be recognized in 1902, Lillian Wald demonstrated in New York City that nurses working in schools could reduce absenteeism due to contagious disease by 50 percent in a matter of weeks. For minor conditions nurses treated students in schools and instructed them in sell-care. For ma]or illnesses nurses visited homes of children who had been excluded from school because of illness or infection, educated parents in their child's condition provided information on available med cal resources and urged parents to have their child treated and returned lo school.

School nurses began to assume a major role in the daily medical inspection o! students, treatment of minor condition and referral of major problems to physicians the expansion of the role of school nurses freed physicians to spend more time conducting medical inspection of individual students with recognize/d need rather than inspecting an entire school. The legislative then make medical inspection compulsory in all public schools, a step that ushered in broad-based programmes of medical inspection in which school nurses and physicians participated. And legislation continued to this day to be the basis for many elements of school programmes.

Reports have also shown that in Nigeria, school Health programme has been neglected in many places. For example UNFSCO Education, 2007 found that, as a result of universal basic education strategies, sonic of the most disadvantage^ children- the girls rural poor, children with disabilities are for the first time Inning access to school. Bui their ability to attend school and to learn whilst there is compromised by poor health. These are the children who will benefit most from health intention^, sir e they are likely to show the greatest improvements in attendance and learning achievement. School health programmes can thus help modify the effects of socio economic and gender related inequalities. In Nigeria the existence of school health services and programme is fairly old as U was established in the late 1920"s but us development and expansion had being rather slow. Although these had always been provision for control of certain communicable disease in the international level and quite often medical examination of students taking part in athletics the standard is still low.

According to the organization of school health service Nigeria. Lagos being the capital and seat of the federal government was the first to enjoy little service that was being provided in unique field and up till date could be said to have one of the best organized school health services in the country. The history of this service cannot be written or told without making special reference to the pioneer, a very hardworking and dedicated medical officer of health late Dr. J.I.. Uluwole, the first Nigerian medical officer.

The establishment of the service was as a result of Okiwole's love and interest in public health especially the health of the individual mother and child, lie-started with the infant welfare clinic and known as child welfare service and not doing after felt the urgent urge to create a separate facility for school children.

By 1930, a full time medical officer was posted by the government to the serve as an assistant medical officer and routine examination of school children was started in schools but as one could urge, only a limited number of schools could be visited and just a handful of students were medically examined.

During the period, only experience nurses were made nursing sisters and one is often attached to school service. But today, the service is being made fully stalled by Nigerian medical officers, trained nurses and health visitors.

In 1944. a building was erected in Lagos island by the government to serve Lagos schools with the opening of this service, a new era was ushered in and pen school health providers were allocated to serve the schools, henceforth, the provision of school health services becomes the responsibility of both' the state and federal ministry of health.

In 1967 and with the creation of other Non-Government Organization (NGO’s) medical examination of school children was made routinely on admission. This fostered the collaboration between health and education agencies giving rise to school health services and programmes in order to help develop strategic and programmes to improve health through schools.

1.2 THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

Several theories or models have been formulated to explain the concept of school health services and its importance on the health of secondary school students.

SCHOOL HEALTH MODEL

Health is such a complex concept various researcher have developed model or paradigms to explain health and some instance its relationship to illness & injury.

A model or paradigm is an abstract outline or theoretical depiction of a complex phenomenon.

Smith 1981 present model of health that can view as fury scales a progresses expansion of the ideal of health.

1.   Clinical Model

2.   Role performance model

3.   Adaptive school health model

4.   Eudemonistic model.

1.      Clinical model views health as the absence of physiological freedom from illness, a condition of relative homoeostasis. Health is identified as the absence of Sign/symptom of disease or disability.

2.      Role performance-it adds social & psychological standard to concept of health its defines health as individual ability to fulfill societal roles with the maximum, also   see it as state of optimum capacity of individual for the effective performance of his role and task.

3.      Adaptive school health model; it incorporate the clinical and role performance model, it is view as creative process individual   are actively and continually adapting to their environment. Health is as a condition in which individual can engage in effective interaction with the physical and social environment.

4.      Comprehensive school health model; which comprises of the eight essential component of school health programme

5.      Eudemonistic model; defines health as the realization of ones potential for complete development, health is seen as a condition of actualization of a person potentials. He sees health as a measure of each person ability to do what he want to do and becomes what he want to becomes.

The Illinois Department of Health has recently developed a model of a comprehensive school Health as a part of their long- range plan for school health (Rosas, case and Tholstrup 2009). This model consists of six critical elements;

         ·            Management

         ·            Health promotion and education   

         ·            School health services

         ·            Healthy and safe environment

         ·            Integration and school and community programmes and

         ·            Specialized services for students with special needs.

The distinguish characteristics of this model include the importance of the management role in coordinating and integrating the other critical elements and the emphasis on students with special health case need In for the purpose of these study we shall be reviewing the comprehensive school health model , to serve as a frame work for analysis. These are the (8) components models in the 1980s, the three components model were expanded to include additional components. According to this model, a comprehensive school health programme contains the following eight (8) essential components;

1.3   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

School is considered as place for learning where children learn not only subjective knowledge but also life style practices and health seeking behaviors. It has been proven that schools can provide an ideal platform for the promotion of health. The school as an institution for earning seeks to explore diverse behaviors from the students among which optimum well-being of the students cannot be overemphasis. Studies by Idehen (2004) revealed that in man)' parts of Nigeria, health instruction in secondary schools was poorly earned out.

It has come to notice that despite the valuable health benefits that the school health programme is set to realized most secondary schools give little or no attention to the health programme. Some of the likely issues have been ascertained to be the poor involvement of the teachers in taking active pan in their SI IP roles. Others can be attributed to the hick of interest on the part of the government to provide necessary aids that will assist the sustainability of the programme in these schools.

Therefore, there is need to find out the extent to which the aforementioned factors and the likes of others drawback the adoption of school health program and  come up with logical conclusion that will be of great significance to the school community and government to better embrace the school health programme for the benefit of all.