School Sanitation and Hygiene Education (SSHE)
- Introduction
- About SSHE
- Goals
- Objectives
- Benefits
- Strategies
- Key Components
- Status of water and sanitation facilities in
the schools
- Issues related to water and sanitation in
Schools in Bihar
- Minimum package on SSHE
- Key Achievements
- Lessons Learned
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Introduction
The demand creation and provision of safe water and sanitation
facilities is a first step towards a healthy physical learning
environment. However, mere provision of the facilities doesn’t
make them sustainable or produces the desired impact either. It
is the use of the facilities that facilitates healthy living
environment. In school, hygiene education aims to promote
practices that will help to prevent water and sanitation related
diseases. It will lead to healthy behavior in the future
generation of adults.
Children are most vulnerable to environmental health hazards and
are subsequently also the worst affected. Schools will partly
determine children's health and well being by providing a
healthy or unhealthy environment and by developing useful life
skills on health and hygiene. Although water and sanitation
facilities are being recognized as fundamental for hygiene
behavior and children's well being, in practice, many schools
are confronted with extremely bad sanitary conditions.
Conditions vary from inappropriate and inadequate sanitary
facilities to the outright lack of toilets and safe water for
drinking and sustainable hygiene practices. This even
contributes to absenteeism and the dropout rates of girls.
Schools can be a key factor for initiating change. Children are
often eager to learn and willing to absorb new ideas. New
hygiene behavior learned at school can lead to life-long
positive habits. Teachers can function as role models, not only
for the children but also within the community. School children
can influence the behaviors of family members - both adults and
younger siblings - and thereby positively influence the
community as a whole.
The focus of the programme are Primary School Children because
they are eager to learn at the early stages of life, they have
important roles in household chores, they can become agent of
change and they are ready for initiatives guided in the schools
by the school teachers and their peer groups.
A focus on school sanitation stems from the fact that children
have a right to basic facilities such as school toilets, safe
drinking water, clean surroundings, friendly environment and
knowledge and information on hygiene. If these conditions are
created, children come to school, enjoys learning, learn better
and take back to their families, especially siblings, concepts
and practices on sanitation and hygiene. In this way investment
in education is more productive. Such conditions have an even
greater positive outcome for girls who often stay away from all
dropout of school which do not have toilet facilities.
Sanitation is a way of life. It is quality of life that is
expressed in clean home, the clean neighborhood and clean
community.
Sanitation is a way of life. It is quality of life that is
expressed in clean home, the clean neighborhood and clean
community.
The major objectives of the project are to develop awareness of
the school children about health, hygiene and sanitation,
encourage school children to examine their environment
critically and to act in a manner which would make it more
hygiene and sanitary and to use schools as “education and
information centers” for safe water, sanitation, health and
hygiene which would link teacher to child, child to child, child
to parent and parent to community.
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About
SSHE
School sanitation and hygiene education is a comprehensive
programme through which children learn and practice key hygiene
behaviors, share it with their siblings and influence parents
and the community. School children can spread important health
messages and practices from school to home and are potential
agents of change within their homes and communities. If they
learn and practice good health knowledge and skills now and
develop caring attitudes now they are likely to carry these
forward to the next generation.
Why is it important to focus on schools? After the family,
schools are most important places of learning for children; they
have a central place in the community. Schools are a stimulating
learning environment for children and stimulate or initiate
change. If sanitary facilities in schools are available, they
can act as a model, and teachers can function as role models.
Children are more receptive to new ideas and can more easily
change their behavior. They have important roles in the
household, taking care of younger brothers and sisters.

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Goals
School Sanitation and Hygiene Education is a comprehensive
programme to ensure child friendly water supply, toilet and hand
washing facilities in the schools and promote behavioral change
through hygiene education. SSHE not only ensures child-right to
have healthy and clean environment but also leads to an
effective learning and enrollment, particularly girls and reduce
diseases and worm infestation. The goals of SSHE are:
- Better and healthy environment for children at schools
for learning, particularly for girls
- Increase in enrollment and retention, particularly of
girls
- Development of life skills among children
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Objectives
The main objectives of the School Health and Sanitation
Programme are:
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Generate hygiene awareness and demand among teachers and
children in schools.
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Create an environment, which will help to sustain the
attendance of girls in school.
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To introduce and promote behavior changes related to hygiene
and health among children.
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To promote optimum use of available resources for better
health and clean environment.
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To create an environment for attainment of child rights
(Survival, protection, development, participation)
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Reduce diseases and worm infestation among school children
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Environmental cleanliness in and around the schools
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Increase enrollment and retention, particularly of girl
students
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Promote quality and joyful learning
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Benefits
The main benefits of SSHE programme are:
- Effective learning: Children perform better if
surrounded by a hygienic and clean environment.
- Enrolment of girls: The lack of private sanitary
facilities for girls can discourage parents from sending
girls to school and contribute to the drop out of girls,
particularly at puberty.
- Reduced disease and worm infestation: If school
sanitation and hygiene facilities are absent, or are badly
maintained and used, schools become health hazards.
