Exploring Availability, Utilization and Quality of School Health Services among Primary Schools in Jega Zonal Education Area, Kebbi State Nigeria

School health services (SHS) is an essential component of school health programme. It is the preventive and curative services provided for the learners and staff within the school setting. School health activities support the attainment of sustainable development goals (SDG) for health, education and gender equality. The National Guideline for implementation of school health was launched in 2006 but ever since, literature about SHS is scanty nationwide. This study was carried out to explore availability, quality and utilization of SHS in Jega zonal education area, Kebbi state. A mixed method of quantitative and qualitative research design was employed using concurrent triangulation involving one hundred and fourty-nine (149) primary schools. Three validated research instruments, a questionnaire, an observation check-list and an in-depth interview guide were used to collect data using a multi-stage sampling technique. Results were presented in tables of frequencies and figures while data analysis was done utilizing descriptive and inferential statistics. Hypotheses were tested at p-value of 0.05 using chi-square regression. Distribution of participants by gender revealed 141 (94.6%) were males and 8 (5.4%) were females while educational qualification exposed 121 (81.2%) hold Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) and 25 (16.8%) had University degree or its equivalent. It was discovered that 117 (78.5%) schools were owned by government and 32 (21.5%) belong to private organization or individual. 103 (69.1%) schools have first-aid boxes and 37 (24.8%) did not have. Nearly half- 51 (49.5%) of the first-aid boxes available were virtually empty with no basic instruments and emergency drugs. Result showed that 5 (3.4%) of the facilities have licensed school nurses, while most of the schools- 125 (83.9%) have their health services handled by school teachers. Other- 19 (12.8%) do not have any form of school health service provider. It indicated that 30 (20.1%) always carry out pre-entry health screening and over one-third 56 (37.6%) did not. It was also discovered that 48 (32.2%) of the schools have provision for keeping health records and most schools, 101(67.8%) do not have any provision for that. Most of the schools- 120 (80.5%) have no any block of classroom that has walkway/slope that can be used for a child that is physically challenged. Results also showed that in, 129 (86.6%) schools only few of teachers were trained on first aid and emergency care. Over one-third of the schools- 56 (37.6%) have no collaboration with any health agency and few- 39 (26.2%) reported that they were visited by health personnel only for polio immunization. Findings from the study revealed that there is no statistically significant difference in availability and utilization of SHS between public and private schools (α=0.001) at 0.05 level of significance. It was concluded that SHS in the area is scanty, with poor quality and inadequate utilization. It is therefore recommended that policy framework to guide SHS provision, especially provision of well-equipped first-aid box for each primary school and periodic organization of training on basic first-aid and emergency care for all primary school teachers.