This study examined comparative assessment of the safety measures in the environment of public and private primary schools in Ekiti State. Specifically, the study was designed to determine the presence of health hazards in the environment of public and private primary schools; and to determine the presence of safety measures in the environment of public and private primary schools in Ekiti state. The study uses cross sectional descriptive research design that employed the use of a standardized well-structured adapted checklist to assess the safety measures in the environment of (both public and registered private) primary schools. The population of this study comprises158 private primary schools; 457 public primary schools in all the 3 Senatorial Districts, Ekiti State. Multi-Stage sampling procedure was used in this study to select appropriate sample. A standardized observational checklist was adapted from the school health programme evaluation scale to assess health hazards and safety measures. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze the data collected. Findings from the study showed that more than 20% of public schools were located close to major roads, market and industrial area while private schools were more exposed to health hazards as more than 20% were close to an industrial area, market place, major roads, dangerous/grazing animals and floods/open drainage. The study also revealed that majority of the public and private schools have inadequate safety measures. It was recommended among others that community health Nurses should enforce the presence of safety measures in the school environment.

Keywords: Comparative Assessment, Safety Measures, Environment,

Cite this article: