Knowledge of school teachers and the associating factors in the effective delivery of the school health programme in Nigeria

INTRODUCTION: the important position that teachers occupy in school settings make them indispensable in the effective delivery of the School Health Programme (SHP). This study assessed the SHP knowledge of primary school teachers and the perception of their roles in the successful delivery of the programme in Ondo State, Nigeria. METHODS: this was a cross-sectional descriptive study. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 400 teachers from 42 primary schools, from the study population. A semi-structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Each respondent´s aggregate score was classified as being poor knowledge, if it was < 50% of the maximum obtainable score and good knowledge, if it was equal or more than 50% of the maximum obtainable score. RESULTS: the majority of the teachers (76%) demonstrated poor knowledge of the programme. Yet, a good number of them, believe they have a part to play in the implementation of the SHP. Academic qualification was found to be statistically associated with SHP knowledge (p < 0.01). Length of time in teaching service (p= 0.035; OR=1.033; 95%CI = 1.002- 1.065) was found to be a predictor of adequate SHP knowledge. CONCLUSION: the SHP knowledge of the teachers was found to be inadequate. Although, most of the teachers agreed that they had roles to play in the SHP delivery, a sizeable number of them could not state what those roles entailed. It is recommended, therefore, that government and all stakeholders in education and health sectors should conduct trainings on SHP, focusing on teachers´ roles in the school community.