ABSTRACT
The study focused on the strategies for improving hygienic conditions of hostels in universities in Abia State using student’s hostels in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State University and Rhema University hostel. Six research question were formulated. Population of the study consisted of Male and Female students living in the hostels. Data were collected with questionnaire. Mean was used to analyze the data collected. The findings revealed the various hygienic facilities available to students’ residing in the hostel, personal cleanliness adopted by students, environmental cleanliness, and number of cleaning staff employed to clean the hostel. The study further revealed the hygienic problems faced by students were identified such as improper waste disposal, inadequate drainage systems, lack of water facilities, pests and rodents’ infestation, air pollution etc. Finally, practicable strategies for improving the hygienic condition of hostels in universities in Abia State to include provision of adequate facilities by management, good personal and environmental hygiene by students, organizing workshops and seminar concerning environmental hygiene by schools, provision of adequate sanitary facilities by management, employment of more cleaning staffs, provision of adequate refuse disposal units and adequate water facilities by the school management.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Certification Page ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Table of Contents v
List of Figures vii
List of Tables viii
Abstract ix
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Background
of the Study 1
1.2 Statement
of Problem 4
1.3 Significance
of the Study 6
1.4 Specific
Objectives 8
1.5 Research
Questions 9
1.6 Scope
of the Study 9
1.7 Definition
of Operational Terms 9
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW 10
2.1 Conceptual
Framework 10
2.2 Theoretical
Framework 11
2.2.1 Germ
theory 11
2.2.2 Florence
Nightingale’s environmental theory 12
2.2.3 Public
health 14
2.2.4 Miasma
theory 15
2.3 Review
of Related Empirical Literature 16
2.3.1 Environmental
sanitation 16
2.3.2 Importance
of environmental sanitation 17
2.3.3 Disease
and environmental sanitation 18
2.3.4 Foodborne
illness 18
2.3.5 Personal
hygiene 21
2.3.6 Environmental
hygiene of university hostels 27
2.4
Theoretical Framework/Orientation 30
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY 32
3.1 Design
of the Study 32
3.2 Area of the Study 33
3.3 Population
for the Study 33
3.4 Sample Size
and Sampling Technique 33
3.4.1 Sample
Size 33
3.4.2 Sample
Technique 33
3.5 Instrument
for Data Collection 34
3.6 Validation
of Instrument 35
3.7 Reliability
of Instrument 35
3.8 Data
Analysis Technique 35
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION
AND ANALYSIS 36
4.1 Introduction 36
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY,
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 51
5.1 Summary 51
5.2 Conclusion 52
5.3 Recommendations 52
REFERENCES
LIST OF FIGURES
Fig. 1: The pathways of transmission of pathogens
through the fecal-oral route and
Percentage
Reduction in Risk of Disease from Improved water, Sanitation and
Hygiene Practices 10
LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1: Mean Responses on the Hygiene facilities
available in hostels in Universities in Abia
State 36
Table 4.2: Summary of mean of Personal cleanliness
adopted by students in Universities in Abia
State 37
Table 4.3: Summary of mean of environmental
cleanliness adopted by students in Universities in Abia State 38
Table 4.4: Summary of mean of Number of cleaning
staff employed to work in the Hostel 39
Table 4.5: Summary of mean of hygienic problems faced
by students in Universities in Abia
State 42
Table 4.6: Summary of mean of Ways of Improving the
Hygienic Conditions of Hostels in Universities in
Abia State 43
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Education
is widely accepted as a major instrument for promoting socio-economic,
political and cultural development in Nigeria. Universities educate future
leaders and develop the high-level technical capacities that underpin economic
growth and development (Odekunle, 2001). Higher education is recorded as an
instrument of social change and economic development. According to the National
Policy on Education (2004), higher education is expected to:
a. Contribute
to national development through high level relevant manpower training.
b. Develop
and inculcate proper values for the survival of the individual and society.
c. Develop
the intellectual capability of individuals to understand and appreciate their
local and external environment.
d. Acquire
both physical and intellectual skills which will enable individuals to be
self-reliant and useful members of society.
e. Promote
national and international understanding and interaction.
