Effectiveness of School Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Program: In the Case of Assossa Woreda Primary Schools, BGRS, Ethiopia

Jano, Habtamu Alemu (2011) Effectiveness of School Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Program: In the Case of Assossa Woreda Primary Schools, BGRS, Ethiopia. Masters thesis, Addis Ababa University.

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Abstract

School WaSH survey was carried out in the primary schools of Assossa woreda, BGRS, Ethiopia. It was intended to assess the situation and effectiveness of water supply and sanitation facilities in schools, hygiene awareness of teachers, hygiene knowledge and practice of students and outreaching families. The study employed muti-stage sampling method and accordingly, 16 schools were selected from the Woreda(35% of the schools) for facility situation analysis, and of which three schools were selected for in-depth study by drawing sampled students from grades 4th, 6th and 8th (10% from each grade). About 64 teachers (20% of teachers in all sampled schools) and 166 students (54.2% of girls) were considered for in-depth survey. Data were collected by questionnaire, interview, FGD and observation. The data were analyzed by employing statistical methods and software (SPSS) along with the chi-square test. More than 56% of the schools did not have access to water within their compound. About 56.3% of the schools were not able to get water all of the times and 38% of the schools that were using their water for drinking purpose were getting their water mainly from unprotected sources. Almost all rural schools (68.7%) were using unprotected water sources (p<0.05). Seventy five percent of the schools did not make any treatment to their water. The toilet student ratio was 1:98 and 1:101 for boys and girls respectively, which is above the limit of national standard. The schools did not have clean toilets (47%), and 33% of schools have toilets that were smelly to the extent that made their usage difficult. Only 18.4% of children were regularly using latrines for defecation. The main factors for irregular use of toilets were poor cleanness (53.7%) and long queue (55.1%). More than 62% of schools had no hand washing facilities. Nearly 41% of students were not washing their hands due to lack of water supplies in their schools, and only 21.7% of boys and 12% of girls were using school toilets regularly. More than 18% of students faced diarrhoea this year at least once and 15% of the cases were absent from school at least for one day due to the illness. Despite the difference in location (urban v rural), students had the same problem at all schools. Hand washing behavior of students after defecation was poor. The absence of desired behaviors was steamed from lack of knowledge and facilities/resources to support learned behaviors. Almost all schools had no maintenance plan for their WSS facilities. Knowledge and attitude of students were significantly different across school localities (low in rural). At least 58.1%, 26% & 68.4% of students in Selamber, Hoha No. 4 and Nigat responded respectively that hands should be washed after defecation, and before eating foods and fruits (p< 0.01). There was a fragile and significantly varied knowledge & attitude of students among different grade levels towards the cleanness of clear water and critical times to wash hands. More than 20% of the sampled students confirmed to eat less food when they caught with diarrhea (p<0.05). Nearly 96% of students claimed to wash hands with no visible dirt and 31.8% of students said that clear water is always clean. More than 73% of teachers mentioned that they did not get any training on school WaSH. The level of attention given by schools and local government for school WaSH was low. Financial capacity, inter-sector and stakeholder cooperation and harmonization were also very weak. This study provides baseline information for future interventions and reveals future research areas in these schools for sanitation and hygiene education program. The results show that sanitation and hygiene conditions of the schools are in need of appropriate system, due attention and commitment to ensure effective school WaSH.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1501 Primary Education
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	Tim Khabala
Date Deposited:	03 Jul 2018 08:03
Last Modified:	03 Jul 2018 08:03
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/6490

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