KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS STUDENTS TOWARDS THEIR PUBERTY STAGE IN MKPAT ENIN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

This study investigated knowledge and attitude of secondary schools students towards their puberty stage in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area. Four research questions and two research hypotheses guided the study. This study adopted survey research design. The population of the study consisted of 1645 JS3 Basic Science and Technology students. Simple random sampling technique was used for the study. The sample consisted of 146 Basic Science and Technology students drawn from four schools in their intact classes in the study area. The instruments for the study were “Questionnaire on Knowledge of Puberty (QKP) and Questionnaire on Attitude towards Puberty (QAP)”. The instruments were validated by three lecturers in the Department of Science Education, Faculty of Education. The reliability indices obtained for QKP and QAP were 0.76 and 0.81 respectively using Cronbach Alpha. The data collected were analyzed using frequency count, mean, standard deviation and independent t-test. The results showed that students' knowledge of puberty is generally high. The results also showed that students generally have a moderate positive attitude towards puberty. The results further showed that there is no significant difference between male and female Basic Science and Technology students' knowledge of puberty. The results showed that there is no significant difference between male and female Basic Science and Technology students’ attitudes towards puberty. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that Basic Science and Technology students have a good awareness of puberty and its associated changes. It was therefore recommended among others that, government and educational policymakers should incorporate detailed puberty education into the Basic Science and Health Education curriculum to ensure students receive accurate and age-appropriate information.