Attending Private Schools Research Articles

Health Risk Behaviors, Experiences, and Conditions Among Students Attending Private and Public High Schools.

Approximately 8.8% of US high school students attended private schools in 2015. Few studies have characterized health risk behaviors among these students or compared prevalence of behaviors between students in private and public schools using a contemporary, nationally representative sample. Pooled 2007-2017 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey data were used to estimate the prevalence of 35 health risk behaviors for 89,848 public and private high school students. Unadjusted prevalence ratios were used to compare prevalence by school type. Differences in behaviors by school type were explored by sex and grade. Among private school students, the prevalence ranged from 5.0% to 31.9% for sexual risk behaviors; from 0.8% to 30.1% for substance use behaviors; from 0.7% to 21.8% for behaviors related mental health and suicide; from 3.2% to 6.8% for violence victimization experiences; and from 3.1% to 52.9% for behaviors related to unhealthy diet and physical inactivity. Private school students were less likely than public school students to report most behaviors; differences by school type were generally consistent across sex and grade. Students in both public and private schools reported health risk behaviors. Findings might inform prevention activities by identifying behaviors to prioritize in each school setting.

Assessment of Social Functioning among Adolescent School Children in Manipur: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Globally 10-20% of adolescents experience mental health disorders. The greater part of disease being subclinical, identification has been a big challenge. Social functioning impairment is a sensitive indicator of underlying mental disorder. It forms a baseline for early identification of mental disorders. Objectives: The study plans to assess the social functioning skill and its associated factors among adolescent school children. Methods: The study was conducted among 3200 school-going adolescents studying in class 9th to 12th attending government and private schools located in Imphal-East and Bishnupur districts of Manipur recruited by stratified random sampling technique. The Child and Adolescent Social and Adaptive Functioning Scale (CASAFS), a validated tool consisting of 24 items designed to measure psychosocial functioning, was used. Descriptive and analytical statistics were generated taking p < 0.05 as level of significance. Results: A total of 25 schools were sampled with females constituting 52.3%. Overall 21.8% had good social adaptive functioning skills whereas 29.6% showed poor skills. Around 36.3% showed poor performance in ‘peer relationship domain’ and 27.1% showed poor performance in ‘self-care/ home domain’. Socio-demographic variables such as age, gender, number of siblings, and education of parents were found to be significantly associated with having ‘good social adaptive functioning skill’(p < 0.05). Conclusion: A significant proportion of adolescents face psychosocial issues in their day to day life. Improving social skills will be an effective intervention to reduce mental disorders.

Error Analysis of Written Essays: Do Private School Students Show Better EFL Writing Performance?

This study investigated writing errors committed by engineering students at An-Najah National University in Palestine and compared these errors based on school type. It analyzed errors in essays of 54 undergraduate students, 28 attended governmental schools, and 26 attended private schools. Errors were classified based on James's taxonomy. Results showed that both groups faced the same problems when writing in English, as the frequency of committed errors for both groups had the order of morphology, spelling, punctuation, formal, syntactic, semantic and ordering, except for formal errors being higher than punctuation for private school students. The study also concluded that no statistical significant differences were apparent in frequency of errors committed by the two groups. This indicates that private school students do not outperform their governmental school peers in school performance. Such results are necessary for parents and for the Ministry of Education as they oppose the general belief that performance of private school students is better.

The participant effects of private school vouchers around the globe: a meta-analytic and systematic review

ABSTRACT School voucher programs are scholarship initiatives – frequently government funded or incentivized – that pay for students to attend private schools of their choice. This study is the first formal meta-analytic consolidation of the evidence from all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the student-level math and reading test score effects of school vouchers internationally. Our search process turned up 9,443 potential studies, 21 of which were ultimately included. These 21 studies represent 11 different voucher programs. Utilizing a random effects and robust variance estimation framework, we find moderate evidence of positive achievement impacts of private school vouchers, with substantial effect heterogeneity across programs and outcome years. Suggestive evidence exists that voucher interventions may be cost effective even for null achievement impacts. Future experimental studies of long-term, scaled up voucher interventions could strengthen our understanding of achievement impacts.

