Age Differences on the Knowledge and Practice of Hostel Sanitation among Students of Tertiary Institutions in Enugu State

Abstract

University education has continued to grow in strength and capacity with many programmes being developed, thereby luring more people into the system. This growth comes with a major challenge in respect to accommodating the vast majority of the populace that are trooping into the universities. The purpose of the study was to determine the knowledge and practice of hostel sanitation among students of tertiary institutions in Enugu State. A cross-sectional survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised of 276,000 students while the sample was 480 respondents. Research questions were answered using frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation respectively. The null hypotheses were tested using chi-square analysis and t-test respectively at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed among others that students of tertiary institutions in Enugu State have high level (72.6%) of knowledge and practiced hostel sanitation to a moderate extent (=2.83; SD=0.97). Additionally, there were no significant differences in the level of knowledge (²=69.110; p-value=.719) and extent of practice (F=0.618; p=.604) of hostel sanitation among students of tertiary institutions in Enugu State based on age. The author recommended among others that since students have high level of knowledge of hostel sanitation but practiced hostel sanitation to a moderate extent, school authorities should set up task force team to check and punish students who fail to practice hostel sanitation effectively and adequately.