School Health Programmes in Africa: What You Need to Know

By Victory Onyenekwe. B.Sc. Ed Physical and Health Education. Freelance Health Writer and Datelinehealth Africa volunteer.  Reviewed by the DLHA Team.

 

Collage image of school health scenes, Covid-19 era. Click on image to enlarge. Image credits: Freepik.

 

Highlights

• School health programmes are a set of planned processes, activities, or services that are designed to promote positive health behaviors among school children.

• School health programmes aim to improve the health of students by building desirable health practices.

• Joint efforts between schools, parents and the community are essential for the implementation of school health programmes.

• Africa has the largest population of adolescents in the world, emphasizing the need for school health programmes to tackle some of the health and behaviour challenges common within this population; like food insecurity, undernutrition, teenage pregnancy, and drug abuse.

 

Introduction

A school in Busa Buji, Jos North Plateau state collapsed on the 12^th of July, 2024. The death toll was recorded at 22. The collapse was attributed to the structures’ slab reinforcement anchorage being inadequate.

Given that the provision of safe school buildings that undergo regular safety inspections is a component of school health programmes, it is clear that this particular tragic story and many more like it, speak to the negligence of school health programmes in some African schools.

This article will provide you with accurate information about the  components of school health programmes in Africa and globally, as well as the benefits and challenges of implementating school health programmes in the African environment.

 

What Are School Health Programmes?

School Health programmems are sets of planned processes, activities or services that are designed to promote positive health behaviors and practices among school children and staffs.

The objectives of school health programmes include:

• Prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases through immunisation and other preventive measures among school children and staffs.

• Provision of a healthy and safe environment for the development of the school child.

• Inculcating desirable health practices and behaviors in students.

• Early detection of health issues and proper referrals.

• Awareness creation on the need for joint efforts between schools, parents, and the community.

• Training of teachers to offer first aid and basic emergency care to school children.

• Provision of nutritional midday meals and promotion of physical activities among children in school.

 

Global Components of School Health Programme

Figure 1. Eight component model of school health programme. Click on image to enlarge.

 

There are various component models of School Health programmes. The global eight-component model is considered as the comprehensive model (see figure 1). The components of this model are as follows:

• School Health Education and Instruction
• School Health Services
• Healthy and Safe School Environment
• Nutrition/School Feeding Services
• Physical Education/Activity
• Parent and Community Involvement 
• Mental Health Services [Counselling and Social Services]
• Health Promotion of Staff

The global eight components of school health programme are discussed further below.

1. School Health Education and Instruction

This aims to encourage healthy and hygienic behavior among students through learning experiences that build desirable health practices. It usually consists of joint efforts between teachers and other health personnel. School health education and instruction provides students with health skills like personal hygiene, first aid, sex education and environmental sanitation for life.

2. School Health Services

School health services help to protect and prevent diseases, and provide curative services for the promotion of good health status among the students and staffs. [1].

School health services make it possible for students to achieve maximum health for academic excellence. Some of the services rendered by school health services include:

• Routine health examinations and assessment.
• Control and prevention of communicable diseases through early detection, isolation, treatment, vaccination and education.
• Care and treatment of minor medical and dental ailments, provision of proper emergency care and referral.
• Counselling and education on proper ways to handle health defects and problems.

School health services are provided by health teams available in the school.

3. Healthy and Safe Environment

Healthy and safe school environment is concerned with the physical setting and existing condition of the school in regards to health. This involves:

• Standard building with safety precautions
• Effective refuse and sewage disposal systems
• Well-equipped playgrounds
• Safe water supply
• Recess 
• Number of students per class
• Length of period for each class
• Discipline
• Provision of school mid-day meals

A safe school environment also fosters healthy relationships among the students, teachers and members of staff of the school. It creates a healthy learning environment for students and promotes a safe place for social interactions between students, students and teachers and among teachers.

4. Nutrition and School Feeding Services

This involves ensuring adequate nourishment for each student, examining the health and nutrition needs of all students. Nutrition and school feeding services include:

• Inspection of food sold by vendors within the school environment, to ensure that it is prepared in a safe manner and can be consumed by the students.
• Provision of subsidized mid-day meals to meet at least one third of the daily requirements of all major and micro-nutrients as well as maintain lifelong, healthy eating patterns.
• Select, organise and present a food time table for students. 

5. Physical Education

Physical education is the study of the movement of the human body. It involves engaging the students in simple games that help to develop motor skills and cognitive abilities. As part of school health programme, students engage in physical activities like rhythmic and dance activities, team games [e.g. football, basketball], individual games, and physical fitness exercises. Studies have shown that physical activities promote academic performance in students.

6. Parent and Community Involvement

Parents and individuals within the community actively participate in school health programme by providing the school with financial resources, and services to respond effectively to the health needs of the students. These could also include health personnel among parents and the community volunteering to give health talks and seminars on current health trends and basic hygiene, provision of first aid material and resources that teachers can use to facilitate health education and instruction.

7. Mental Health Services

These are services that are provided to improve both staff and student’s mental, emotional, and social health. Counselling and emotional support are offered by professionals like psychologist, counselors and social workers. 