Despite the immense benefits of university
education to nation building, the potentials of higher education and indeed the
university system in developing countries to fulfill its responsibility is
frequently thwarted by long-standing problems bedeviling the system.
The rapid growth of the Nigerian’s
university system doubles every four to five years and probably grows faster
than any other country in the world. From a modest enrolment of 3,646 students
in 1962/1963, the system has a record of student enrolment of 20,889 in
1972/1973 increasing to 104,774 in 1982/1983. Five years later, in 1987/1988,
the total enrolments in federal and state universities in Nigeria jumped to
167,767 students. By 1962, the number of universities in Nigeria increased from
four to twenty in 1983.
Today, according to the National
University Commission of Nigeria (NUC), the number of universities has grown to
a hundred and eighteen (118), comprising of 36 Federal Universities, 37 state
universities and 45 Private Universities.
As a result of expansion in student
population, accommodations for university student in Nigeria has become a
bother for both students and parents as almost all the universities fail to
provide accommodation facility for students. The importance of the social
environment in student life cannot be overemphasized.
One of the key features students and their
parents are concerned about when enrolling in a university is the availability
of student housing. The significance of housing as a major determinant of man’s
welfare, life sustenance and survival cannot be overemphasized.
It has and will always be a prime concern
to individual, facility, community and the nation at large. Housing is
paramount to human existence as it ranks among the top three needs of man. Its
provision has always been of great necessity to man. As a unit of the
environment, housing has profound influence of the community (Omole, 2001).
Students housing form part of the
facilities that students take into consideration before making a choice of the
school they intend to attend among other considerations. This therefore makes
it imperative for schools to give students having a top priority while
enhancing the reputation of the school among other contemporaries.
It is crucial to note that student hotel
must not only be adequately provided for in relation to the student population
of a university, but it must be able to satisfy their needs if the best is to
be appropriated from them. Satisfying users of any facility including hostel
facility, should be one of the main objectives of providing such facility in
the first instance.
Hygiene is a set of practices performed
for the perseverance of health. According to the World Health Organization
(WHO), “Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that helps to maintain
health and prevent the spread of diseases”. Whereas in popular culture, it can
often mean mere ‘cleanliness’. Hygiene in its fullest and original meaning goes
much beyond that to include all circumstances and practices, lifestyle issues,
premises and commodities that endanger a safe and healthy environment. Some
regular hygienic practices may be considered good habits by a society while the
neglect of hygiene can be considered disgusting, disrespectful or even
threatening.
Hygiene is a concept related to
cleanliness, health and medicine, as well as to personal and professional care
practices related to most aspect of living in medicine and in home and everyday
lie settings.
Hygiene practices are employed as
preventive measures to reduce the incidence and spreading of disease. The term
cleanliness and hygiene are often used interchangeably which can cause
confusion. Cleanliness is an act of removing dirt and making a place neat and
tidy while hygiene is a practice that prevents spread of disease causing organisms.
Since cleaning process remove infections microbes as well as dirt, they are
often the means to achieve hygiene. Hygiene is also a branch of science that
deals with the promotion and preservation of health. Waste are materials that
are no longer valuable or useful, they ought to be properly disposed and should
not be dumped anyhow to liter or menace the environment.
This study was guided by Maslow’s theory
of Motivation as cited in Okumbe (1998) which argues that individuals (in this
case students) learn better when all physiological needs are gratified. Maslow
further elaborated the theory in Okumbe (1998) and lists the physiological
needs like hunger, thirst, sleep and other needs.
