PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ AWARENESS OF MENTAL HEALTH OF PUPILS IN ILORIN WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KWARA STATE

Abstract

When it comes to one's life chances, poor mental health during childhood has been shown to be strongly associated with poor mental health in adulthood. Teachers in Kwara State's Ilorin West Local Government Area were quizzed about their knowledge of students' mental health as part of the study. The research method used in this study is a descriptive survey. The total number of participants in this study was 3,866. 200 people were randomly selected as part of an error in sampling. Teacher awareness of Pupil mental health questionnaire (TAPMHQ), was used to collect data from the respondents. Teachers from the Department of Early Childhood and Primary Education at Kwara State University, Malete tested the instrument and found it to be reliable. For the instrument's 0.73 reliability co-efficient, Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the collection of the data. All hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance using descriptive statistics such as frequency count, mean, and percentage, as well as inferential statistics such as t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Primary school teachers, among others, were found to be aware of the mental health of their students (mean 1.93). It was determined that the level of training and years of experience of teachers influenced their awareness of students' mental health. In addition, seminars and workshops for elementary school teachers were suggested as a means of enhancing their training and experience.