ABSTRACT

Sanitation practice implication on student’s health in Enugu State College of Education (Technical) has been the desire of every right thinking for good health of both the students and lecturers in the above school. The purposes of this study is to investigate the causes of poor sanitation practices on students health in ESCET, the dangers and the strategies which could be employ to curb poor sanitation in ESCET. One hundred questionnaire were administered to the respondents, which was correctly answered by the respondents without mistakes five research question, each focusing on the formulated. A descriptive statistic using mean was adopted for data analysis. Finding from their study showed that, regular clean up exercise, formulating the environment, illiteracy constitutes the problems of poor sanitation practices. The study was concluded with the recommendation which includes that the school management should employ laborers, make provision for facilities, and formulate the environment. The researchers believed that if all these are put in place, it will enhance sanitation practices in the school, thereby improving student’s health.

  INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

World Health Organization defined sanitation as the means of collecting and disposing excreta and community liquids, waste in a hygienic way. So as not to endanger the health and welfare and also for the social and environmental effects, it may have on people; people have been suffering from one disease to another without knowing the problems of their illness, the situation and due to distress or dirty environment. Cleanliness is next to Godliness.

Similarly, Iheke (2010) sees sanitation as the process of keeping places clean and hygienic especially by providing a sewage system and a clean water supply. Sanitation refers to all conditions that affects the health of people in a geographical area. Billions of people still live without access to sanitation facilities and are unable to practice such basic hygienic as washing their hands with soap and water.

Disease related to poor sanitation and water availability because many people to die of sickness like cholera, diarrhea, malaria, typhoid, which damages the body tissues. Children are most vulnerable to health hazards and consequently are affected the most. In 1998, 2.2 million people died because of poor sanitation, which the vast majority were children.

In 1950 the world health organization’s expert committee on environmental sanitation defines environmental sanitation as the control of community, water supplies, excreta and waste water disposal, refuse disposal, vector of diseases, housing conditions, food supplies and handling conditions, food supplies and atmospheric conditions and the safety of the working environment. Environmental problems have grown in complexity especially with the advent of radiation and chemical hazards. Meanwhile the world needs for the basic sanitation services (like drinking water supply, excreta and waste water disposal), have greatly increased as a result of rapid population growth and highly expectations.

There has been considerable awareness of water supply in institution, but the problems of excreta and waste disposal have receive less attention. In Enugu State College of Education (Technical), everywhere is littered with pure water polythene, pieces of papers and so on, without proper disposal. In order to focus attention of these problems. Sanitation exercise should be done daily to keep the environment clean by employing labourers that will help keep the school clean. Environments should be formulated in order to kill dangerous animals like snake, scorpion etc.

In school hostels, there are problems of over-crowding and these affects the health of the students in the hostel. More than 200 students share four (4) toilets. Mostly girls in hostel have inadequate sanitation facilities. With this premise, the researchers seek to find out the implication of sanitation practices on students health in Enugu State College of Education (Technical). Inadequate sanitation and water in school jeopardize not only the student’s health but also their attendance. Girls in particular area likely to be kept out of school, if there is no sanitation.

Seminars should be organized in institutions to help educate students more, especially girls in the hostel on menstrual hygiene, sanitation hygienic practices, and cleanliness in the surroundings. To make everywhere conducive for teaching and learning, lack of skills and this have hindered the educational prospects of girls residing in the hostel. Flies petch on dirts, toilet etc and later petch on uncovered foods and all this are dangerous to human health.

1.2 STATEMENTS OF PROBLEM

Control of pests, waste disposal had become a problem in our environment because of poor sanitation practices. Diseases related to poor sanitation and water availability causes many people to die of sickness like cholera, diarrhea, malaria, typhoid which damages the body tissues.

