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i
Commissioned by WASH Section, UNICEF Bangladesh Country Office
Final Report
Review of WASH in Schools Programme (2009 to 2014)
August 2014
Vijay Gawade
WASH Consultant
ii
Table of Contents
Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................................... iv
Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................. iv
Chapter 1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….. 1 Background ......................................................................................................................................... 1
Approach and Methodology of the Review ........................................................................................ 1
Limitations of the Study ...................................................................................................................... 3
Chapter 2 Overview of WASH in Schools Programme in Bangladesh .......................................... 4 Country Profile.................................................................................................................................... 4
Water and Sanitation Coverage and MDGs ........................................................................................ 4
National Policies for WASH Sector .................................................................................................... 5
Policies related to WASH in Schools ................................................................................................. 5
National Standards for WASH for schools ..................................................................................... 5
National Hygiene Promotion Strategy for Water Supply and Sanitation ........................................ 6
Institutional Set-up for WASH in Schools .......................................................................................... 7
Schools in Bangladesh ........................................................................................................................ 8
Water and Sanitation Situation in Schools .......................................................................................... 9
Historical and Ongoing `WASH in Schools‟ Programmes in Bangladesh ......................................... 9
Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP 3) ................................................................ 9
Sanitation, Hygiene Education and Water in Bangladesh (SHEWA-B) ....................................... 10
UNICEF-Dutch Embassy Funded `WASH in Schools‟ Programme ............................................ 10
WASH in Schools programme by Other Players .......................................................................... 11
Chapter 3 Review of WASH in Schools Programme of SHEWA-B .............................................. 12 The `WASH in Schools‟ Programme Areas and Achievements ....................................................... 12
Implementation Approaches and Strategies ...................................................................................... 13
Hygiene Promotion and Social Mobilisation ................................................................................ 13
Construction of Water Points and Water Quality ......................................................................... 14
Rehabilitation and Construction of New Sanitation Facilities ...................................................... 14
Observations and Findings – Programme Support ........................................................................... 14
Areas that Worked well................................................................................................................. 15
Areas that worked to a lesser extent .............................................................................................. 19
Gaps .............................................................................................................................................. 21
Challenges and Issues concerning Sustainability .............................................................................. 22
Sustaining Hygiene Activities at school level ............................................................................... 22
Sustaining Hygiene Behaviours at school level ............................................................................ 23
Maintenance of WASH Facilities and Financing.......................................................................... 23
Observations and Findings – Enabling Environment (Sector Support) ............................................ 25
Inter-sectoral Collaborations ......................................................................................................... 25
Monitoring .................................................................................................................................... 26
Monitoring Process and Impact .................................................................................................... 26
Review of Select IEC Materials ........................................................................................................ 27
Chapter 4 Conclusions and Recommendations ............................................................................ 28 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................................... 28
Recommendations for Learning from SHEWA-B interventions ...................................................... 29
Recommendations for Direct Programme Support for Current Programme..................................... 29
Recommendations for Direct Programme Support (Future Programme) ......................................... 30
Improved Strategy for Hygiene Promotion ................................................................................... 30
Need Based Hardware Support for WASH Facilities ................................................................... 31
Menstrual Hygiene Management .................................................................................................. 31
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Recommendations on Sector Support ............................................................................................... 32
Partnerships with the DPE, the DSHE, the DPHE and the Health Department ............................ 33
Strengthen and Support Inter-Sectoral Collaborations at National and District level .................. 33
Policy Support for Financing Maintenance of WASH Facilities .................................................. 34
School Ratings, Recognitions and Rewards.................................................................................. 35
