ASSESSMENT OF SCHOOL HEALTH APPRAISAL SERVICES PROVISION AMONG URBAN AND RURAL SCHOOLS OF FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY- ABUJA, NIGERIA

This study assessed the adequate provision of school health services between urban and rural government senior secondary school students of Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. A multi-stage sampling technique that involved stratified random and simple random sampling techniques was used for this study. The instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire based on five points Likert Scale with 3.00 as the level of agreement that such a service is provided. Three hundred and eighty-four (384) copies of the questionnaire administered, three hundred and seventy-six (376) were valid and used for the analyses. Data collected was analyzed using a two-sample t-test at 0.05 alpha levels. The results revealed no significant difference in the responses of the respondents on the provision of health appraisal and emergency care to sudden injuries and illness among urban and rural senior secondary schools of the Federal Capital Territory. The t- values 0.121 and 0.368 obtained are lower than the t-critical value of 1.96. This means that the null hypotheses are upheld or accepted. It was recommended that schools clinics should be well equipped with beds, stretchers and drugs by the Secondary Education Board and the Federal Capital Territory Administration, to intensify better emergency care to injuries and sudden illness to limit the absentees of students from school.