Waste generation is a major cause of dirtiness in the hostel due to the large number of students and if not properly manage may cause a lot of harm than good, wastes are generated on daily basis through different activities of human being and if not disposed of properly the way it should,they lead to pollution of the environment having serious implications on the health of the students residing in the hostel (Earthwatch, 2007). Different institutional bodies have been set up at different levels for environmental sanitations and tertiary institution like the University of Calabar is of no difference so as to ensure that students waste are properly disposed in a quest for the students residing in the hostel to be in good health. In a study carried out by Ogeah and Ikelegbe (2007) reveals that students are nonchalant about the cleanliness of their hostels and their environment generally. They further illustrated that even with availability of cleaners that students contribute to the poor hostel sanitation practices and this go a long way to affect the students’ health. Students contribute to poor hostel sanitation practices by the laziness of students to use facilities provided by the school authority for waste disposal in the hostels. Outside cleaning their rooms in the hostels most of the students feel it is humiliating for them to tidy their surroundings. Even though the University system has hired cleaners to clean the hostels these cleaners are poorly supervised and with them not doing their jobs properly the hostel surrounding becomes a breeding site for all sorts of dangerous insects and pests such as mosquito which can expose the students to malaria, tsetse fly which when a student is bitten by  will cause sleeping sickness and some many more insect with different health complications, even some students go as far as urinating and defecating indiscriminately outside the hostels because they cannot clean the dirty toilets themselves and in the long run they will still come to those polluted areas to carry out their daily activities like cooking, washing of clothes etc. 

It is a widely accepted fact that students are known for their laziness and ego, many of them tend to leave their area of residence without taking care of it only to be waiting for cleaners to clean it for them but even as that the hostels are always very dirty because things are not done appropriately for example a student urinating in the front of the hostel where it shouldn’t be is indirectly calling for mosquitoes to breed around the hostel and this is also the case in the area of focus for this study,.

However, it is not clear on the extent in which school management and student union government (SUG) have contributed in curbing poor sanitation practices. The problem of this study is to find out the strategies which could be employ to provide facilities to students to reduce dirtiness.

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study is to find out the implication of sanitation practices on students health in Enugu State college of Education (technical). Specifically this study was to:

i) Identify the causes of poor sanitation practices on student’s health in Enugu State College of Education (Technical)

ii) Determine the extent in which the school management have contributed in providing facilities that will enhance sanitation practices in Enugu State College of Education (Technical) Enugu.

iii) Find out the strategies that could be employed to curb dirtiness in Enugu State College of Education (Technical).

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings of this study will enable the students in Enugu State College of Education, to better understand and cultivate a clean environment because cleanliness is next to Godliness. The finding will help the following people:

The students to know the needs of hygiene or health practices, because cleanliness in next to Godliness and also enable to have a sound health, if sanitation is practiced by the students, sickness and diseases will be reduced.

To the school management: The findings will help the school management to provide adequate facilities that will enable the labourers to keep the environment clean and tidy, also provide fund for buying disinfectant and Antiseptic, and also paying the labourers.

Government: The findings will help the government, to formulate a policies that will enable their follow students keep the environment clean and regulations on the school. Also they serve as a mediator between the management and the students.

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS:-

In order to find answers to the objective of this study, the researchers formulated the following research questions.

1. Do the students of Enugu State College of Education have knowledge of basic personal hygiene?

2. Are there proper hygienic practices among students in Enugu State College of Education pupils?

3. Are there measures put in place to help students maintain good hygiene practice in Enugu State College of Education? 

4. What are the causes of poor sanitation practices on student’s health in Enugu State college of Education (Technical)?

5. What are the dangers of poor sanitation practices on student’s health in Enugu State College of Education (Technical) Enugu?

6. What are the strategies that could be employed to improve sanitation in Enugu State college of Education (Technical) Enugu?

1.6 SCOPE and LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study was delimited to determining the implication of sanitation practice in student’s health in schools especially those in hostel in Enugu State College of Education (Technical).

In the cause of the study, the researcher encounters some limitations which limited the scope of the study; 

Time constraint: The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

Inadequate Materials: Scarcity of material is also another hindrance. The researcher finds it difficult to long hands in several required material which could contribute immensely to the success of this research work. 

Financial constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Sanitation: Sanitation is defined as the prevention of human contact with feces and the proper treatment and disposal of wastewater. Sanitation also includes promoting hygiene on a personal level through washing hands with soap.

Practice: The actual application or use of an idea, belief, or method, as opposed to theories relating to it.

Implication: An implication is something that is suggested, or happens, indirectly. When you left the gate open and the dog escaped, you were guilty by implication.

Undergraduate: An undergraduate is a college or university student who's not a graduate student. After high school, you can become an undergraduate.

Hygiene: Hygiene is a set of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases.

Health: Health is the level of functional and metabolic efficiency of a living organism. In humans it is the ability of individuals or communities to adapt and self-manage when facing physical, mental, psychological and social changes with environment.

1.8 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), statement of problem, objectives of the study, research question, significance or the study, research methodology, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlight the theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.  Chapter five gives summary, conclusion and also recommendations made of the study.