Assessment of The School Environment of Public and Private Primary Schools in Ekiti State

The study assessed the school environment of public and private primary schools in Ekiti State. The study adopted cross sectional descriptive research design. The target population for this study comprises primary schools, both public and private in Ekiti State. The population comprised of 158 private primary schools and 457 public primary schools in all the 3 Senatorial Districts of Ekiti State. A Multi-stage sampling procedure was used in selecting 266 private and public primary schools for this study. A standardized observational checklist was adapted from the school health programme evaluation scale and a well-structured questionnaire was used. The face and content validity of the instruments were ensured. Internal consistency reliability method was used; Cronbach’s alpha statistics was used to test for the internal consistency of the instrument (questionnaire) which yielded reliability index of 0.806. Descriptive analysis and inferential analysis were used to analyze the data collected. Findings from the study showed that the physical environment of public and private primary schools were not in good condition. It was also concluded that a little above average number of teachers had good knowledge of physical school environment. It was recommended among others that an intensive and comprehensive educational initiative should be organized for the pupils and teachers on the importance of healthful school environment. Keywords: Assessment, School Environment, Public, Private, Primary Schools