8. Health Promotion in Staff

This is a conscious effort on the part of the school to ensure that their staffs are in good health. This is done by engaging the staff in activities such as immunization, health workshops/programmes, well-timed breaks, and health related fitness exercises to promote desirable health behaviors and practices among them.

 

School Health Programmes in Africa

According to the World Health Organization, Africa has the world’s largest adolescent population with over 196.5 million adolescents living in Africa. [2] This statistic shows the need for School Health programme within African schools.

In Nigeria, the National School Health Policy and Implementation Guidelines was formulated in 2006 to serve as a guide for the implementation and management of school health programme in Nigerian Schools.

In South Africa, the Health Promoting School Policy aims to address the health needs of schools, and students, by preventing factors that may put students at risk of health challenges such as HIV, teenage pregnancy, drug addiction etc.

Some schools within Africa implement school health programmes that are consistent with global standards and practices. Other schools implement only a few of the components and some do not.

For example, in Nigeria, a five-component model of school health programme has been used since 2006. It is made up of the following:

• School Health Education and Instruction
• Healthy School Environment 
• School Health Services
• Nutrition/ School Feeding Service
• Parent and Community Involvement

In a study conducted in a state in the western part of Nigeria, it was observed that the practice of the various components of school health services was poor in public schools, but better in private schools and the commonest form of health assessment was done by teachers suggesting the need for more health personnel within Nigerian schools. The absence of sick bays, first aid trained teachers and poor periodic medical examination were also identified. [3]

Due to lack of funding, some schools within African countries do not have adequate facilities to engage the students in structured and supervised physical education activities. They are also unable to provide the students with nutrition and mental health services. 

African schools enjoy huge support from Non-governmental Organizations, World health bodies, and other Health organizations, but sometimes the supports are cornered and do not get to the beneficiaries.

 

How Can School Health Programmes Benefit African Students?

African students can benefit from School Health programmes in the following ways:

• Creation of a safe and healthy environment for students to learn.
• Promotion of better academic performance among students.
• Promotion of better health practices and behaviour e.g. personal hygiene
• Creation of a sense of health consciousness and awareness among the students
• Enable students to learn health skills such as first aid, exercise and healthy diets
• Improvement of community wellbeing as students can teach their family and friends what they have learnt.
• Lowered rate of absenteeism due to ill-health or unhealthy practices.

 

Challenges of Implementing School Health Programmes in African Schools

• Funding: Schools require funding and support from government, parents and the community. When this is poor or minimally available, the implementation of school health programme becomes challenging.

• Need and Benefits Awareness: The lack of or poor level of need and benefit awareness of school health programme promotes low commitment towards the provision of school health programme by school authorities, health and education agencies.

• Infrastructure: When key physical infrastructures such as sick bays, toilet facilities, playgrounds, water supply and standard classrooms are absent, quality school health programmes are difficult or impossible to implement.

• Personnel: Shortage of trained health personnel and first aid trained teachers.

• Educational Resources: Limited availability of suitable health materials and resources for student health education poses a challenge for the training of students.  

• Policies: Some of the existing policies on school health programmes in some African countries do not necessarily meet the needs of existing health challenges, while some of the polices exist only on paper level and are not implemented.

 

Ways to Improve School Health Programmes in African Schools

• Stakeholders Collaboration:  Joint efforts between governments, schools, parents and the community would facilitate the implementation of school health programme, through improved funding, provision of health resources and services.

• Monitoring: Appropriate agencies and units of government should do routine checks to ensure that school authorities practice the global components of school health programmes.

• Personnel Hiring and Training: School authorities should employ adequate level of health personnel to work in their sick bays for the number of students in each school and also ensure that teachers and other health personnel obtain continuous education and training in school health matters.

• Infrastructure: Funding from government, health organizations and non-governmental organizations should be available for use in building and equipping physical infrastructures that create a safe and healthy environment for students and staff.

• Educational Materials and Mandates: Schools should provide adequate health education materials and resources for teaching pupils within a structured curriculum. They should also ensure that their entire staff take periodic medical examinations yearly to be sure that they are free of any communicable diseases that may compromise the health of their students.

• Policies: Policies should be re-evaluated to meet the existing challenges of school health programmes generally.

 

Conclusion

School health programmes are oriented towards building positive health behaviour and practices that are not just beneficial to students, and staffs of a school, but the community in general.

Stakeholders in education and health must come together to ensure that all schools implement the global standards of school health programme. Schools that are lacking should be made to comply.

 

References:

1. Naomi BG, Emma O, Adetola A. WABP Physical and Health Education for Junior Secondary Schools 2. Lagos: West African Book Publisher Limited. 2015.

2. World Health Organization. Visualizing the Problems and Generating Solutions for Adolescent Health in the African region. [Internet, n.d.]. [Accessed 16 January 2024]. Available from here.

3. Alafin B, Oluwaseyitan AA, Izang AJA, Alausa KO. An Appraisal of the School Health programme in Primary Schools in a Rural Community in Nigeria. Ethiop J. Health Dev.2019;33(3):153-159. Abstract available from here.

 

Related:

• Sports participation improves academic performance, Study suggests
• Can free school meals boost student attendance in Africa? 
• 10 healthy habits to teach your African child

 

 

Published: February 20, 2025

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