Do private schools really produce more learning than public schools in India? Accounting for student’s school absenteeism and the time spent on homework

Do students attending private schools learn more and have higher cognitive abilities than their public school counterparts in India? Though some recent works have discussed this question, the empirical contours to address the issue remain unclear, particularly in a diversifying school education market in India. This paper examines the factors determining the inequality in children’s learning outcomes (i.e., reading and math scores) in India using the second round of India Human Development Survey data. We examine the effect of a child’s ‘school absenteeism’ and ‘time spent for studying and doing homework’ on learning outcomes, and how these explain the existing learning gap between private and government school children. We provide strong evidence that the children attending private schools have significantly better learning outcomes than their government school counterparts. However, this performance difference between private and government school-going children reduces with the increase in school attendance and the time spent in studying and doing homework by a child. The findings of the study implicate that the cognitive abilities of low performing government school students can be improved by reducing their absenteeism in schools and increasing time for studying and doing homework after school.

Gratitude as a Protective Factor for Cyberbullying Victims: Conditional Effects on School and Life Satisfaction.

Recently, studies linking the emotion of dispositional gratitude to cyberbullying have attracted attention. However, this is still a seminal research area that requires further scientific studies. Through longitudinal data, this study aims to analyze the mitigating effect of gratitude on cybervictimization and two indicators of adolescent subjective well-being, namely school and life satisfaction. To this end, 221 adolescents attending private schools in Peru (age: mean (M) = 12.09; standard deviation (SD) = 0.89) were selected to respond to a self-administered questionnaire in two waves that were six months apart. Descriptive data show that 27% of cybervictims also suffer other types of traditional bullying. The overlaps between forms of bullying contribute to higher probabilities of experiencing low school and life satisfaction compared to non-victims after six months. The results of the moderation analysis show that experience high gratitude help students to maintain stable levels of life satisfaction regardless of the prevalence of cyberbullying after six months The results are discussed in terms of the relevance of fostering gratitude from early ages.

Misinformation Drives Low Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Coverage in South African Girls Attending Private Schools.

Background: Cervical cancer, caused by persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, is the leading cause of female cancer deaths in South Africa. In 2014, the South African National Department of Health introduced a free public sector school-based HPV vaccination programme, targeting grade 4 girls aged ≥9 years. However, private sector school girls receive HPV vaccination through their healthcare providers at cost. This study investigated HPV vaccination knowledge, attitudes and practices of caregivers of girls aged ≥9 years in grades 4–7 attending South African private schools.Methods: A link to an online survey was circulated to caregivers via an email sent to school principals of all private schools in four provinces enrolling girls in grades 4–7. Following a poor post-reminder response, a paid Facebook survey-linked advert targeting South African Facebook users aged ≥25 years nationally was run for 4 days, and placed on the South African Vaccination and Immunisation Centre's Facebook page for 20 days.Results: Of 615 respondents, 413 provided HPV vaccination data and 455 completed the knowledge and attitudes tests. Most (76.5%) caregivers had good knowledge and 45.3% had positive attitudes. Of their daughters, 19.4% had received ≥1 dose of HPV vaccine. Of caregivers of unvaccinated girls, 44.3% and 41.1%, respectively were willing to vaccinate their daughters if vaccination was offered free and at their school. Caregivers of unvaccinated girls were more likely [odds ratio (OR): 3.8] to have been influenced by “other” influences (mainly online articles and anecdotal vaccine injury reports). Of caregivers influenced by their healthcare providers, caregivers of unvaccinated girls were more likely (OR: 0.2) to be influenced by alternative medical practitioners. Caregivers of vaccinated girls were more likely to have good knowledge (OR: 3.6) and positive attitudes (OR: 5.2). Having good knowledge strongly predicted (OR: 2.8) positive attitudes. Having negative attitudes strongly predicted (OR: 0.2) girls being unvaccinated.Conclusion: Providing free school-based HPV vaccination in the private sector may not increase HPV vaccination coverage to an optimal level. Since misinformation was the main driver of negative attitudes resulting in <20% of girls being vaccinated, an advocacy campaign targeting all stakeholders is urgently needed.

