Teachers’ Awareness and Attitude towards the National School Health Policy in Ibadan Primary Schools

Objective This study assessed the awareness and attitude of school teachers in Ibadan primary schools towards the National School Health Policy (NSHPo). Methods This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. A multistage sampling technique was employed to select 31 public and 196 private primary schools in Ibadan South East Local Government Area of Oyo State (N = 227). In each of the selected schools, the head teacher, private school proprietors (where applicable), and one health teacher were interviewed. A pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire (Cronbach Alpha of 0.84) designed on Kobo Collect was used to collect data on socio-demographic characteristics, awareness of the NSHPo, and attitude of school teachers towards the NSHPo. Data was analyzed with SPSS version 16 using descriptive statistics. The total score, mean and standard deviation for each school were collated and computed. Categorical variables were reported as proportions, while continuous variables were reported as means and standard deviations. Results A total of 435 responses were obtained from the electronic questionnaire and analyzed for the study. The average age of participants was 41.5 years, 394 (90.6%) were aware of the components of the NSHPo and 315 (72.3%) demonstrated positive attitude towards the NSHPo. Conclusion Most respondents were aware of the policy’s components and had a positive attitude toward it. There is still a need for government and all stakeholders in the education system to ensure the availability of the NSHPo in schools, organize SHP training for all teachers, and adequately equip schools to support effective implementation.