- Environmental cleanliness: Proper facilities will
prevent pollution of the environment and limit health
hazards for the community at large.
- Implementing children’s rights: Children have the right
to be as healthy. Good health and sanitation contribute to a
happy childhood.
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Strategies
- Children learn hygiene, practice and monitor
- Capacity building and institutional
strengthening
- Inter-sectoral convergence
- Community participation and ownership
- Provision of sustainable water and sanitation facilities
- Encourage innovation
- Effective Hygiene education (classroom hygiene education
by trained teachers
- Establishing children as agent of change - changing
themselves, family and the community.
- School as resource Center and setting a model for change
- Joyful learning methods – Child friendly
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Key
ComponentsHealthy physical
environment
- Keeping the compound and classrooms clean and free of
waste and faecal matter
- Availability of toilets that are designed for children
(boys and girls)
- Convenient hand washing facilities
- Safe drinking water
Active
and organized children:
- Clean and convenient use of facilities by all children
and teachers
- Consistent and organised cleaning and maintenance of
toilets, hand washing and drinking water facilities by all
children
- Roles for older children to help and monitor younger
children is using facilities and maintaining school
cleanliness.
Trained
and committed school teachers:
- Head teacher and key teachers have been trained /
oriented
- Learning in the classroom which is relevant and strives
to be child-centered
- Educators make and carry out a plan for organizing
children in use, monitoring and maintenance of facilities
and in personal hygiene.
Links
to home and community:
- Key health and hygiene information and behaviours flow
to the home
- Children and school are good examples and enter the
community for special activities related to health and
hygiene
- Families and community provides finance and other
support for maintenance and repair of school facilities.
Status
of water and sanitation facilities in the schools
In Bihar
4087 schools still do not have safe drinking water facilities.
Only about 44% of the schools have toilet facilities. When it
comes to separate toilet for girls the situation is even worse.
Only 15% of the schools have separate and functional girls’
toilet. Even where the facilities exist, are so poorly
maintained or in state of despair or are so few in number, that
most children do not use them. Growing girls have to endure this
hardship; this often results in dropping out of school or
absenteeism.
Issues
related to water and sanitation in Schools in
Bihar
- Inadequate facilities
- Unhealthy and dirty classrooms and
school compound
- Lack of hand washing habits and
practices among children
- Quality of construction of sanitation
facilities.
- Improper use and vandalism as most of
the schools lack boundary wall
- Inadequate or no water storage
arrangements for hand washing and for use in
toilet/Urinals
- Lack of community participation and
contribution to School Funds
- Inadequate maintenance arrangements
leads to Facilities falling into disrepair
and quickly out of use
- Locked school toilets and urinals
Availability of latrines / urinals and safe
drinking water has been perceived as a crucial
requirement for primary schools in rural areas.
Lac of sanitation facilities poses serious
inconvenience for students and teachers,
particularly girl students and female teachers.
The high drop out rate, among girls, has been
attributed to absence of water and sanitation
facilities in the schools. Hence provision of
water and sanitation facilities has been
perceived as a key element in quality education.
Presently, water and sanitation facilities are
provided through various programmes and schemes,
such as:
- Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC)
- Swajaldhara
- Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme
(ARWSP)
Minimum package on SSHE
Every school in Bihar must ensure the minimum package to
introduce the quality education in schools. Mukhiya, along with
all the PRI members of the panchayat and Vidyalaya Shiksha
Samiti (VSS) must guide and support the school to implement
following:
1. Child Friendly Environment: Schools must ensure a child
friendly approach to make learning more joyful and
participatory. The concept of joyful learning provides for a
healthy atmosphere and aims at making school going a pleasant
experience. The different components of child friendly concept
adopted in schools are:
- Safe, clean, spacious and convenient classrooms
- Clean environment at school premises
- Health check up and referral
- No corporal punishment
- Playground and equipments
- Improved student / teacher ratio
- Joyful learning and child participation
- Talking classrooms
2. Quality Sustainable water and sanitation facilities
including regular operation and maintenance system Lack of
sanitation facilities poses serious inconvenience for students
and teachers, particularly girl students and female teachers.
The high drop out rate, among girls, has been attributed to
absence of water and sanitation facilities in the schools. Hence
provision of water and sanitation facilities has been perceived
as a key element in quality education. The children with the
help of teachers and VSS members will be responsible for the
maintenance of the facilities. In routine maintenance following
activities are done by groups of students on rotation basis.
- The surroundings of the hand pumps are cleaned.
- Toilets and urinals are cleaned by pouring water daily
and with broom etc as per the need
- Classrooms are cleaned and the provision of dustbin
outside the classroom
- Premises are cleaned in the morning and the waste dumped
in the garbage pit
3. Quality Hygiene Education
- Head teacher and key teachers have been trained /
oriented
- Regular teaching and learning in the classroom which is
relevant and strives to be child-centered
- Supplementary learning material available and used in
classroom teaching
- Teachers make and carry out a plan for organizing
children in use, monitoring and maintenance of facilities
and in personal hygiene
4. Excellent community, school and parent participation and
decision making Process School is an integral part of the
community. Involvement of community in school health and
sanitation activities increases the efficacy of the Project. It
also promotes the sense of ownership within communities to
sustain the school system for operation and maintenance. For
success of any project, community participation and ownership is
the pre-requisite.
