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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Schools and Health: A District-Level Evaluation of School Health Education in Ghana |
Author: | Adu-Mireku, Samuel |
Year: | 2003 |
Periodical: | Journal of Social Development in Africa (ISSN 1012-1080) |
Volume: | 18 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 105-120 |
Language: | English |
Notes: | biblio. refs. |
Geographic terms: | Ghana West Africa Africa |
Subjects: | health education schooling Health and Nutrition Education and Oral Traditions education schools Basic health |
Abstract: | This study evaluates Ghana's school health education programme at the district level. In particular, it assesses the policy guidelines of the programme, curriculum topics, and evaluation methods. A modified version of the Health Education District Questionnaire, a self-administered instrument developed by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was used to collect data from the country's 110 district school health education programme coordinators between August and November 2000. The response rate was 80 percent. Information was also gathered through in-depth interviews with the national coordinator and her staff and by reviewing programme documents. The results indicated that the programme is focused on building life skills by using participatory teaching methods. However, although the programme guidelines require the use of two strategies - the unit course approach and the integrated/infusion approach - to cover health topics within the curriculum, the extent of actual coverage of the topics as reported by the district coordinators varied (ranging from 52.3 percent for consumer health to 98.9 percent for personal hygiene). In addition, less than 40 percent of the coordinators reported having conducted any formal or informal evaluation of key aspects of the programme at the district level. The findings of this study have implications for Ghana's school health education programme. These are discussed, along with some recommendations. Bibliogr., sum. [Journal abstract] |