The Financial Burden of Applying to Urology Residency in 2020

To determine contemporary costs of preparing for and applying for a urology residency position for the 2019-2020 American Urological Association Match. An electronic survey was emailed to all urology residency applicants who applied to Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School during the 2019-2020 application cycle; it was sent 2 weeks after the Match results were released. We collected information on applicant demographics, interview logistics, and estimated costs incurred applying to residency. A total of 26% (64/242) of subjects responded, representing all 8 the American Urological Association sections, international schools, and schools without urology programs. 62% were male, 75% were single, and 52% attended public medical school. Applicants paid for the interview trail using loans (67%), family donations (50%), previous or current income (36%), and scholarships (16%). Subjects completed a median of 2 visiting student rotations (IQR 2-3), applied to 80 programs (IQR 66-99), and attended 16 interviews (IQR 13-18.75). The median cost per applicant for the 2019-2020 Match was $9725 (IQR $6134-12,564). This estimate included expenditures on application fees, visiting student rotations, interview trail travel and lodging, research, interview attire, and professional photos. Subjects who attended public medical school were likely to spend $3546.31 (95% confidence interval: 5630.71-1461.916; P < .001) more than those attending private schools. Urology residency applicants spend almost $10,000 in pursuit of a residency position. These high costs not only contribute to student debt but also may deter applicants from entering the field of urology.

Reasons and Motivations for Procrastinating Academic Activities in First-Year Medical Students

The purpose of this research was to investigate the extent to which procrastination occurs in first-year medical students and the reasons for this behavior. It was a cross-sectional study conducted with 388 medical students from a public university in Mexico City. The Procrastination Assessment Scale-Students (PASS) was used. A descriptive analysis of procrastination behaviors and the reasons for their manifestation was carried out using frequencies and percentages. On the other hand, a comparative analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test for sex, age, and school of origin. In addition, Kruskal-Wallis and Bonferroni tests were performed for high school grade point average, mother's education, and the people with whom the students lived when applying the instrument. About 30% of the students reported postponing homework or studying, while 27% or less postpone other activities (e.g., tutoring or academic paperwork). As for the reasons why students delay their chores, the ones that stand out are: poor time management, feeling overwhelmed, laziness, frustration (because they think the task takes too much time), anxiety about the evaluation, perfectionism, and difficulty in making decisions when performing the task. As a result of the comparative analysis, it was found that younger people tend to procrastinate less than older people (Z= -2.42; p= .016) when postponing their homework. Males tend to do it more than females as a way of experiencing excitement when rebelling against control (Z= -2.76; p= .006) and taking risks (Z= -2.32; p= .020). However, female students tend to procrastinate more than males when they felt overwhelmed by academic work and the lack of time to carry it out (Z= -2.47; p= .013). In addition, those who attended private schools during high school tend to procrastinate more than those who attended public academies when they have doubts and require assistance but find it difficult to ask the teacher or other people (Z= -2.33; p= .020). In conclusion, the results of this work will help to know the motivation for postponing academic activities and the influences associated with delaying these responsibilities, and therefore, to develop proposals on dealing with bad practices.

Does Socioeconomic Status Influence Achievement? An analysis of the Performance of Kosovar Students on the 2015 and 2018 PISA Assessment

Socioeconomic status has long been considered an influential factor in student achievement. Similar to existing literature, results of this analysis reveal that socioeconomic status influenced student achievement in the 2015 and 2018 PISA assessments. However, the achievement gap between categories widened between 2015 and 2018. Results reveal that home possessions, school location, parental education played a role in achievement. Furthermore, students who attended private schools outperformed students in public schools, a gap that widened considerably between assessments. Results of the current analysis reveal the importance of socioeconomic factors in achievement and, the need for policy builders to mitigate this impact.

School closure during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic – Impact on children's sleep

ObjectiveTo evaluate the sleep habits of school-going children before and during school closure in the national lockdown period (called ‘Circuit Breaker’ or CB in Singapore) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. MethodsCross-sectional, anonymous, online, population-based survey questionnaire was administered to parents aged 21 years and above with children aged between 3 and 16 years attending pre-school, primary or secondary school (equivalent to kindergarten, middle and-high school) and residing in Singapore. Sleep duration in relation to various daily activities including academic activities, physical exercise, and screen time was evaluated pre-CB and during CB. ResultsData from 593 participants were analyzed. Pre-CB, the overall mean (SD) sleep duration of the study population was 9.01 (1.18) hours on weekdays and 9.99 (0.94) hours on weekends. During CB, mean (SD) sleep duration overall was 9.63 (1.18) hours. Although children generally went to bed later (mean 0.65 h later), they woke up even later during CB (mean 1.27 h later), resulting in longer sleep duration (mean increase of 0.35 h). This was most evident in secondary school children (mean increase of 0.70 h). Children attending private schools (which had later start times) had increased sleep duration (mean 10.01 (SD 0.89) hours pre-CB and 10.05 (SD 0.93) hours during CB) compared to public schools (mean 9.05 (SD 0.91) pre-CB and 9.49 (SD 1.22) hours during CB). ConclusionsSchool closure from the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in longer sleep duration in school-going children. Early school/academic activity start times had a significant impact on limiting children's sleep duration.

