The Bono Regional Chairman of the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC), Kobina Afena-Sam, has bemoaned the lack of sanitation facilities in schools, explaining that the situation compromised quality education and the health of pupils and students.

He has, therefore, appealed to the government and other stakeholders to invest in the provision of sanitation facilities in schools to improve the health of learners and teaching and learning.

Mr Afena-Sam was speaking to the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of the World Vision Masters Encounter of the School Sanitation Solutions (TRIPLE S) challenge for the Northern sector in Sunyani in the Bono Region.

He said the absence of proper sanitation facilities in schools had lowered the standard of quality education, as it was likely to increase absenteeism and truancy.

Proposal 

Organised by World Vision and Kings Hall Media Limited, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the meeting brought together 10 contestants from basic schools in the northern sector to present their solutions, recommendations and proposals on how to promote water and sanitation in the country, particularly in schools.

The 10 contestants were drawn from two zones, namely Shea Zone and Cocoa Zone, to compete for the first position in their respective zones.

The Shea Zone is made up of the Northern, the North East, the Upper West, the Upper East and the Savannah regions and Cocoa Zone is made up of the Bono, the Bono East, the Ahafo, the Ashanti and the Eastern regions.

At the end of the contest, Hannah Forkuo of the Biadan Methodist Junior High School in the Berekum Municipality in the Bono Region emerged as the winner of the Cocoa Zone contest while Vanessa Adune Wenaba of the Great Victory Academy in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region won in the Shea Zone.

The two winners are to join the winners from the Coconut and Tilapia zones at the final competition in Accra on August 13, 2023.

The essay question was published in the Junior Graphic and other news portals for interested pupils to write and submit for marking. 

Mr Afena-Sam said sanitation facilities were key and crucial to the improvement of the health of pupils and teaching and learning.

“If we aim at achieving 100 per cent success in education, health or sanitation in general in schools is key,” he stated, explaining that if the environment in schools was poor, it could negatively affect the performance of students.

Mr Afena-Sam expressed concern about educational facilities being constructed without toilet facilities attached to them and appealed to the government and other developers to include toilet facilities in school buildings.

He said authorities in some schools with sanitation facilities had also neglected them, which had rendered them in a poor state.

Mr Afena-Sam also expressed worry about some community members who turned school toilet facilities into public facilities, explaining that the attitude disrupted teaching and learning and destroyed the facilities.

Decent toilet 

Speaking during the opening session last Tuesday, the Technical Specialist at World Vision, Ghana, Yaw Atta Arhin, said World Vision was partnering with the government and other organisations to fight poor sanitation and accelerate the delivery of safe water and sanitation in the country, particularly in schools.

He added his voice to calls for the government to provide decent toilet facilities in schools to promote the health and general well-being of pupils and students.

Mr Arhin said most toilet facilities in some schools were in a poor state, posing health challenges to the learners, particularly girls. 

He said World Vision introduced the challenge as a result of the missing link it identified on its programmes such as the limited participation of children in safe delivery of water, sanitation and hygiene services.

Challenge

Mr Arhin said the challenge had three main objectives, namely to encourage children to cultivate an interest in issues of water and sanitation to positively influence their peers, to build the capacity of children to create sustainable sanitation solutions and empower the children to become advocates themselves in the delivery of clean water.

For his part, the Bono Regional Director of Education, Gabriel Antwi, commended World Vision and its partners for organising the contest to promote safe water, sanitation and hygiene services among pupils. 

Mr Antwi said the Ministry of Education was doing its best to improve the sanitation situation in schools and thanked World Vision and its partners for their intervention. 

Source: GraphicOnline