An appraisal of the School Health Programme in primary schools in a rural community in Nigeria

Background: In a developing country with a large population and a high childhood mortality rate, it is important to have a good and properly organized School Health Programme to cater for the health needs of school children. Objectives: This study aimed at assessing the quality and efficacy of the School Health Programme in public primary schools in a rural community in Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in all the five public primary schools in Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State. An observational checklist was used, adapted from a similar study by Kuponiyi et al. A scoring system was used to grade the schools as good, fair or poor. Descriptive statistics were generated using SPSS version 21. Results: The public primary schools had good healthful school environments and school feeding services, but poor skill-based health education and school health services. Conclusions: From the assessment of the School Health Programme in these schools, it was seen that overall, the schools had a fair School Health Programme in place, although they were deficient in some vital facilities. It is necessary for all stakeholders in these schools to provide the materials and human resources needed to achieve an effective School Health Programme.