Influence of Environmental Awareness and Attitude on Solid Waste Management Practices among Junior Secondary School Social Studies Students in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of students’ environmental awareness and attitude on solid waste management practices of Junior Secondary School Social Studies students in Oyo State, Nigeria. The researcher adopted a descriptive survey research design with the population, which comprised all students in junior secondary schools, Oyo state, with a total of one hundred and thirty thousand, one fifty-eight (130,158). Twenty-four (24) government schools from junior Secondary levels and 1189 students were purposively selected from the population. A structured researcher designed questionnaire tagged “Environmental Awareness and Attitude to Solid Waste Management Questionnaire” (EAASWMQ) was used to collect data. The instrument yielded an Alpha Cronbach reliability coefficient of 0.75.  This indicated that the instrument used for data collection was reliable. Two research questions were raised and answered with one hypothesis formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analysed data collected. The findings revealed a relatively high level of environmental awareness and positive attitude toward solid waste management practices among junior secondary school students. Furthermore, there existed a slightly significant difference in students’ level of environmental awareness based on gender. Based on these findings, the study recommended that environmental awareness must be sustained among Junior Secondary School Social Studies students. Also, infrastructural facilities should be adequately provided in schools. Community’s support and involvement in solid waste management should be encouraged.