- Involving PRIs in the overall development of school
- Children participate in Hygiene promotion activities in
the Community
- Community concerned about children’s health, safety,
quality education and environment at school
- School celebrations and parents are invited
5. Quality concurrent monitoring system: Monitoring helps in
finding out gaps in the project implementation in order to take
corrective measures and improve the quality of output. The
monitoring system under School Sanitation and Hygiene Education programme focuses on physical progress of water and sanitation
facilities, quality of construction, use and personal behaviour
of the students regarding health and hygiene and environmental
conditions of the schools. The key indicators are:
- Hygiene Practices among children
- Hygiene practices in the families
- Effective use of facilities
- Clean Environment
- Knowledge
- Attitude
- Practices
Key Achievements
Informed Advocacy
- Advocated and facilitated establishment of functional
SSHE Cell at state level and District SSHE Cell
- Baseline Survey of all the schools completed, data
analyzed and shared with all stakeholders and motivated to
take initiative for providing facilities
- Minimum package on SSHE developed, agreed and
implemented in all the districts
- Facilitated the District Orientation programme in 14
districts
Partnership Building and Convergence
- Strategic partnership with NGOs: In Vaishali
Sulabh International, ACE and other local 12 NGOs have been
involved to construct school toilet in 1500 Schools. Apart
from that School toilet has been constructed through various
NGOs in 23 districts. In around 21 districts fund has been
released to BEP for school toilet construction under TSC.
- Menstrual Hygiene Management: Adolescent girls
have been oriented on Adolescent Health and Hygiene in
convergence with WDC (Women Development Cooperation). In
follow-up of the training program Sanitary Napkin Production
unit cum training centre has been established in Bidupur
Block of Vaishali District.
- Convergence with SSA & PHED to scale up SSHE
- Centre for Environmental Education (CEE) carried out the
Baseline and KAP analysis of 50 schools in Vaishali
- Organized four days Foundation course programme in
partnership with CEE.
- Joint capacity building program for TSC and SSHE
coordinators.
Quality Control System for school
toilet construction
- Standardized toilet design (Double unit toilet, Single
unit toilet separately for girls and boys) has been
developed in coordination with SWSM and UNICEF and shared
with all DSEs.
- Site selection done by technical supervisors of SSA and
ensuring participation of teachers, VSS, Children and MTA/PTA.
Site Selection form has been developed which are used at
school level in order to select proper site.
- Trained Masons on low cost / leach pit toilet technique
are available at district level to ensure quality
construction and supervision of school toilets
- Engineers of SSA and PHED are involved in verifying and
ensuring school toilet construction as per the norms and
design
Knowledge Management
- Organized successful 4 days Foundation Course sharing
information with the district and state stakeholders along
with 25 State Resource Group.
- Joint refresher training of SSHE and TSC coordinators
- Conducted Exposure visit to Gaya to learn form the
School Sanitation programme implemented
- Facilitated successful visit of British Cultural
Minister Ms Jowell to see SSHE in Gaya
- Participated in Joint Review Meeting of GOI & UNICEF and
disseminated the information at state and district level
- Video documentation of SSHE programme in Vaishali Bihar
(Jagriti).
- Exposure of District level stakeholders to Chennai.
Capacity Building
- Mainstreaming teachers training module on SSHE in
existing in-service training (11 days UJJALA III teachers
training )
- Training modules developed and followed for capacity
building of Teachers, VSS and Students
- Developed State Resource Team of 25 people to support
scaling up SSHE in all the districts
- 158 Teacher Coordinators trained to provide awareness
among teachers of their districts
- Two days teachers training programme on SSHE completed
for 4000 schools
- One day orientation of VSS members completed in 4000
schools
- 1500 schools have functional MTA
- The Prime Minister, Sanitation Minister and other
members of Bal Sansad are being been trained on Sanitation
and hygiene practices at school level.
Innovation
- Involvement of Child Cabinet in hygiene promotion
activities at school level.
- Effective use of wastewater through gardening in school.
- Training of Adolescent girls on adolescent health and
established Sanitary Napkin Production unit cum training
centre.
- Provision of Water quality testing in schools and
alternative drinking water source i.e. Rain water harvesting
structure (RWHS)
- Bihar Education Project Council (BEPC) initiated a
survey to ensure all newly recruited teachers have toilet.
- Demonstration of low cost household toilet at adolescent
girl’s houses of disadvantage community who participated in
Kishori Mahotsav 2007.
Lessons Learned
- The success of school sanitation programme depends on
effective teachers training and involvement of children,
teachers and parents.
- Urinals are used more than the toilets.
- Unless there is sufficient water in the toilet, it can
not be kept clean.
- School sanitation provides a big push to home sanitation
programme and also appears to improve the enrolment and
retention.
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