Reinventing School Health Service Management in Nigeria: Literature Review, Best Practices for Digital Upgrade

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the problems associated with management of School Health Service (SHS) in Nigerian primary and secondary schools, and proffer solutions to them. Integrative literature review, in which texts were critiqued, analyzed and synthesized for gaps in knowledge, was used to establish the problems of SHS in Nigeria. The problems identified were: lack of awareness of SHS, lack of personnel, underfunding, poor facilities, poor inter sectoral networking, lack of critical leadership input, poor data management among others The solution proffered to the problems was digitalized management input in form of: engaging in internet based awareness campaign on SHS; utilizing social media to host School/Community collaboration on SHS; creating school health help/donation platform using digital technology; providing digital leadership in school management, creating digital data mining system and others. Based on the conclusion that a digitalized management input will solve the problems of SHS in Nigerian schools, it was suggested among other things that: the Ministry of Education should insist on digital literacy for teachers and school heads, redefine conditions for stakeholders' participation in SHS and review its policy. The Ministries of Education and Health should set up a joint monitoring team to supervise operations of SHS in Nigerian schools.