Evaluation of The Effects of Urban Population Growth On Student’s Personal Hygiene and Environmental Pollution of Secondary Schools in Anambra State

Abstract

Sequel to the need to tackle the negative effects of urban population growth in schools, this study evaluated the effects of urban population growth on student’s personal hygiene and environmental pollution in selected public secondary schools in the three main urban centres of Anambra State, Nigeria. With the following objectives: to identify the effects of urban population growth on student's personal hygiene and environmental pollution in the selected schools, determine the level of significance of these effects on the student's personal hygiene and environmental pollution in the selected schools and recommend ways of reducing these negative effects. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. Four hundred (400) copies of the questionnaire were administered using the stratified random sampling technique and three hundred and eighty-one (381) were returned. Fifty (50) secondary schools were selected purposively from the total number of one hundred and fifty-four (154) public secondary schools within the three zones, while the snowball sampling technique was utilized in sampling the teachers who have stayed above five (5) years in their school of assignment. The effects of urban population growth on student’s personal hygiene and environmental pollution was confirmed to include that inadequate toilet facilities, overcrowding in dormitories/classrooms, uncontrolled generation of wastes, environmental pollution through open defecations, high tendency of water contamination through dirty water taps, noise pollution by students in overcrowded classrooms, air pollution and high tendency of airborne diseases as students often urinate openly rather than using designated urinals. The test of hypothesis showed that there is significant effect of population growth on students’ personal hygiene and environmental pollution. The study therefore recommends that: policy makers should formulate a policy to control student’s enrolment in line with the capacity of each school and ensure full implementation, increase in the provision of teaching aids in schools, students should be rewarded for good personal hygiene and cleanliness to encourage others.