The higher institutions of learning in the
state and the country at large are supposed to be centers of excellence in all
facets, but this is not the case as one crucial area environmental hygiene is
seriously lacking in most university hostels precisely universities in Abia
state. The very few accommodations that are being provided are not well
maintained and also below standard, thereby exposing students to a frustrated
life on campus. Abia State University Students presently live under a horrible
condition on school campus. Their accommodation is known to be terrible, bad, insanitary
and over-crowded thereby impending their capability of learning effectively.
Some of the very few universities that provide accommodation do not make enough
provision. Rooms that are meant to serve just four students accommodates close
to eight students. Hence, it is important that research is conducted to find
out the practicable strategies for improving the hygienic conditions of university
hostels in Abia State because when these strategies are adopted and accepted,
it will lead to enhancement in the academic excellence of the students, it will
help in providing an optimal hygienic environment which is safe and conducive
for physical, mental and emotional health of the school community in order for
students to achieve maximum benefits from educational programmes and also
reduction in complaints being filed against the management among others.
Maslow (1972) cited in Kasenene (1999)
argues that physiological needs such as food and water are the primary drives
which need to be satisfied before a person can realize any need for a secondary
desire. According to Kasenene (1999), Maslow advanced a theory of Motivation in
1968 which argued that students will always have the need to learn after all
the physiological needs are gratified. Maslow therefore concluded that learning
is secondary to bodily needs and any attempt towards learning requires
satisfaction of physiological or bodily needs as an unavoidable pre-requisite.
In this study such needs included feeding, sanitation and accommodation.
The international policy environment
increasingly reflects these issues. Providing adequate levels of water supply,
sanitation and hygiene in schools is of direct relevance to the United Nations
(UN) Millennium Development Goals on achieving universal primary education, promoting
gender equality and reducing child mortality. It is also supportive of other goals,
especially those on major diseases and infant mortality. The UN Millennium Project
and the UN Secretary-General have also highlighted the importance of rapidly addressing
“quick wins”, identifying specifically provision of services to schools and health-care
facilities. Targets promoted by Vision 21 include 80% of students should be
educated about hygiene and all schools equipped with facilities for sanitation
and hand washing by 2015 (WSSCC, 2000).
The researcher developed the strategies
for improving the hygienic conditions of university hostels as; maintenance of
drainage and sewage systems, provision of adequate refuse bins for waste
disposal, provision of mowing machine to ensure that the grass around the
hostels are always kept tidy, provision of adequate hostel materials (i.e. good
bunks, mattresses, laundry ropes etc.), provision of hand sanitizers in rest
rooms, etc.
This research aims at ascertaining the
adequacy of the facilities provided in the students hostels in Universities in
Abia State with a view to assess the level of satisfaction of the students with
the available facilities.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
It is worrisome to note that Nigerian
Universities seem to be fast decaying. All the resources required for education
production process seem to be in short supply. Lecture halls, laboratories,
library space, books and journals and worst of all, the students’ hostels.
The hostels in universities are known to
be terrible, bad, insanitary, congested. So many problems have been identified
concerning the hygienic conditions of university hostels. One of the problems
is poor waste disposal. The indiscriminate dumping of waste around the campus
especially in the hostels has become a serious environmental problem and
unhygienic condition facing the hostels. It is very difficult to have fresh air
around the hostel and their environment.
Another problem is the poor sanitary
conditions of the toilet and bathrooms. As a student living in the hostel,
taking one’s bath in the bathroom or even easing oneself in the toilet is
usually a hurdle because of the sanitary conditions of the facilities.
Even though there were porters who come
daily (apart from Sundays) to clean, the high number of persons using the
facilities coupled with the water situation is a major challenge. For instance,
in Michael Okpara University old female hostel, about a block of 9 rooms with
about 20 students each share just 4 bathrooms and toilets. The toilets are
always messed up with tissues, faeces, urine and some other harder papers
discarded in it to the extent that the suck-away pit has to be opened for
students to use in place of the untidy toilets.
