Availability and Utilization of School Health Services in Primary Schools in Agbani Education Zone, Enugu State

Abstract

The study investigated the availability and utilization of school health services in primary schools in Agbani Education Zone, Enugu State. The cross-sectional survey research design was adopted. The population for the study consisted of 6,696 primary school teachers in all the 635 primary schools in Agbani Education Zone. The sample size was 400 primary school teachers drawn using the multi-stage sampling procedure. The instruments used for data collection were School Health Services Availability Checklist (SHSAC) and Utilization of School Health Services in Primary Schools Questionnaire (USHSPSQ). Frequency, and chi-square statistics were used for data analysis. The results revealed that school health services are available in the urban primary schools (63.6%) more than the rural primary schools. School health services are available in private primary schools (68.8%) more than public primary schools (43.5%). School health services are utilized in rural primary schools (53.0%) more than urban primary schools (48.9%) School health services are utilized in private primary school (62.3%) more than public primary schools (44.8%). There is no significant difference in the available school health services in primary schools in Agbani Education Zone based on school location (=.591, df=1, p=.442> 0.05) and school ownership (=.425, df=1, p=.119>0.05). There was a significant difference in the utilized school health services by primary school pupils in Agbani Education Zone based on school ownership (=10.068, df=1, p=0.02<0.05). School health educators and other relevant stakeholders should enlighten school administrators on the importance of implanting school health services into the school plan.