Determinants of Private School Choice in India: All about the Family Backgrounds?

ABSTRACT This article examines the determinants of private school choice for elementary school students in India with emphasis on school characteristics. We also analyze the gender differences in the demand for private schools among the households, a relatively less explored issue in the school choice literature in India. We find that private schools are preferred by families when they have high teacher attendance, employ local teachers, and have better parental participation in parent-teacher associations/meetings. Our results suggest that better/quality education and English as the medium of instruction are major factors in influencing parents to choose private schools. While female students are less likely to attend private schools, the gender gap narrows as family economic status and the mother’s education improve.

\u201cStudents in public and private schools\u2014which are at higher risk of drug use?\u201d: a survey from Iran

BackgroundRecent evidence from Western countries suggests that private school students are more prone to drug use. Such an evidence is lacking in Muslim countries. The aim of this study was to examine whether the risk of drug use is higher in private schools than public schools.MethodsThis cross sectional study was conducted on 650 tenth grade students of Kerman city, the center of largest province of Iran using cluster sampling. Well-validated questionnaires regarding current, lifetime substance use, and perceived use by classmates were utilized. Substances included in the questionnaire were waterpipe, cigarette, alcohol, marijuana, opium, methamphetamine, and Naas. Drug Use Tendency Scale was used to measure the attitudes of students towards drug use.ResultsThe response rate was 93.7%. More than 82% of sample were public school students (n = 504). Current use of cigarette and marijuana was higher in private schools (12.2 and 3.0%, respectively) than public schools (4.4 and 0.5%, respectively) (P < 0.05). Perceived prevalence of cigarette smoking by classmates was higher among private school students.ConclusionDespite the popular belief that private schools are better than public schools regarding the risk of substance use, students who attend private schools may be at a higher risk of turning to some drugs comparing to public schools in Iran.

The effect of primary years program (PYP) on children’s science process skills (SPS) in early childhood education

The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of the Primary Years Program (PYP) on the science process skills (SPSs) of children in early childhood education. The study design was quasi-experimental and focused on children attending private schools in Istanbul. In this study, the Science Process Scale developed by Ozkan (2015) was used. Herein, approval for this study was granted by the Ministry of National Education, and consent was given by parents, to determine differences between their preschoolers who were attending an International Baccalaureate (IB) and Ministry of National Education school. Before implementing the PYP, a pretest was applied to the children in the experimental and control groups. After that, the children in the experimental group attended the PYP for 12 weeks. Conversely, the children in the control group attended the program of the Ministry of National Education. Following this 12-week period, the children were given a posttest. When the pretest results were compared after completing the IB program, there were no significant differences between the experimental and control groups. After the 12 weeks, a significant difference was found between the two groups with regards to their SPSs. When analyzed according to the factors, there seemed to be no differences between the two groups. However, at the end of the research, an interesting difference was found between the post and follow-up test results in the experimental group.&#x0D; &#x0D; Key Words: International Baccalaureate, Primary Years Program, Science Process Skills, Preschool Education.

The social status associated with dental experience among Brazilian children.

Dentists should be alert not only to clinical variables, but also to socioeconomic, psychological and cultural factors, which have all been associated with the experience of dental caries. The aim of this study of was to assess social status and dental experience among Brazilian children. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 1367 male and female children aged six and seven years enrolled at public and private schools in the city of Recife (Brazil) in 2013. The children at tending public schools were socioeconomically less privileged than those attending private schools. Data were collected through interviews and intraoral examinations. Caries experience was high (53.3%) in the overall sample, but less privileged children had larger percentages of decayed teeth and teeth that required extraction (p < 0.001). Children from less privileged social class had a greater chance of having a low (OR = 1.77 [95%CI 1.33 - 2.35]), moderate (OR = 4.41 [95%CI: 3.18 - 6,14]) and high (OR = 9.55 [95%CI 6.01 - 15.16]) caries experience. They also had a greater chance of never visiting a dentist (OR= 2.90 [95% CI 2.25 - 3.74]) and had dental anxiety (OR = 1.70 [95%CI 1.34-2, 16]). Socioeconomic status influences the dental caries experience, the visits to the dentist and the dental anxiety of the children analyzed.

