International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume II, Issue VIII, August 2018 | ISSN 2454–6186

Personal Hygiene Practices among Primary School Pupils in Makindye Urban Council, Kampala District, Uganda: Implications for School Managers

Dr. Kayindu Vincent, Toriola Funke Christiana, Umar Saleh Baba

 Kampala International University, Uganda, East Africa

Abstract:-This paper presents part of the findings of a study carried out in 2017 partly to investigate personal hygiene practices among primary school pupils in Makindye Urban Council, one of the seven Urban Councils which make Kampala district. Taking a sample of 380 pupils randomly selected from six primary schools in the area, the data collected were analyzed using arithmetic mean, and the findings showed that the personal hygiene practices among primary school children were generally good (mean, 2.05). Thus, the implications for school administrators were the need for teachers and head teachers and classroom teachers to sensitize pupils more about culture; the need for head teachers to urge pupils to have shoe brushes or sponge for cleaning shoes. Even water should be availed at school for them to clean themselves, such as washing hands; head teachers using part of the school funds to buy toilet tissues and put them in the toilets to be used by the learners who go there for the long call, as well as the need for school administrators to do more to promote activities which help to educate pupils on the ways of maintaining good personal hygiene, for example Drama and group discussions on topics related to personal hygiene. All this can help learners to be healthy.

Key Words: Personal hygiene, school managers

I. INTRODUCTION

Personal hygiene as the principle of maintaining cleanliness and grooming of the external body has been taken seriously over the centuries. In Uganda, before the colonial rule, efforts ranging from coercion to persuasion in villages were made by chiefs and other local leaders to encourage citizens to build, maintain, and use latrines, keep themselves and their environment clean, and use clean sources of water (Smith, 2008).