Equity in School Water and Sanitation

EQUITY IN SCHOOL WATER AND SANITATIONis how the behaviours which they feel free to exhibitin school might be extended outside of school.6.2 RecommendationsThe overall purpose of this study was to:raise awareness both atGovernment and practitioner levelsof the part that issues related towater and sanitation play inchildren’s exclusion from anddiscrimination within education,and to suggest actions which needto be taken at the level of policyand practice which would help toredress this situation.The findings fall into three main areas:That there need to be sufficient, wellmaintainedfacilities to ensure equity for allstudentsThat there are particular issues of inclusion andnon-discrimination which need to be addressedThat there need to be procedures in place tofacilitate the transfer of good practice learnt inschools to the community.All three of these issues need to be addressed:At the level of national policyBy those involved in implementationAt school level.This study is a regional one and recognizes thatindividual countries differ, hence the specific waysin which they will seek to find ways of improvingtheir practice in regard to these issues will alsodiffer. What follows below is a series of questionswhich need to be addressed by policy makers, bythose involved in implementation (managers,supervisors and trainers), and by those workingat the level of schools. These questions aregrouped under the three headings of facilities, nondiscriminationand transfer of good practice fromschool to community. Each set of questions isfollowed by suggested requirements foraddressing the questions.6.2.1 Sufficiency and maintenance offacilitiesCountry reports showed enormous variation inboth sufficiency and maintenance of facilities. Inone instance in Nepal there appeared to be acontradiction between the community, which heldtraditional beliefs that toilets should not be withinor near living spaces, and the actual siting of toilets.In many instances there appeared to be confusionas to who was responsible for maintenance offacilities. Many of the good practice schools werein areas which had benefited from specific Waterand Sanitation in Schools projects. While severalof these were excellent there is always a concernas to how sustainable this practice will be afterthe project comes to an end and also whether thegood practice in the project could be replicated inother schools.Similar variation occurred in terms of thecleanliness of facilities. While some school toiletswere found to be impressively clean, many otherswere described as ‘filthy’ and ‘unusable’. Much ofthe cleaning was carried out by children. Whilethere were instances of discrimination andexploitation, all countries also had innovativeexamples of ensuring that children felt a sense ofresponsibility and pride in keeping facilities clean,for example Child Clubs in Nepal and competitionsbeing arranged between children in Bhutan.Schools which exhibited good practice showedteachers playing an active role in supportingchildren in carrying out cleaning duties.Questions which need to be addressedFor policy makers:What policies are there on standards and‘sufficiency’ in relation to water and sanitationfacilities in schools?Which documents contain reference to the factthat sufficient water and sanitation facilities inschools are an essential part of an inclusiveschool?Which government department has explicitresponsibility for this area?How is coordination between those involvedwith water and sanitation and those involved ineducation organized?40