Strengthening existing MISs on WASH in Schools and Integration ............................................ 35
Process and Impact Monitoring .................................................................................................... 35
Annexures
Annexure 1 Terms of Reference ………………………………………………….…………………..36
Annexure 2 Checklists and Questionnaires for Field Visits…………………………………………..37
Annexure 3 Field Visit Report (Sunamganj, Moulvibazar and Sylhet Districts)……………………..48
Annexure 4 Field Visit Report (Bandarban District)………………….………………………………55
Annexure 5 Field Visit Report (Khagrachhari District)………………………………………………60
Annexure 6 Sample Maintenance Budget calculations for a secondary school in Sylhet……………64
Annexure 7 Review of Teachers Guide on Primary School Sanitation & Hygiene Education………65
Annexure 8 Review of Posters on Hygiene Education ………………………………………………67
List of People Met…………………………………………………………………………69
References………………………………………………………………………………….71
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Abbreviations
ASPR : Annual Sector Performance Report
BANBEIS : Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information & Statistics
BCC : Behaviour Change Communication
BCO : Bangladesh Country Office
BDT : Bangladesh Taka
C4D : Communication for Development
CD : Compact Disc
CHP : Community Health Promoter
CHT : Chittagong Hill Tract
DAM : Dhaka Ahsania Mission
DFID : Department for International Development
DPE : Directorate of Primary and Mass Education
DPHE : Department for Public Health Engineering
DSHE : Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education
EMIS : Education Management Information System
GPS : Government Primary Schools
HW : Handwashing
icddr,b : International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh
IEC : Information, Education and Communication
JMP : Joint Monitoring Programme
LGI : Local Government Institutions
lpcd : Litres per capita per day
MDGs : Millennium Development Goals
mg/l : Milligrams per Litre
MHM : Menstrual Hygiene Management
MIS : Management Information System
MoE : The Ministry of Education
MoHFW : The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
MoI : The Ministry of Information
MoLGRD&C : Ministry of Local Govt for Rural Development &Co-operatives
MoPME : The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education
MoU : Memorandum of Understanding
NF-WSS : The National Forum for Water Supply and Sanitation
NGO : Non-Government Organisation
O&M : Operation and Maintenance
PEDP : Primary Education Development Programme
PTA : Parent Teachers Association
PTI : Primary Teachers Training Institute
RNGPS : Registered Non Government Primary School
S&P : Supply and Procurement
SHEWA- B : Sanitation, Hygiene Education and Water Supply in Bangladesh
SLIP : School Level Improvement Plan
SLTS : School Led Total Sanitation
SMC : School Management Committee
UK : United Kingdom
UNICEF : United Nations Children‟s Fund
USD : United States Dollars
VERC : Village Education Resource Centre
WASH : Water and Sanitation, Hygiene
WATSAN : Water and Sanitation
WinS : WASH in School
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Executive Summary
1. The Sanitation, Hygiene Education and Water Supply in Bangladesh (SHEWA-B)
programme was implemented over the period 2007 to 2013, and was funded primarily by the
British government (DFID), with additional financial support from the Government of
Bangladesh and UNICEF. The primary focus of the programme was hygiene promotion, and
is reported to have reached an estimated 21 million people. The programme included a range
of activities, including a component on WASH in Schools, which commenced in 2009. Over
the course of the WASH in schools programme, an estimated 9,837 primary and secondary
schools across 19 districts were reached. The WASH in schools component focused upon the
dissemination of key WASH messages, as well as the construction/rehabilitation of WASH
facilities to enable the practice of key hygiene messages by school children and the formation
of School Brigades1. In addition, support was given to the development of National Standards
for WASH in Schools in Bangladesh, the development of Teacher‟s guides, dissemination
materials (e.g. posters) and advocacy for the inclusion of WASH blocks in the allocations of
the Primary Education Development Programme block grant. The PEDP 3 is a sector wide
approach being implemented in the country for primary schools by the Directorate of Primary
and Mass Education (DPE) and it aims to cover all primary schools by 2016.
2. UNICEF Bangladesh commissioned a short review of the WASH in schools
component of SHEWA-B over the period February-March 2014, to draw lessons learned
which could be useful to strengthen the historic, current and future WASH in Schools
programmes of UNICEF and to share these across the sector. The review was conducted by
the consultant through desk review, joint visits along with UNICEF and partner NGOs/
DPHE to 21 schools in 5 districts and held consultations with school children and teaching
staff, government partners, NGO partners and with UNICEF WASH and Education Section
staff. The observations, findings and recommendations are summarized as below.
Areas that have worked well
3. The WASH in Schools component of SHEWA-B was successful in terms of
promoting hygiene behavioral communication using various IEC Materials and school based
activities by teachers and school brigades. Though the nature and intensity of school based
activities varied from school to school, high recall of hygiene messages among children in
primary and secondary schools was observed. It was observed that the high recall could be
contributed to a factor of the `existing knowledge‟ among children about these messages and
their further reinforcement through school based activities undertaken in the WASH in
Schools component. Highly motivated and active schools brigades were seen in some of the
schools visited.
4. The WASH in Schools component also succeeded in improving water availability
through construction of new water points, provision of running water in toilets and improved
sanitation facilities in schools through rehabilitation or new construction. These
improvements are a significant addition to schools over the historical inadequate facilities and
thus provided access to children to improved WASH facilities and encouraged them to
1 School brigades were formed in primary and secondary schools representing children from school catchment
areas nearby. The formation was generally guided by the DPE Guideline issued in 2010. School Brigades, with
equal no of boys and girls, were largely involved in cleanliness of school classrooms, school premises, school
toilets and community level hygiene promotion activities.
