Assessment of Preschool Playgrounds in Ife Central Local Government Area of Osun State, Nigeria
Abstract
The study identified the playground facilities available in preschools in Ife Central Local
Government Area (LGA) of Osun State. It also assessed the adequacy in terms of quantity
and quality of available playground facilities in the LGA and examined the safety and
security of the playground facilities in the study area. These were with a view to providing
information on the status of playground facilities in preschools to enhance policy
formulation on pupils’ psycho-physical well-being in Ife Central Local Government Area
of Osun State. The study employed descriptive survey research design. The population
consisted of 149 registered nursery schools in Ife Central LGA of Osun State out of which
30 schools were selected using simple random sampling technique. An instrument titled
Playground Observation Checklist (POC) was designed and used for data collection. Data
collected were analysed using simple percentages and t-test statistics. Results showed
that the commonest playground facilities available in preschools in Ife Central LGA of
Osun State were swings (53.3%), slides (50%) and merry-go-round (40%) with a varying
mixture of other facilities. Results also showed that the quantity of playground facilities
in most schools was inadequate considering the facilities to pupil ratio (F: P) of one facility
to 19 pupils. However, 70% of the surveyed schools had facilities that were in very good
condition while 68%, 27% and 5% of the available playground facilities were of very good,
good and poor quality respectively. The results further showed that most of the
playground facilities were not safe and secure. Only 23% of the preschools had highly
safe and secure playground facilities; 47% of schools had fairly safe and secure
playground facilities, while 30% had playground facilities that were neither safe nor
secure. The study concluded that although the playground facilities in Ife Central Local
Government Area preschools were limited in variety and were inadequate in quantity,
most of the available ones were of good quality.
Keywords: Play Ground, Preschooler, Assessment, Ife Central, Osun State
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