Thirdly, the rooms of the students are kept
untidy and dirty. It is penitent to note that hostels built and inhabited for a
couple of years have begun to wear off due to lack of maintenance. Some of the
walls are cracked with traces of moss and algae growing comfortably on them.
Some louvers are either broken or completely off, some windows are either torn
off as well and the floors have deep holes in them accommodating rats and other
creeping animals or insects.
Most hostels do not have proper wardrobes
or no wardrobes at all, some have improvised wooden planks nailed to the walls
for students to hang their clothes and towels. Some rooms also have bad bunks
and dirty or torn mattresses. They are either flat or torn in different parts such
that most student’s return to school with their own bed covers to make the
mattress a bit pleasant. Also, the lawns in some of the hostels are most times,
left to overgrow for a long time and this could attract snakes and other reptiles
to the hostels premises.
Finally, the situation in hostels in many
tertiary institutions precisely Abia State, leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
Students live under a horrible condition on school campus, their accommodation
is terribly unhygienic and disgusting. Therefore, this research explains and
finds out the strategies to adopt in improving the hygienic conditions of
hostels in Universities in Abia State.
1.3 Significance of the Study
This study is important because it
enlightens the provision of safe physical and emotional environments for
students and to ensure healthy and safe students and to be able to contribute
to national development through effective, healthy and hygienic lifestyles of
the students in their hostels. This study will be beneficial to students,
universities, the state government and the nation at large.
The students are the first beneficiaries
of this research study. They will be able to recognize healthy living as
desirable and necessary through-out their lives for their optimum learning
environment that will satisfy their physical, mental and emotional needs, a
healthy environment ensures that students’ health and academic performance do
not suffer because the students will feel comfortable to concentrate fully on
their academic work. An ill student cannot give perfect concentration to their
education.
Secondly, the university also will benefit
from the study. When the management of the university is able to recognize and
discover those strategies for improving the hygienic conditions of their
school, and they combine these strategies with adequate facilities and
education, they will build healthy and strong students which will make
investments in education more productive. If they are able to construct and
renovate the hostels for students, aspiring students will also want to take a
chance and stay in the hostel rather than living in lodges outside school
thereby giving the university a good name both in state and federal level.
Thirdly, the state and nation will also
benefit from the study. The students are the key resource, future leaders of
the state and nation. When the strategies are applied, it leads to the
development of the students (physically and mentally) which will lead them to
become active participants in the society and country. They can become a change
agent in their state and a stimulus for development of the nation.
1.4 Objectives of Study
The main objective of the study determine
strategies for improving the hygienic conditions of hostels in university in
Abia State. Specifically the study will find out:
1. The hygiene facilities available in the
hostels
2. The personal cleanliness adopted by
students
3. The environmental cleanliness adopted
by students
4. The number of cleaning staff employed
to work in the hostels
5. The hygiene problems faced by students
6. The ways of improving the hygienic
state of hostels
1.5 Research Questions
1. What are the hygiene facilities
available in the hostels?
2. What are the personal cleanliness
adopted by students?
3. What are the environmental cleanliness
adopted by students?
4. What is the number of cleaning staff
employed to work in the hostels?
5. What are the hygiene problems faced by
students?
6. What
are the ways of improving the hygienic state of hostels?
1.6 Scope of the Study
The research work covers the male and
female hostels in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, Abia State
University Uturu, and Rhema University Aba, all in Abia State.
1.7 Definition of Operational Terms
1. University: A
university is an institution of higher education which provides hostels to
accommodate students while providing them with undergraduate education.
2. Hostels: Hostels
are temporary accommodations in the universities for housing of students and it
usually requires bunks, beds in a dormitory, bathroom, and toilet.
3. Hygiene: Hygiene
is a set of practices and conditions that can be applied by students in the
hostel to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases.
4. Student: A student is a person
enrolled at a university who may lodge temporarily in the school hostel to
satisfy the need for shelter.
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