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practice hygiene behaviors. This has also impacted positively on children‟s attendance in
schools (missing classes by children is minimized) as narrated by teachers and children. In
Chittagong Hill Tract areas where there are incidences of school water sources going dry in
summer, use and cleanliness of sanitation facilities is an issue and has affected the attendance
of children. The newly constructed sanitation facilities included several child friendly
features which encouraged the children to use the facilities.
Areas that have worked to a lesser extent and Gaps
5. Capacity building, support and participation of local education officials, water safety
assessment and remedial measures, and construction supervision were some of the weak
areas in the WASH in Schools component. The component offered a single training to a
limited number of teaching staff, members of the school management committees in schools
and district/upzilla officials with no further refresher training (which was a challenge
considering the turnover of teaching staff). Support and involvement of district/upzilla and
Union level officials was also limited to initial training in the project.
6. The component promoted painting of newly constructed water points in schools with
designated colour codes2 to confirm their safe or unsafe status for arsenic contamination. On
the basis of school visits to selected schools, it is understood that not all of the newly
constructed water points were tested and on this basis, not all of the water points were
painted. As the SHEWA-B programme focused on arsenic-affected areas, all of the water
points should be tested, the results shared with the schools, and the water points painted
accordingly.
7. There were issues observed related to completion of WASH facilities in the schools
visited such as - no ventilation in toilets, incorrect interconnections of septic tanks and soak
pits, incomplete constructions of junction chambers/septic tanks, non provision of ramps and
hand railings for children with disability etc. There is a need for strengthening construction
supervision to conduct critical quality checks to address these construction issues.
Toilet/Children ratio is observed to be high in the schools visited but it can be further
reviewed through field assessments.
8. Water availability and clean and usable sanitation facilities are critical factors for
sustained hygiene behaviors by children at a school level. Mobilisation of School
Management Committees (SMCs) for upkeep and maintenance of WASH facilities remained
unaddressed in the component. As a result, though the SMCs are responsible for operation
and maintenance of WASH Facilities in schools, their capacity building and involvement
remained considerably weak.
9. There have been serious budget constraints raised by schools to mobilize funds for
procurement of the supplies (soap for handwashing, toilet cleaning materials) and
maintenance (minor and major) of WASH facilities. Primary Schools have School Level
Improvement Plan (SLIP3) and Contingency Funds
4 while secondary schools have
2 Green Code is used to confirm that the water point has arsenic level below permissible limit and it is safe for
drinking. Red Code is used to confirm high level of arsenic level and it is unsafe for drinking. 3 A minimum of 20,000 and a maximum of 50,000 BDTs for each school supported in about 60% of
Government Primary Schools
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contingency and general funds (which are generated through school fees from children).
Secondary schools have the capacity to raise school fees to generate funds for maintenance
however, there is no such flexibility for primary schools and they have to rely on the SLIP or
the contingency fund for maintenance. The SLIP guidelines do cover provision of funds for
cleaning of toilets and ensuring hygienic systems in schools but except a few schools, many
primary schools have not prioritized the procurement of supplies and maintenance using this
fund.
10. On the basis of the visits to selected schools, a rough estimate would indicate that the
maintenance of a standard WASH Facility for a typical school may require about 2-5% of the
annual school budget. Based on this indicative budget, it appears that the SLIP fund alone
may not be sufficient to meet the full cost of supplies and maintenance of WASH facilities
and a combination of funds has to be used to meet the full cost. A study on Operation and
Maintenance (O&M) costing of WASH facility would be needed to arrive at realistic
estimates on O&M for both primary and secondary schools. Such a study could also look at
the funds availability/generation and possibilities of their allocation for maintenance.
Findings of such a study could be used to advocate for issuing clear guidelines from the
government for allocating/reserving a fund (either from various funds available or annual
school budgets) for procurement of supplies and maintenance.
11. Any kind of monitoring at the school level and by districts and upzillas is absent in
the Component which would have helped track the situations in schools and take corrective
actions. Interestingly, during the school visits, many of the schools cited that external
monitoring would be the largest incentive to improve the maintenance.
Sector Support
12. With respect to primary education, Bangladesh has been implementing a series of
PEDP programmes; PEDP 1 (1997-2003), PEDP 2 (2004-2011) and PEDP 3 (2011-2016).
