THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SCHOOL HEALTH POLICY IN FACILITY PROVISION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS OF NIGERIA; A NECESSITY IN ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES OF OUT OF SCHOOL CHILDREN IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The need for non to be left behind in respect to education is a necessity that can not be overemphasized especially for the younger generation in this age of technological advancement. Thus, the concept of the School Health Policy (SHP) brings together parents, the community, experts and professionals from the education platform “the school” to provide a comprehensive primary health care (PHC) to children. As a tool or attraction and persuasion, the SHP targets primary schools and consists of five components: healthful school environment; school feeding services; skill-based health education; school health services; and school, home and community relationships (FME, 2006). Healthful school environment denotes all the consciously, organized, planned and executed efforts to ensure safety and healthy living conditions for all members of the school community. The objective of this paper is to unravel the possibilities of reducing the rate of out of school children through proper implementation of school health policy in respect to the availability or provision of health facility at our schools in Nigeria. Because the aim of healthful school environment is the provision of safe and inclusive learning, working and living conditions that optimize the organization of day-to-day experiences which influence the consistent enrollment of student, thus reducing the rate of out of school student and harnessing the great opportunity and skills imbibed in the minds of all children as members of the school community. This paper will look at the concept of school health policy and the possibilities of its implementation in reducing the rate of out of school students in our nation Nigeria, some school health problems that promote out of school children in Nigeria and suggestion on the need of implementation of school health policy in Nigeria schools a remedy to high rate out of school children in Nigeria.