Evaluation of School Health Instruction in Primary Schools in Jos, North- Central Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Establishing healthy behaviours during childhood is easier and more effective than trying to change unhealthy behaviours during adulthood. The school is a place where education and health programmes can have their greatest impact because it can reach students at influential stages of their lives. We evaluated the status of school health instruction in public and private primary schools in Jos, Nigeria. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study involving 66 schools (20 public and 46 private) in Jos, was conducted to evaluate the status of school health instruction. A School Health Evaluation Scale was completed for each school by direct interview and inspection to ascertain the availability of the various components of school health instruction. Results: In 12 (18.2%) schools (5 public and 7 private), health education was taught by a professional health education teacher (p = 0.49). The most frequently taught topics were Personal Health and Safety Education (98.5% each). HIV/AIDS was taught by only 12.1% of the teachers. In most schools (61, 92.4%), health instruction was done in the classroom only. Only five (7.6%) schools, all private, had sent their teachers on in-service training with regard to health teaching. Overall, twenty- two (33.3%) schools, two (10.0%) public and 20 (43.5%) private attained the minimum acceptable score (p = 0.01). Conclusion: The status of school health instruction in primary schools in Jos was generally poor, especially in the public schools. Attention should be paid to the implementation of school health instruction including curriculum development, teaching methods and teacher training.