All these programmes have focused on education quality improvement, institutional capacity
building and systematic reforms. PEDP 2 initiated a sector wide approach (SWAp) for
institutionalisation of achievements and ensuring high quality primary education. PEDP 3 has
continued the agenda introduced under PEDP 2 with an increased focus on improving
learning outcomes in the classroom and raise primary school completion rates. UNICEF has
been an important partner with the DPE on PEDP to advocate quality education and WASH
in schools. PEDP3 is implementing WASH infrastructure in primary schools across the
country.
13. There have been issues observed in the field with respect to duplication of WASH
facilities in schools by PEDP 3 and SHEWA-B and exclusions of schools on the ground of
non-availability of electric supply in schools and land constraints. Integrated planning with
effective inter-sectoral collaborations is required at the national level among the DPE, the
DSHE, the DPHE and other partners including UNICEF. The available national forums such
as the Disparity Working Group under the PEDP3 should be used appropriately to highlight
such programme overlaps and the sustainability issues of WASH in Schools. Such forums are
not available at the district level but it may be opportune to review the possibility of doing so.
4 Approximately 500-700 BDT per month for primary and secondary schools to be used to meet expenses for
stationery and local conveyance of teachers
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Inter-sectoral collaboration within UNICEF could be strengthened to ensure consistent work
on various programme issues.
14. At present, some data on availability and use of WASH facilities is tracked by the
DPE and the DSHE through their school census (DPE) and self-assessments (DSHE).
However, due to the self assessment nature of the data, there may be concerns over the
representativeness. Furthermore, the indicators used by the DPE are inadequate to provide a
comprehensive picture of adequacy, coverage and usage of WASH facility in primary
schools. There is a need for generating such comprehensive data for primary and secondary
schools and move towards an integrated MIS at the National level for WASH in Schools.
Recommendations
15. Recommendations are provided for learning from WASH in Schools component in
SHEWA-B, strengthening ongoing and future programmes and addressing issues related to
sector support. The recommendations are provided considering the following key areas of
sustainability and their inter-linkages that are important to achieve the consistent practice of
key hygiene behaviors in school environments:
Sustained dissemination of key messages
Sustainable O&M of WASH Facilities through increased involvement of SMCs,
School Brigades/Councils and provision of adequate cleaning and washing
material (soap, toilet cleaning material)
Increased Water Availability, Safety and Reliability
Strengthened Menstrual Hygiene Management component especially for
secondary schools
Strengthened Sector Support (addressing sustainability issues)
o Integrate Hygiene Promotion with school activities
o Advocate Policies on WASH in Schools Maintenance and Financing
o Strengthen Monitoring and Initiate School Rating and Rewards
Recommendations for Learning from SHEWA-B interventions
Conduct systematic assessments in select schools (may be 20 schools), where WASH
facilities were constructed or rehabilitated, for obtaining feedback from children on
adequacy and use of sanitation facilities and any further improvements required to
enhance their child friendliness. The feedback could be used to refine the current
models of sanitation blocks and also to test adequacy of designs in terms of
toilet/children ratio.
Document successes and achievements of WASH in School programme in the form of
short films and case studies for advocacy and training purposes for various audiences
in the sector. Suggested areas of such documentations include - school brigades‟
work in schools and communities, effective hygiene promotion activities conducted
by teachers and brigades in schools, cleaning and maintenance of facilities by SMCs,
lessons learned and overall process of `WASH in Schools‟‟ implementation.
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Recommendations for Current Programmes
a. Continue support for development of replicable models of child friendly sanitation
facilities. The efforts of developing models should eventually help advocate
development of national models for sanitation facilities in schools.
b. Support mobilisation of SMCs and Teachers for planning and prioritising finances for
maintenance and procurement of supplies at a school level in collaboration with the
DPE and DSHE and assess constraints if any
c. Advocate and support development of school based monitoring systems at school,
upzilla and district level in collaboration with the DPE and the DSHE
Recommendations for Future Programmes
16. Future WASH in Schools programme should target addressing key areas of listed in
Para 15 and should focus more on efforts for advocacy on sustainability issues than on
hardware support considering that PEDP 3 is ensuring full coverage of primary schools.
