Equity in School Water and Sanitation

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EQUITY IN SCHOOL WATER AND SANITATIONsufficiently, it is believed that the presence of toiletsand easy availability of safe drinking watercontribute towards creating a positive environmentfor learning. In this study we tried to explore theextent to which the presence/absence of waterand sanitation facilities influence regularattendance of students, especially of girls.Equally, food, water and sanitation are the threeimportant domains where inclusion/exclusionplays out. Hierarchies of caste/community aremanifested on the ground through social practicesrelated to eating, drinking and the use of commonfacilities. Traditionally, certain kinds of work,especially that concerning cleaning toilets, anddisposal of dead animals, has been done by themost disadvantaged in the social hierarchy,namely the Dalits (SC). Though social reformmovements have made a big difference in manyparts of the country, rural areas continue to lagbehind. Existing research shows that schools arenot free from such prejudices. Within the school,exclusion could also be subtle and not discerniblein routine classroom observations or during schoollevel interactions. Therefore, this study exploresinclusion and exclusion related issues in thesample schools through interaction with parents,children, and teachers.Main findings and learningsEnrolment: There is a gap between thenumber of students enrolled in school, theaverage attendance as reflected in schoolrecords and the students present on the dayof visit. At best 83 per cent of the enrolledstudents were present on the day of visit andthe worst case was of only 30.3 per centstudents being present. In Lalitpur theproportion of girls attending school is less thanthose enrolled, indicating greater absenteeismamong girls. While District Information System forEducation (DISE) data indicates that over90 per cent of the schools have separatetoilets for girls and boys, our study revealsthat only three of the 12 schools (25 percent) surveyed in Lalitpur and seven of the11 schools (80 per cent) surveyed inMirzapur had functioning toilets for boys; thecorresponding numbers for girls’ toilets arefour out of 12 (33 per cent) for Lalitpur andeight out of 11 (80 per cent) for Mirzapur.Similarly, while almost 50 per cent of thetoilets were noted as being not clean, verydirty or extremely dirty/unusable in Lalitpur,the situation in Mirzapur was significantlybetter. The difference between the twodistricts can be attributed to the work donethrough the TSC programme in Mirzapurand the absence of the TSC programme inLalitpur.Maintenance of facilities received specialattention in schools where the facilities werefound to be usable and clean. Children areassigned duties to clean, the garbage is clearedevery week, and the headteacher and villagepradhan take an active interest in ensuringcleanliness. Conversely, there was no systemfor maintenance in the schools where theheadteachers/pradhan did not take an activeinterest in the overall hygiene and cleanlinessof the schools. In villages where TSC resultedin widespread use of toilets at home, thispractice was also carried to the school. On theother hand, the facilities were dirty anddysfunctional in schools in a majority of thevillages where the sanitation programme wasnot effective.Design: Not much planning goes into thedesign, location and safety of toilets. In almostall the schools the toilets are small and thedoors open inwards, which means that the userhas to step on the pot to shut the door. If thetoilet is soiled, then it makes using it all themore difficult.Social inequality and exclusion: In theabsence of a total sanitation campaign and amovement for social and gender equality,schools mirror the inequalities present in thevillage leading to discernible exclusionpractices.Attitudes and prejudices of teachers: Theattitudes and beliefs of teachers reflected theirprejudices against poor children and againstspecific social groups accentuatingdiscrimination in schools. Equally, whereteachers have a positive and inclusive attitudeand a sense of ownership, the schoolenvironment is positive. Involvement of thepradhan and other important stakeholdersmakes a big difference in the school and in thecommunity. The situation in the village and thecommunity in which the school is embedded isxiv
Overcoming Exclusion and Discrimination in South AsiaCountry Report Bhutanvery important as is reflected in the contrastbetween schools in Mirzapur and Lalitpur.Under a dynamic leadership, a school couldemerge as a role model; however for this tohappen a conscious effort needs to be madeto use good practices as sites for training andadvocacy.Manifestation of exclusion: Exclusionmanifests itself in different forms, namelyexclusion/inclusion based on: social group and community (Dalits,Sahariya [ST] and OBC) economic status of students (not welldressed, dirty clothes, do not bathe) performance in the school (good in studies/not good in studies; regular/irregular) visible disabilities, infectious diseases (e.g.scabies, bad cough) gender (differential duties assigned to boysand girls).Children, duties and exclusion: Significant differences were observedbetween the two districts regarding themanner in which inclusion and exclusionplayed out in the nature of duties assignedto children. Some better-off or powerful parentsintercede on behalf of their children toensure that they are not given certain duties.Children from very poor families are thusgiven the worst duties. All children participate in pouring (actuallythrowing) water from a distance, sweepingand dusting the classrooms, picking up thelitter (like paper and other articles on theground) and fetching water. This is donewithout touching a broom. Parents do notlike their children cleaning toilets and theywould like the village sweeper to do this. Soif the pradhan is proactive and concernedabout the school, a sweeper becomesavailable, otherwise cleaning the schoolcampus and toilets remains a problem thatis mostly shouldered by the children. Thechildren also clean toilets used by theteachers and when the school toilets areused by the community (when the schoolcomplex is rented out for marriages andfestivals). Government primary and upper primaryschools do not have any funds to hire aperson to clean the premises and theydepend on the village Panchayat and thepradhan to arrange payments for this.Responsibilities of children: The children, especially in primary schools,were found shouldering the majorresponsibility of cleaning and maintainingtoilets. Children are assigned duties by the teacher/headteacher and they do not have a say. Children’s forums that exist are notempowered and children do not have a sayin what they do.Good practices and silver linings: All children were observed washing theirhands before the midday meal. However,not all schools had soap. Dalit leaders are today vocal and resistovert/obvious forms of discrimination orexclusion in school. Given the overallpolitical and administrative climate in UttarPradesh, blatant exclusion or discriminationis not discernible, but subtle forms continuein the schools against very poor children. Adolescent and young boys were found tovalue friendship, mingling with everyone inschool and at play. In villages where socialinequalities and prejudices continue to bepresent, the children said that they do nottell their parents/grandparents that they eat,play and sit with children from other castesand communities. However, the girls did notmake such an unequivocal statement; theywere found mixing with each other, but didnot talk about it. Girls are determined to study and they allsaid that absence of toilets will not deter ordiscourage them. However, their school lifewould be better if they had access to a cleanand safe toilet.Subtle and not-so-subtle forms ofexclusion: Cooking and serving of the midday meals:The situation in the sample schools wasmixed. There were schools where cookingwas done in the open and children were fedin a non-discriminatory manner and therewere schools where children from theforward castes and economically well-offfamilies did not eat the school meal. Gendersegregated seating was observed in mostschools. Where teachers practised caste barriersxv
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