Assessing access to sanitation in rural schools

Abstract

Pupils spend a long time at school, where improved water, sanitation and hygiene services can improve health by decreasing diseases, such as diarrhea, respiratory infections, and soil-transmitted helminths. Recent studies showed that improved school WASH services have a positive influence on decreasing illnesses; for instance, in beneficiary schools, diarrhea was 29% lower. Symptoms of respiratory infections were 25% lower than in comparison schools. The aim of the study: to assess the access to the sanitation in rural schools. Material and methods: the study was carried out using the face to face interview with the administration of the school, observation checklist, and a questionnaire for the pupils. Results and discussion: 13.3% of pupils reported that the toilets are locked, and the key is not available in the schools. 20.5% of students reported the absence of separation of toilets by gender. 46.4% of them were girls. Additionally, 29.5% of students characterized as a problem of the separation absence by gender. 57.1% of them were female. 20.23% of pupils reported that the youngest pupils could not use the toilet without any help. Conclusions: analyzing the situation, we can conclude that access to sanitation is provided in schools, unfortu-nately, the conditions of their maintenance are ignored.