a. Complement PEDP3 for hygiene promotion and capacity building of teachers and
SMCs on maintenance and contribute to the plan for PEDP4 based on the learning
from SHEWA-B and current programmes
b. Evaluate effectiveness of hygiene promotion strategies in current programmes and
strengthen them in future programmes with structured and creative school based
activities with capacity building of teachers, children and Parent Teachers
Associations (PTAs). Focus on leveraging budgetary support from the government for
capacity building of teachers and children and scaling up hygiene promotion in other
non-intervention schools.
c. Evaluate School Led Total Sanitation (SLTS) approach in the Dutch funded project
and scale it up depending on the successes achieved.
d. Programme support to include a minimum need based hardware support – running
water and handwashing facility
e. Advocate and support scaling up of menstrual hygiene management interventions
through a) development of trainers manual on MHM b) sensitization of teachers
through teachers training institutions (secondary schools) c) sensitization of girls
through school based MHM sessions by teachers/health staff d) development of
reference book for MHM for girls and e) implementation of technology options for
safe disposal of used menstrual clothes/pads in schools by leveraging funding support
from the government.
f. Continue support for the development of WASH-relevant school-based monitoring
tools (support to the DPE and the DSHE) and their integration into a national database
Recommendations for Sector Support
a. Strengthen partnerships with the DPE, the DSHE, the DPHE and the Health
Department and support appropriate capacity building measures on WASH in Schools
issues.
b. Strengthen and support inter-sectoral and cross-sectoral collaborations at national and
district level by facilitating Local Consultative Groups and National Sanitation Task
Force at National level and exploring opportunities for creating such inter-sectoral
groups at the district level. Within UNICEF, such inter-sectoral collaborations could
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be enhanced among WASH and Education Section through regular meetings and
sharing of experiences and issues. c. Engage and support a consultant in collaboration with the DPE and the DSHE to
develop Hygiene Promotion toolkits and other IEC Materials (posters, films etc) in
consultations with children, teachers and parents. Methodologies for using the tool
kits with a set of innovative indoor and outdoor activities and a combination of print
and audio-visual materials have to be evolved as part of the tool kit development.
Also modify the current Teachers Guides based on the suggestions provided in this
review and develop maintenance manuals for SMCs. Again these are to be done in
consultation with select schools, SMCs, the DPE and the DSHE.
d. On addressing issues of sustained hygiene promotion activities at a school level,
following are recommended. i. Advocate with the DPE and the DSHE for a joint review of school curriculum
(primary and secondary) for hygiene messages already included and any
amendments to them and explore methodologies to deliver them at a school
level by way of school based activities.
ii. Advocate with the DPE and the DSHE and support development of a training
module on WASH in Schools for teachers, to be delivered through Teachers
Training Institutes (PITs) of primary and secondary schools for sustained
capacity building of teachers on WASH in Schools issue.
iii. Advocate and encourage involvement of the Health Department and local
health staff for their involvement in hygiene promotion and sensitisation of
adolescent girls on MHM (secondary schools) at a school level.
iv. Advocate and support introduction of formal recognitions, rewards system (3
star approach is already planned by UNICEF) for performing schools and the
SMCs (pilot in 4 districts, one in each division) in collaboration with the DPE
and the DSHE.
e. Support a Maintenance Cost Study to arrive at realistic estimates5 of O&M
requirements for WASH Facilities for a range of schools and develops budgets in
collaboration with schools and the DPE/DSHE/DPHE. Such estimates could be used
for discussions in inter-sectoral groups and advocacy on developing directives for
maintenance financing by the DPE and the DSHE for setting aside a certain
proportion of a school budget for maintenance from available funding sources. Such a
study should involve critical review of provisions of SLIP Funds, Contingency Funds,
General Funds and any other funds that are available to schools, for ascertaining their
adequacy to meet the full cost of soap, cleaning material and maintenance of WASH
facilities at a school level.
f. Support technical options study for strengthening water sources in the CHT area
g. Advocate and support modifications of available 5 indicators of the DPE and
integration of similar modified indicators with EMIS of the DSHE. Both the MIS
should track availability of soaps and cleaning materials, clean toilets, availability-
adequacy-use and maintenance of WASH facilities and budgets spent by SMCs on
WASH facilities in schools. Integration of both the MIS to generate a national
database and making it online could be further explored.
h. Support process and impact external monitoring.
5 Sufficient to maintain hygiene and clean toilets for a particular number of enrolled children in school
1
Chapter 1 Introduction
Background
1. The Sanitation, Hygiene Education and Water Supply in Bangladesh (SHEWA-B)
programme was implemented over the period 2007 to 2013, and was funded primarily by the
British government (DFID), with additional financial support from the Government of
Bangladesh and UNICEF. It is one of the largest WASH programmes implemented in the
country with donor support. The programme covered 19 districts and estimated to have
reached 21 million people. WASH in Schools was one of the major components of the
programme and reached to 9187 primary and 650 secondary schools in the targeted districts.
