Principals’ Perception of Health Services in Kwara State Secondary Schools: A Qualitative Approach
Authors: Suleiman Yusuf , Hanafi Zahyah , Muhajir Thanslikan 
Published: May 2019

<p><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">The common problems of learners that contribute to absenteeism in school include malaria,<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"> cough/catarrh, typhoid, headache and stomach ache. This led to the formulation of national<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"> school health policy in Nigeria to promote health services in schools. In view of the foregoing,<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"> this study assesses principals’ perception of health services in secondary schools. The study<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"> population consists of 551 principals of secondary schools (public and private) in Kwara State,<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"> Nigeria. Purposive and convenience sampling techniques were employed to select 20 principals.<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"> Instrument tagged “Interview Protocol on Health Services (IPHS)” was used to elicit data from<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"> the participants. Data collected was transcribed and analysed via thematic approach. Findings<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"> revealed that majority of the schools does not have school clinic to dispense health services to<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"> learners. Our fidings also show that most of the schools lack health personnel and equipment.<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"> This study concludes that comprehensive health services were not provided for learners. The study<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"> recommends that the government should come up with policy statement on school health services<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"> that will help to provide quality health services to the learners. Adequate budget should be made<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"> by the government for the implementation of the policy. Lastly, the study provides practical and<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"> methodological contributions to the body of knowledge in the fild of education.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" /></span></p>