MHRD, UNICEF to undertake joint study on sanitation in govt schools

The study will focus on water and toilet facilities in the schools in the State and prepare an analysis that would aim to improve hygiene standards at various levels.

As the first step of this massive effort, the agency selected by UNICEF will visit about 500 schools across all the districts in the State. Due to the unavailability of proper toilet facilities, parents do not admit their teenage girls in schools, pointed out the communique from the Union Ministry.

Water and sanitation facilities are critical factors that affect enrolment of students, especially that of girl students. Hence, this study, which is expected to start soon, will lead to further research along different dimensions, such as the level of awareness about benefits of toilets among students, health education imparted to students in schools, and financial outlay for the proper maintenance of toilet and water facilities in the institutions.

The findings will also throw light on regional disparities between rural and urban areas. The team, which will visit the schools, will also create awareness among the institutions that they have the responsibility of providing a healthy school environment. The study will be conducted using qualitative methods by investigating secondary and primary data at macro and micro level. As the survey will employ multi-stage random sampling method, primary data will be collected from higher secondary school students of both government and private institutions, while secondary data will be collected from government records, journals and newspapers, the MHRD circular said.

Since the UNICEF team will take photograph and videos of the schools, all the district educational officers and block educational officers have been instructed to cooperate and provide support to the touring staff in their respective areas.

The UNICEF team will submit its report to MHRD by May, enabling the ministry to come out with recommendations that the State may adopt.