AVAILABILITY, QUALITY AND USAGE OF SANITATION FACILITIES: A COMPARISON OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SAKI, OYO STATE

The consistent occurrence of infections, diseases, and health challenges in human settlements underscores the importance of sanitation for human survival. Sanitation is about human dignity, hygiene, and disease, and this study examines the utilisation of sanitation facilities in secondary schools in Saki, Oyo State, to enhance a healthy learning environment. Primary data for this study were sourced through the administration of a questionnaire to students in selected schools. Secondary schools in the study area were categorised into districts/strata, while a simple random sampling technique was used to select 12.5% (4 schools) of the 31 secondary schools. Also, 10 and 5 students were selected from public and private schools, respectively. The study finds that the proportion of water closets in schools is small (6.7%) and that a large share of toilets in public schools are in very poor condition compared with those in private schools. Also, only 45.0% of schools have water connections to toilet facilities, while wash-hand basins are either inadequate or unavailable in most schools. The predominant waste disposal methods among respondents are open burning (37.1%), open-space dumping (21.6%), dumping outside school premises (21.6%), and using a local government refuse truck (12.1%). Sanitation risk factors include the prevalence of insects and pests, bushy environment, dirty toilets, littered premises and dirty gutters. The chi-square test results revealed a statistically significant difference in the availability of sanitation facilities between public and private secondary schools in the study area at the 0.05 level of significance, with χ2 = 15.597 at df = 4; P < 0.05. The study concludes that there is significant variation in sanitation facility utilisation among students in private and public secondary schools, as well as their inadequacy. It is therefore recommended that the provision of modern sanitation facilities, rehabilitation, and maintenance of existing sanitation facilities are essential to foster their utilisation by students.