Overweight status and dietary habit of children attending private schools in Ado-odo Ota, south western Nigeria

Globally, childhood overweight/obesity has persistently increased over decades and associated with non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. However, data on the trend of overweight/obesity among Nigerian children is limited because surveys have focused more on under-nutrition problems. This study aimed at determining the prevalence of overweight/obesity and dietary habits of children attending privately owned schools. A multi-stage random sampling was employed to select 478 pupils (8-11 years). Information on socio-demographic characteristics, dietary habit and physical activities were collected via interviewer administered questionnaire. Weight and height measurements were taken to determine overweight and obesity status using BMI-forage (5-19 years) growth chart. Dietary recall was used to determine daily energy/nutrient intake. The five selected schools were categorized into types 1-4 based on school fees. On analysis, prevalence rates of 14.7% (overweight), 4.7% (obesity) and 4.3% (thinness) were observed. The mean weight of pupils from school type 1(29.4 ± 5.4kg) was statistically different from the mean weights of schools, type 3 (34.0 ± 8.6) and type 4(36.2 ± 8.6kg) at p<0.001. Significant difference existed in the overweight status of the school children across school types (p=0.002) with school type 4 having the highest prevalence (29.4%). Children who attend the high fee-paying schools were 1.8 times more likely to become overweight/obesity than children who attend the moderate fee schools (OR 1.83; 95% CI (1.08-3.08), p=0.015). The average daily intake of energy of pupils of school type 4 (2074±310 kcal) and type 1(1807.96±373kcal) differed significantly (p=0.01). Dietary assessment revealed high consumption of fatty foods and inadequate intake of vegetable, fruits and milk. More children (40%) watched television/film followed by 27% who engaged in computer games during their leisure period. Among school children who attend private schools, greater proportions are overweight and obese. Higher prevalence of overweight and unhealthy eating habits were found among school children of type 4 (highest fee) compared to other types. Appropriate nutritional strategies targeting children from wealthy homes should be developed. Key words: Overweight, dietary assessment, nutritional status, children, anthropometric assessment, private school

Sociodemographic profile of psychoactive substance use among selected secondary school students in rural Nigeria.

Use of Psychoactive substances by young people poses an important public health threat despite mass campaigns and education. There have been documentations of rise in prevalence and use of psychoactive substances by Nigerian adolescents in urban areas of Nigeria. Few reports exist on in-school adolescents in rural areas, and differences in their sociodemographic profile such as public/private school attendance, day/boarding status and socioeconomic status of students. The study determined the rate and sociodemographic profile of psychoactive substance use among secondary school students in selected rural communities in Anambra state, Nigeria. This was a cross-sectional study in which multistage sampling was used to select 494 students from selected secondary schools in Anambra state. Data on age, gender, socioeconomic status, student status, school category, alcohol, tobacco and intravenous drug use were obtained using pretested semi-structured questionnaires. Analysis of data was done using IBM SPSS statistics software version 20.0, frequency, percentages and means were calculated, with cross-tabulation done for variables (Chi-square and Fishers exact test where applicable). Level of significance for tests of association set at 5%. A total of 494 participants were studied of which 48.8% (n=241) were males. The mean age was 14.5±1.8 years. The prevalence of lifetime use of psychoactive substance was 22.5%. Prevalence for individual substances were 21.9% (n=108), 1.8% (n=9) and 0.8% (n=4) respectively for alcohol, tobacco and illicit intravenous drugs. Neither gender {6 males (2.5%), 3 females (1.2%), p=0.890}, age {10-13 years (1.3%), 14-16 years (2.1%), >16 years (1.7%), p=0.329}, student status {day (2.6%), boarding (1.2%), p=0.320}, social class {upper (0.9%), middle (0.6%), lower (3.1%), p=0.208 } nor school category {private (1.5%), public (2.1%), p=0.742} of students was significantly associated with smoking and respectively. More males (73/241=30.3%, p<0.001) took alcohol than females (35/253=13.8%) and this was statistically significant. Participants from the lower socioeconomic class (30.3%, p<0.001) had a significantly higher rate of alcohol consumption than those from the upper (11.8%) and middle classes (16.7%) respectively. Higher rate was noted among those who attended public schools (30.8%, p<0.001) compared to those who attended private schools (13.8%). Day students (30.2%, p<0.001) indulged more inalcohol than boarding students (14.3%). There was noassociation between either the class (junior=22.5%,senior=21.3%,p=0.759) or age of participants (10-13years=20.7%, 14-16 years=20.1%, >16 years=33.3%, p=0.071) and alcohol consumption. No association was found between age (0.7%, 1.1%, p=1.000), gender (male=1.2%, female=0.4%, p=0.362), social class (lower=1.3%, upper=0.9%, p=0.443), student status (day=0.9%, boarding=0.8%, p=1.000), school category (junior=0.8%, senior=0.8%, p=1.000) and intravenous drug use. The rate of about 22% alcohol use by secondary school students in rural south eastern Nigeria, which is strongly associated with male gender, low socioeconomic status, day student status and public school attendance is high.

