School Sanitation and Hygiene Education (SSHE)

  1. Introduction
  2. About SSHE
  3. Goals
  4. Objectives
  5. Benefits
  6. Strategies
  7. Key Components
  8. Status of water and sanitation facilities in the schools
  9. Issues related to water and sanitation in Schools in Bihar
  10. Minimum package on SSHE
  11. Key Achievements
  12. Lessons Learned
  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3.  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
  4. Objectives

    The main objectives of the School Health and Sanitation Programme are:

    1. Generate hygiene awareness and demand among teachers and children in schools.

    2. Create an environment, which will help to sustain the attendance of girls in school.

    3. To introduce and promote behavior changes related to hygiene and health among children.

    4. To promote optimum use of available resources for better health and clean environment.

    5. To create an environment for attainment of child rights (Survival, protection, development, participation)

    6. Reduce diseases and worm infestation among school children

    7. Environmental cleanliness in and around the schools

    8. Increase enrollment and retention, particularly of girl students

    9. Promote quality and joyful learning

  5. 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.
  6. 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

  7.  Key Components

    Healthy 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.

  8.  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.

  9.  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)

  10.  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

  11.  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.

  12.  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.