INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND
Records of research findings abound
in Nigeria that has implicated some common preventable diseases as contributory
factors to irregular school attendance which eventually culminates in poor achievement
by Basic Education Pupils. As a government response to that, the National
Health Policy (NSHP) was drawn. It is the Federal Government Policy objectives
in the implementation of school health programme. The NSHP is a health support
service in the school that guarantees good health for staff and pupils in order
to ensure that academic activities in schools go as planned (FME and FMOH
2006). The need for the NSHP is in realization of the obvious consideration by
government that health is basic in any human endavour.
As such achieving Basic Education
for all will be a mirage if there is no guarantee for sound health for both
pupils and staff members of the school community. Without sound health, there
will be no effective teaching and learning in the school. Indeed there is no
gain stressing the obvious fact that school health program synergizes efforts
in implementation of the national policy on education.
The main goal of the national school
health policy as stated by government is to improve the health of learners and
staff as responsible and productive citizens.
The
NSHP has six components. They include:
1. Healthful school environment
2. School feeding services
3. Skill-based health education
4. School health services
5. School, home and community relationship
Researches conducted in Nigeria painted
gloomy picture of state of Basic Education in Nigeria especially as it concerns
school health programmes in the schools.
For instance, the 1997, 2003, 2006
monitoring of learning achievement (MLA), the Situation Assessment and Analysis
(SAA) of 2001 and the 1992 Situation Analysis and Policy Assessment (SAPA) independently
lamented on the child unfriendliness of Nigerian public schools. In Ebonyi
state, the 2010 State Education Sector Plan (SESP) and State Education Operational
Plan (SESOP) jointly confirmed these earlier studies that Ebonyi state is not
spared of the poor state of health program in Education sector.
UNICEF in her magnanimity in
assisting state realized the need to do something urgently to alleviate this
problem, organized this training workshop in collaboration with the state Universal
Basic Education Board (UBEB). After each day’s training a monitoring visit was
organized to schools to monitor the teachers implement the actual salt testing and
eye screening. This has gone a long way to open the minds and eyes of school
authorities on the need for them to do something in order to take care of their
own health, and also assist the pupils in taking care of their health. This is
to ensure healthy living that will support regular school attendance, understanding
of what is being taught in the school and eventually rise in the learning outcome
of the learners.
Planned Results
-
School children’s
health status available for planning
-
Teachers and
Education managers have tools, knowledge and skills to monitor and promote health
in schools.
-
Partnership
between schools, parent and community enhanced in monitoring and promotion of
health status of learners.
Methodology Employed
The training was highly participatory. The resource
persons used both plenary and group work. A pretest was administered on the
participants before the training and a post test was also administered at the
end of the training. There was a mean gain in the knowledge of the participants
as the mean in the pretest was 15.69 and the mean of the post test was also 37.17
some schools were visited each day after the training, where the teachers were
monitored to actually implement what they had learnt.
ACHIEVEMENTS
1. Teachers’
Skills built on school health and they now support the pupils on practicing good
health.
2. Schools
keep health records of each pupil and assist them access health services in
order to reduce school absenteeism and low achievement.
3. There
is now a link between school and public owned health facilities in the
community.
CONSTRAINTS
1. The
one day that was ear marked for monitoring was not enough to enable the team
visit all the schools and monitor the teachers implement the programme.
2. To
monitor the teachers the following day after completing the actual training was
not the best option, as the teachers did not have the opportunity to inform the
pupils to come to school with salt samples for testing for iodine.
3. Insufficient
iodine testing kits hindered some school from participating in the actual testing
for the iodine in the salt
WAY FORWARD
-
There should be at
least three (3) days that should be earmarked for the actual monitoring.
-
The test kit
should be supplied to state based on the number of schools the training is
targeting.
-
Some day’s gap should
be given after the training before conducting the actual monitoring.
-
Provision should
be made for a continuous and systematic monitoring of the health screening in
order to make it part and parcel of the school programme.