Equity in School Water and Sanitation

Overcoming Exclusion and Discrimination in South AsiaIndia Country Report1Introduction1.1 BackgroundIn 2007, UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia(ROSA) commissioned a desk study to understandthe effect of water and sanitation on social exclusionin schools in South Asia (Ollieuz, 2008). This studywas based on secondary literature and anecdotalevidence. Concluding from the valuable insightsfrom this study, the researcher recommended thatUNICEF ROSA follow it up with another study togather empirical evidence to explore whether theinclusion and exclusion practices documented inthe desk study were widespread. It was agreedthat a qualitative research study would fill in thegaps in the earlier research.Accordingly, in late 2008, UNICEF ROSA identifiedresearch teams in four countries in South Asia(Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and India) ‘to producesufficient empirical evidence to raise awarenessboth at the government and practitioner level ofthe part that issues related to water and sanitationplay in children’s exclusion from and discriminationwithin education, and to suggest actions whichneed to be taken at the level of policy and practicewhich would help to redress the situation.’At the inception workshop for this study held inKathmandu in December 2008, the participantsconcluded that due to the constraints of time andlimited resources available for this phase of theproject, it would be too ambitious to aim to collect‘sufficient empirical evidence’, and hence UNICEFROSA agreed that these studies would be confinedto simply collecting ‘sufficient evidence’.ERU Consultants Private Limited (ERU), NewDelhi, was appointed as researchers for the studyin India.1.2 Purpose of the StudyThe purpose of the study is to produce sufficientevidence to raise awareness at both governmentand practitioner levels of the issues related to waterand sanitation that play a part in children’s exclusionfrom, and discrimination within, education, and tosuggest actions that need to be taken at the levelsof policy and practice which would help to redressthis situation.1.3 Study ObjectivesThe overall objectives of the study are:i. To examine the relationship between water andsanitation related issues and the ways in whichthey affect, for both practical and psychologicalreasons, both the inclusion and the opportunitiesof children who belong to groups that areperceived as being unclean, menstruating girlsand children affected by communicablediseases.ii. To identify and record instances of good andinclusive practice.iii. To explore the possibility of good practice inschools having a transformative role in alteringtraditional discriminatory practices within thecommunity.1.4 Research ProcessAt the inception workshop held in Kathmandu, thecountry teams agreed on a common methodologyfor the qualitative study. It was also agreed that thestudies would focus on a purposive sample ofschools so as to be able to understand if and howdiscrimination occurred, and to document somegood practices. The research was to be sodesigned so as to tease out not only the behaviourbut also the attitudes of the key stakeholders.In accordance with the decision taken during theworkshop, the scope of the India study was limitedto one of India’s largest states, Uttar Pradesh (UP).This was because it was felt that though India is a1