"Sanitation is more important than independence."
Mahatma Gandhi
A National Mission
Water, sanitation and hygiene education in schools provides safe drinking water, improves access to clean sanitation facilities and promotes lifelong health. Good hygiene practices in schools enhances the well-being of children and their families, and paves the way for new
generations of healthy children. Proper sanitation and drinking water facilities in schools signi cantly reduce hygiene-related disease; increase student attendance and learning achievements; and contributes to dignity, inclusion and equity. These attributes serve as a base for ongoing development and economic growth.
Swachh Bharat: Swachh Vidyalaya is the national campaign driving ‘Clean India: Clean Schools’. A key feature of the campaign is to ensure that every school in India has a set of functioning and well maintained water, sanitation and hygiene facilities. Water, sanitation and hygiene in schools refers to a combination of technical and human development components that are necessary to produce a healthy school environment and to develop or support
appropriate health and hygiene behaviours. The technical components include drinking water, handwashing, toilet and soap facilities in the school compound for use by children and teachers. The human development components are the activities that promote conditions within the school and the practices of children that help to prevent water, hygiene and sanitation related diseases.
School sanitation and hygiene depend on a process of capacity enhancement of teachers, community members, SMCs, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and Community Based Organisations (CBOs) and education administrators. Water, sanitation and hygiene in school aims to make a visible impact on the health and hygiene of children through improvement in their health and hygiene practices, and those of their families and the communities. It also aims to improve the curriculum and teaching methods while promoting hygiene practices and community ownership of water and sanitation facilities within schools. it improves children’s
health, school enrolment, attendance and retention and paves the way for new generation of healthy children.
It is the role of policymakers, government representatives, citizens and parents to make sure that every child attends a school that has access to safe drinking water, proper sanitation and hygiene facilities. This is every child’s right.
The benefits of water sanitation and hygiene to school children
• The provision of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in school secures a healthy school environment and protects children from illness and exclusion. It is a first step towards a healthy physical learning environment, benefiting both learning and health. Children who are healthy and well-nourished can fully participate in school and get the most from the education. Hygiene education in schools help promote those practices that would prevent water and sanitation related diseases as well as encourage healthy behaviour in future generations
of adults.
• Girls are particularly vulnerable to dropping out of school, partly because many are reluctant to continue their education when toilets and washing facilities are not private, not safe or simply not available. When schools have appropriate, gender-separated facilities, an obstacle to attendance is removed. Thus having gender segregated toilets in schools particularly matters for girls. Gender norms and physiology make privacy more important for girls than boys, and biological realities mean that girls need adequate sanitary facilities at school to manage menstruation. Basic facilities that provide for good hygiene and privacy, along with sensitive health promotion assist girls to stay in school and complete their education.
• Hygiene in school also supports school nutrition. The simple act of washing hands with soap before eating the school mid day meal assists to break disease transmission routes. Children get the nutritional benefits intended, rather than ingesting bacteria, germs and viruses. Studies show that when hand washing becomes part of a child’s daily routine the benefits to health are evident and the practice does not easily fade.
School is therefore an ideal setting for teaching good hygiene behaviours that children can also carry home.
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Schools
• Having safe water, toilet and hygiene facilities in schools promotes equity. All children are equal in their right to access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, and all children gain benefits through the improved hygiene practices promoted in schools. By providing gender-segregated toilets, students are assured of privacy and dignity, a particularly important factor for girls’ school attendance. By providing inclusive and accessible facilities, children with special needs are able to attend school and further contribute to the development of their society.
• Having a clean school fosters a child’s pride in his or her school and community. It enables every child become an agent of change for improving water, sanitation and hygiene practices in their families and within their community. School water and sanitation clubs encourage students to participate in taking care of latrines and hand washing stations, and in providing safe water where necessary. Club members create rotating lists of responsibilities, sharing sanitation- and water-related chores among both boys and girls. This also fosters pride and ownership, and it counteracts the belief that these tasks are only for women and girls or
particular social groups.
• Children with disabilities are also vulnerable to dropping out of school. Accessible school facilities are a key to school attendance for children with disabilities. An effective water, sanitation and hygiene programmes seeks to remove barriers by promoting inclusive design – user-friendly, child-friendly facilities that benefit all users, including adolescent girls, small children and children who are sick or disabled. Toilets and handwashing facilities,for example, need to be customised to fit children’s smaller size, and water, sanitation and hygiene
facilities that are traditionally designed for the ‘average’ child must consider the fact that children have a wide range of abilities and needs. The most cost-effective way to improve access for all children is to incorporate accessibility into the design from the outset, rather than making expensive changes later. To make sure facilities are accessible, it is essential to involve children with disabilities in the design process. The cost of making inclusive facilities is minimal compared to the costs of exclusion.
A clean and healthy school creates a cycle of opportunities With gender-segregated toilets, inclusive and accessible facilities, students are assured of privacy and dignity and children with special needs can attend school.
Failing to curb the spread of disease threatens children's cognitive development and allows a recurrent cycle of missed school, poorer school performance and increased poverty Better water, sanitation and hygiene in schools provides healthy and secure school environments that can protect children from illness. A child's memory, executive function, language and problem solving skills as well as attention span respond positively when healthy Hand washing can reduce diarrhoea by more than 30 per cent and respiratory infections
incidence by 16 per cent Water, sanitation and hygiene is an investment in school children and the health of future generations. It helps children realise their full potential and prepares them for a healthy adult life, which can contribute to the growth of the nation Improved
hygiene Improved health & less disease Improved attendance & decreased drop-out rate and Better student performance Economic growth
Source:MHRD
Mahatma Gandhi
Swachh Bharat Swachh Vidyalaya
Water, sanitation and hygiene education in schools provides safe drinking water, improves access to clean sanitation facilities and promotes lifelong health. Good hygiene practices in schools enhances the well-being of children and their families, and paves the way for new
generations of healthy children. Proper sanitation and drinking water facilities in schools signi cantly reduce hygiene-related disease; increase student attendance and learning achievements; and contributes to dignity, inclusion and equity. These attributes serve as a base for ongoing development and economic growth.
