Socio-demographic characteristics of Ibadan preschool teachers: policy implication for improved child oral health education

Abstract

Background: Teachers/Caregivers in preschool centers are well recognized for their role in the care and education of growing children. The socio-demographic and other work-related characteristics of these caregiver staffs have been shown in many literatures to exert influence on the quality of educational delivery and care they provide in the care centers. Such information which is useful to advise policy directions in other systems is however scarce in our local environment. This study was therefore set out to assess the sociodemographic and work-related variables of preschool caregivers in Ibadan. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey using mixed methods was used. Sell-administered questionnaire was used to obtain information from 362 teachers and 44 headmistresses (key-informants) also volunteered information. Three-stage sampling technique was used to enroll participants into the study. Interview questions included sociodemographic characteristics and other work related profile of the caregiver staffs. Qualitative data were analyzed manually while the quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS version 22. Result: Caregivers' male: female ratio was 1: 9 and were aged between 18 and 60 years with a mean age of 35.2 ±8.9 years. About 56.0% were of the entry level career stage and most (68.0%) were married. The majority (96.7%) of the respondents had at least, a secondary school education, 36.0% of which had Early Child Care Education (ECCE) training. Caregiver: pupil ratio was 1: 10. Mean daily work hours was 8.2±1.2 hours/day and a total of 41 hours/ week. Monthly salary ranged between 15 and 35 thousand naira ($42 - $97) and increased with better education, job experience and specialized ECCE training (p<0.001). Twenty-one (47.7%) informants admitted to observing a regular health promotion Programme in their facilities out of which 14(66.7%) of them claimed that the programmes had no oral health content.