Revitalising School Health Programme for Effective School Administration in Nigeria

Abstract

With incessant outbreak of deadly diseases such as Ebola, Lassa fever, Zika Virus, Meningitis, Cholera, Typhoid, Malaria and lots of others, which claim thousands lives in Africa and Nigeria in particular, these and other health related issues become detrimental to the health and lives of students and school community in Nigeria. The health and life of students need to be secured from any physical harm or danger, thus School Health Programme play pivotal role in protection, preservation and promotion of health of individuals in schools for effective school administration. The paper discussed the concepts of School Health Programme and Administration. It also analysed the impact of School Health Programme on student’s health for effective school administration. The needs to revitalise School Health Programme in Nigerian schools were highlighted. Challenges affecting school health programme in Nigeria such as inadequate/lack of school health personnel, inadequate health facilities, poor commitments toward the provision of School Health Programme from school administrators, community, health department and Ministries of Education and Health, were examined. Finally, the paper recommended that, school clinic/sickbay should be established in every school, be equipped with necessary facilities and health personnel as specified by National School Health Policy, and there should be routine health screening/examination in all schools especially during admission exercise