Equity in School Water and Sanitation

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EQUITY IN SCHOOL WATER AND SANITATIONWhile India has made substantial progress since1990 as far as the provision of improved water isconcerned, continuing poor sanitation/hygieneconditions result in its being ranked alongsideSudan and Comoros (UNDP, 2008). It is estimatedthat inadequate sanitation, poor hygiene practicesand unsafe water disposal have led to arsenic andfluoride poisoning and contamination of drinkingwater sources, making them unfit for drinking.Water-borne diseases like meningitis, skininfections such as scabies, eye infections,gastrointestinal infections (diarrhoea anddysentery) and malaria (also related to thepresence of stagnant water) contribute to 40 percent of deaths in children under five. India’s ruralInfant Mortality Rate (IMR) was 62 deaths per1,000 live births (2006) (GoI, 2007). Poor sanitationand hygiene practices are also responsible for thespread of polio and tuberculosis.Among the practices that contribute to this situationis the prevalence of open defecation. This not onlypollutes the environment but also contaminateshand pumps and shallow wells, which are amongthe most popular sources of drinking water in ruralIndia. Over the years, several programmes havebeen implemented by the government to promotethe use of toilets and also to secure the areaaround drinking water sources. For example, UPhas received WATSAN hardware and software inthe villages and in schools. As a result, thehardware situation in UP is seemingly better thanthe all-India average. In 2007, 97.72 per cent ofthe schools in the state had secure drinking watersources (this figure was 84.89 per cent for Indiaas a whole). Similarly, 87.94 per cent of the schoolsin UP had common toilets, and 78.20 per cent hadgirls’ toilets – the respective percentages for Indiaas a whole were only 58.13 and 42.58 respectively(see Table C in Annex 2).TSC was launched in UP in 2002. It is noteworthythat while in 2001 only 19.3 per cent of thehouseholds had been covered, this number hadgone up to 28 per cent by October 2005. Yet,according to the Government of India, 5.9 millionhouseholds below the poverty line (BPL), and 11.2million families above the poverty line (APL), stilldo not have access to toilets. The SchoolSanitation and Hygiene Education (SSHE)programme has endeavoured to promote goodhygiene and sanitation practices in schools, andthis is evident from the dramatic improvement inhardware facilities in UP as compared with the restof India.It is now widely acknowledged that the existenceof toilets and the physical presence of hardwaredoes not necessarily change practices on theground. The availability of water, maintenance,cleaning and safety issues together determinewhether the toilets are actually used. According toa recent UNICEF and Government of UP report,only 50 per cent of those who have toilet facilitiesactually use them (UNICEF and Government ofUP, 2008).For thousands of years, certain castes/socialgroups who were engaged in tasks such ashandling human excreta, disposal of dead animals,extracting hide/leather from dead animals andrelated occupations were relegated to the bottomof the social hierarchy. Mahatma Gandhi, the iconicleader of modern India, identified this practice asthe most oppressive barrier to social equality. In1951, all forms of untouchability were abolished,and its practice was made a cognizable offence.The practice of handling human excreta by handor carrying night soil on the head was made illegal,and during the mid-1980s a nation-wide movementwas launched against manual scavenging(Macwan, 2001). Notwithstanding these importantinitiatives, issues surrounding disposal of humanexcreta and cleaning and maintenance of toiletsremain contentious . The silver lining that is visiblein UP today is that communities that have beendiscriminated against are now fighting back, andthe Dalit movement is gaining strength. 5 AcrossUP, local leaders, especially the young, are urgingpeople to stop defecating in the open, and adoptinghygienic sanitation practices, not only for healthreasons but also to assert the dignity and selfrespectof individuals and communities. Thischanging context in UP certainly provides a beaconof hope in the state’s progress towards anequitable society.Equally, the mere availability of a hand pump in avillage does not automatically imply that it will bein working condition, or that its water is ‘safe’ (i.e.5The present Chief Minister of UP is a Dalit.4
Overcoming Exclusion and Discrimination in South AsiaIndia Country Reportfree of contamination), or that all families in itscommand area have equal access to it. Often, thepumps are located in the heart of the village, whichcould be out of bounds for some caste groups livingon the periphery. 6 Another important practice isthat animal excreta (cow dung, etc.) as well asvillage garbage are also disposed of on theperiphery of the village. Therefore, even ifhabitations that are on the periphery have adedicated hand pump, the chances are that itswater will be more contaminated than the water inthe hand pumps in more centrally locatedhabitations. The complex dynamics of location andwaste disposal practices add another dimensionto access to safe drinking water.2.2 Education OverviewIndia has made significant progress in the area ofprimary education. The number of primary schoolsin the country increased almost four-fold, from209,671 (1950/51) to 767,520 (2004/05) andenrolment in the primary cycle went up six times,from 19.2 million in 1950 to 130.8 million in 2005.At the upper primary stage, the increase inenrolment is by a factor of 13 for all children; and32 for girl children! The gross enrolment ratio atthe primary stages often exceeds 100 per cent (thisphenomenon is fairly common in India becausechildren below and above the 6–14 years agegroup enrol in primary classes), though the netenrolment ratio is about 20 per cent lower (GoI,2007).At one level, the problem of access seems to havebeen significantly addressed with over 90 per centof children in the 6–11 years age group reportedlyenrolled in primary schools (formal, EGS/alternative schools and private schools).Nevertheless, close to 40 per cent of childrenentering the primary level drop out, and the numberof children enrolled in upper primary drops sharply,coming down very drastically at the secondarylevel. At any given point of time – depending onthe state and the location – as many as 50 percent of the enrolled children do not attend school,are either regularly absent, or do not attend schoolfor long periods. For example, the ASER 2005report says that 51 per cent of enrolled childrenwere not in school on the day of the survey,prompting educationists to question the relevanceof enrolment data. This data is particularly troublingbecause an overwhelming proportion of childrenfrom disadvantaged groups, especially those whoare at risk of dropping out, attend only governmentschools. And the ‘disadvantaged’ comprisechildren from social groups and communities thathave historically been discriminated against – SC(erstwhile untouchable) and ST (indigenous)communities, or minority religious groups. Thesituation of Muslim minorities has been identifiedas being particularly difficult and in 2005 theGovernment of India appointed a special task force(GoI, 2006) to explore and report on the situationon the ground. A disproportionately larger numberof children from such socially excluded groupsdrop out earlier, and in many regions do notparticipate as equals in the education process.In the last ten years a considerable body ofresearch has documented the situation of childrenwho are excluded or discriminated against: 7a. Children from very poor households, especiallyif they are SC, ST or Muslim minoritiesb. Children in migrant familiesc. Children engaged in paid and unpaid work (anoverwhelming proportion being SC or ST)d. Older girls who take on householdresponsibilitiese. Children in difficult circumstances, like childrenof sex workers, migrant labour, and childrenfrom families/communities that are engaged inoccupations that are considered uncleanf. Children with special needs – physical disability,mental disabilityg. Children from families suffering from a rangeof communicable diseases, especially thoseaffected by HIV and AIDS.This picture is illustrated in the enrolment and dropoutrates among SC and ST communities. In 2002/03, there were 21.67 million SC children (44.9 percent of whom were girls) and 11.83 million STchildren (45.7 per cent girls) in primary schools.6Typically, rural settlements in many parts of India are segregated by caste, community or religion. SC (Dalit), tribal and othersocial groups that are among the most disadvantaged economically are also the ones who often reside on the periphery of thevillage.7For a detailed bibliography see Ramachandran (2004) and Sharma and Ramachandran (2008).5
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