Swachh Bharat: Swachh Vidyalaya is the national campaign driving ‘Clean India: Clean Schools’. A key feature of the campaign is to ensure that every school in India has a set of functioning and well maintained water, sanitation and hygiene facilities. Water, sanitation and hygiene in schools refers to a combination of technical and human development components that are necessary to produce a healthy school environment and to develop or support
appropriate health and hygiene behaviours. The technical components include drinking water, handwashing, toilet and soap facilities in the school compound for use by children and teachers. The human development components are the activities that promote conditions within the school and the practices of children that help to prevent water, hygiene and sanitation related diseases.
School sanitation and hygiene depend on a process of capacity enhancement of teachers, community members, SMCs, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and Community Based Organisations (CBOs) and education administrators. Water, sanitation and hygiene in school aims to make a visible impact on the health and hygiene of children through improvement in their health and hygiene practices, and those of their families and the communities. It also aims to improve the curriculum and teaching methods while promoting hygiene practices and community ownership of water and sanitation facilities within schools. it improves children’s
health, school enrolment, attendance and retention and paves the way for new generation of healthy children.
It is the role of policymakers, government representatives, citizens and parents to make sure that every child attends a school that has access to safe drinking water, proper sanitation and hygiene facilities. This is every child’s right.
The benefits of water sanitation and hygiene to school children
• The provision of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in school secures a healthy school environment and protects children from illness and exclusion. It is a first step towards a healthy physical learning environment, benefiting both learning and health. Children who are healthy and well-nourished can fully participate in school and get the most from the education. Hygiene education in schools help promote those practices that would prevent water and sanitation related diseases as well as encourage healthy behaviour in future generations
of adults.
• Girls are particularly vulnerable to dropping out of school, partly because many are reluctant to continue their education when toilets and washing facilities are not private, not safe or simply not available. When schools have appropriate, gender-separated facilities, an obstacle to attendance is removed. Thus having gender segregated toilets in schools particularly matters for girls. Gender norms and physiology make privacy more important for girls than boys, and biological realities mean that girls need adequate sanitary facilities at school to manage menstruation. Basic facilities that provide for good hygiene and privacy, along with sensitive health promotion assist girls to stay in school and complete their education.
• Hygiene in school also supports school nutrition. The simple act of washing hands with soap before eating the school mid day meal assists to break disease transmission routes. Children get the nutritional benefits intended, rather than ingesting bacteria, germs and viruses. Studies show that when hand washing becomes part of a child’s daily routine the benefits to health are evident and the practice does not easily fade.
School is therefore an ideal setting for teaching good hygiene behaviours that children can also carry home.
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Schools
• Having safe water, toilet and hygiene facilities in schools promotes equity. All children are equal in their right to access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, and all children gain benefits through the improved hygiene practices promoted in schools. By providing gender-segregated toilets, students are assured of privacy and dignity, a particularly important factor for girls’ school attendance. By providing inclusive and accessible facilities, children with special needs are able to attend school and further contribute to the development of their society.
• Having a clean school fosters a child’s pride in his or her school and community. It enables every child become an agent of change for improving water, sanitation and hygiene practices in their families and within their community. School water and sanitation clubs encourage students to participate in taking care of latrines and hand washing stations, and in providing safe water where necessary. Club members create rotating lists of responsibilities, sharing sanitation- and water-related chores among both boys and girls. This also fosters pride and ownership, and it counteracts the belief that these tasks are only for women and girls or
particular social groups.
• Children with disabilities are also vulnerable to dropping out of school. Accessible school facilities are a key to school attendance for children with disabilities. An effective water, sanitation and hygiene programmes seeks to remove barriers by promoting inclusive design – user-friendly, child-friendly facilities that benefit all users, including adolescent girls, small children and children who are sick or disabled. Toilets and handwashing facilities,for example, need to be customised to fit children’s smaller size, and water, sanitation and hygiene
facilities that are traditionally designed for the ‘average’ child must consider the fact that children have a wide range of abilities and needs. The most cost-effective way to improve access for all children is to incorporate accessibility into the design from the outset, rather than making expensive changes later. To make sure facilities are accessible, it is essential to involve children with disabilities in the design process. The cost of making inclusive facilities is minimal compared to the costs of exclusion.
A clean and healthy school creates a cycle of opportunities With gender-segregated toilets, inclusive and accessible facilities, students are assured of privacy and dignity and children with special needs can attend school.
Failing to curb the spread of disease threatens children's cognitive development and allows a recurrent cycle of missed school, poorer school performance and increased poverty Better water, sanitation and hygiene in schools provides healthy and secure school environments that can protect children from illness. A child's memory, executive function, language and problem solving skills as well as attention span respond positively when healthy Hand washing can reduce diarrhoea by more than 30 per cent and respiratory infections
incidence by 16 per cent Water, sanitation and hygiene is an investment in school children and the health of future generations. It helps children realise their full potential and prepares them for a healthy adult life, which can contribute to the growth of the nation Improved
hygiene Improved health & less disease Improved attendance & decreased drop-out rate and Better student performance Economic growth
Source:MHRD
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