Education and psychological distress in adolescence and mid‐life: Do private schools make a difference?

This article extends the evidence base on childhood circumstances, education and psychological distress. We examine the link between childhood advantage and disadvantage, the type of school attended during adolescence and psychological distress at ages 16 and 42. The analysis uses a large, population‐based birth cohort study, the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) (n = 17,198) using a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach. More advantaged young people were more likely to attend private schools, but we find no evidence for an effect of private schooling on psychological distress for men, and for women there was an association between private schooling and raised psychological distress at age 16. Having a university degree was associated with a modest reduction in psychological distress in mid‐life. We establish that maternal psychological distress at age 10 was a risk factor for the offspring’s psychological distress both in adolescence and in mid‐life, and adolescent psychological distress predicts psychological distress in mid‐life. We conclude that schools which are academically successful do not necessarily provide wider benefits in terms of mental health.

A study of equality of educational opportunity in Nepal using logistic regression analysis

PurposeWhile privatisation in education is expanding, the number of children transferring from public to private schools seeking high-quality education has increased. This study examined equality of educational opportunity, focussing on the attributes of individual children and their familial backgrounds. The target country is Nepal, which has been facing an educational disparity problem between public and private schools.Design/methodology/approachThis study performed a logistic regression analysis with the objective variable as the binary capability to attend a private school and analysed the differences between children who attended public versus private schools. Semi-structured interviews with subjects and teachers and home-visit surveys were conducted to collect and confirm data.FindingsThis study revealed that particular children were excluded from seeking high-quality education in form of attending private schools. These children's characteristics correspond to lower economic status, illiterate mothers, being only children and female. Moreover, the study observed changes in awareness due to the modernisation and globalisation of Nepali society and growing enthusiasm for education, amongst others.Originality/valueResearch on privatisation and access to quality education, which has attracted scholarly attention in recent years, requires a broader scope regarding target countries and more in-depth analyses. This study focussed on Nepal since, in the country, the phenomenon of children leaving public for private schools is prominent and little research has been conducted on this context. Additionally, since the study gathered extensive data on individual children and did not rely on secondary data, it was possible to perform an in-depth analysis and accurately portray the real situation faced by Nepali children.

Oral hygiene practices and their influence on the oral health of adolescents

Background: Oral diseases are major public health problems due to their high prevalence and significant social impact. Oral hygiene practices play a critical role in their prevention and control. This study was carried out to evaluate oral hygiene practices and oral status among adolescents in Mangalore taluk, taking into account differences based on location and type of school.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 1340 students enrolled in public and private high schools in urban and rural areas of Mangalore taluk. The study sample was equally distributed among urban and rural areas, and among public and private schools. Proforma was prepared to record demographic data, oral hygiene practices, dental caries and periodontal disease. Data were analyzed using Chi-squared test and t-test, with p&lt;0.05 considered statistically significant.Results: Majority of the students used toothbrush and toothpaste to clean their teeth. Horizontal tooth brushing motion and once/twice daily tooth brushing frequency was reported by the highest number of students. Good oral hygiene was found among 55.2% participants. Female participants, urban children and those attending private schools presented with better oral hygiene. Prevalence of dental caries was 59.2%. Prevalence of gingivitis was 83.2%, with higher prevalence among females and rural participants. Poor oral hygiene was found to be associated with gingivitis (r=0.59).Conclusions: Although majority of the participants reported use of requisite oral hygiene aids and regular tooth brushing habits, the high prevalence of oral disease among them can be attributed to poor oral hygiene.