Sanitation Practices among Undergraduate Students at the University of Benin, Nigeria

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the sanitation practices among undergraduate students in halls of residents in University of Benin. The study followed a descriptive research design. The students residing in the halls of residents in Ugbowo campus at University of Benin constituted the study population. The sample size for was 400 students. These were selected through multi stage sampling. A structured questionnaire designed by the researchers titled “personal attributes influencing sanitation practices among undergraduate students” was used. The instrument was validated by three experts and when subjected to reliability testing, a reliability coefficient of 0.72 was obtained. Data collected was analysed using frequency counts and percentages. The findings were that sanitation practices among the students are poor and that age and gender influenced these practices. It was also found that inadequate water supply, poor toilet facilities, insufficient toilets, bathroom and waste disposal facilities and poor drainage system are major causes of poor sanitation in the halls of residents. It was recommended that there is need to educate the students on cleanliness during their orientation exercise and that keeping the environment clean on campus should be a joint responsibility of the school authority and students.