2. UNICEF Bangladesh conducted the short term review of `WASH in Schools‟
component of SHEWA-B and current programmes through the consultant to draw lessons
learned, identify gaps and opportunities which could be useful for strengthening historical,
current and future `WASH in Schools‟ programmes supported by UNICEF. The Terms of
Reference for the review provided by UNICEF are given in Annexure 1.
Approach and Methodology of the Review
Desk Review and Assessment tools: Substantial data was made available by the WASH
Section, UNICEF Bangladesh Country Office (BCO) on SHEWA-B, current `WASH in
Schools‟ programmes and other data available from the Government of Bangladesh. The data
provided and reviewed include policies and guidelines for Water and Sanitation Sector in
Bangladesh, programme reports, monitoring and evaluation studies, Project Co-operation
Agreements (PCAs), designs and drawings for sanitation facilities, IEC materials used etc.
The Reference List attached provides the list of such data. Field Assessment tools such as
Check List, Questionnaire for interviews and observations were prepared and used in the
field. These are presented in Annexure 2.
Consultations and meetings: There were several consultations meetings held with WASH,
Education, Communication for Development (C4D), Supply & Procurement (S&P) sections
within UNICEF Bangladesh Country Office, prior to field visits and after, and with select
concerned WASH Officers from the UNICEF field offices from Sylhet and Myamensingh.
Consultations were held with the two NGOs associated with the programme; Dhaka Ahsania
Mission (DAM on 20 Feb 2014) and Village Resource Centre (VERC on 9 March 2014) to
gain insights into the implementation of WASH in Schools under SHEWA-B and to gather
lessons learned. A meeting with other non-project NGOs such as BRAC was also conducted
(13 March 2014) to understand their approaches on `WASH in Schools‟.
All the consultations helped the consultant to understand WASH in Schools interventions in
SHEWA-B, roles of various stakeholders involved, implementation processes and develop a
sense of learning.
2
The Field Visits: These were undertaken jointly6 with UNICEF to 4 SHEWA-B districts
7
where `WASH in Schools‟ programme interventions were implemented. Total of 21 schools
were visited – 19 rural schools in 4 districts and 2 urban schools in Khagrachhari and
Bandarban Pourashava. Two non-intervention schools were also visited in Sylhet District for
comparison. Annexure 3, 4 and 5 provide details of these schools.
The field visits covered a mix of primary and secondary schools targeted under the
programme and specifically covered the following combination of schools to assess
effectiveness of various interventions to influence targeted hygiene behaviors8, their potential
for strengthening and scaling up, identifying gaps and opportunities and identifying areas of
future support.
Schools covered with only software interventions
Schools covered with software and hardware interventions
Schools where interventions implemented through DPHE
Schools where interventions implemented through Project NGOs
Schools where interventions were implemented in early stages of the project (2010)
Schools where interventions were implemented recently (2013).
Non-intervention schools where no `WASH in Schools‟ programme was implemented
The field visits used the following tools and to assess the situation.
Interviews (with School Staff, Children-Boys and Girls, School Brigades, School
Management Committees)
Assessment of WASH Facility through observations and discussions, and
Brief surveys with children on hand washing, use of arsenic-safe water and clean
sanitation facilities, adolescent girls on Menstrual Hygiene Management.
The summary of the schools visited.
Districts
Schools Visited
Primary Secondary HW+
SW SW
Non-
Intervention
DPHE
Support
NGO
Support
Moulavibazar/
Sonmgonj/
Sylhet
6 4 8 2 2 6 2
Bandarban 0 4 2 2 0 0 2
Khagrachhari 2 3 4 0 0 2 2
TOTAL 8 11 14 4 2 8 6
HW: Hardware Support, SW: Software Support, Support by the DPHE and the NGO support means their
technical support for construction of WASH Facility in schools.
6 Fiona Ward, WASH Specialist, UNICEF, BCO, Mr.Md Monir Alam, WASH Officer, UNICEF BCO and
Mr.Kamrul Alam, WASH Officer, UNICEF, Sylhet Office. 7 Somangonj, Mouvibazar, Bandarban, Khagrachhari
8 Hand washing with soap before taking food and after using toilets
3
3. The field visits also included meetings with the Department for Public Health
Engineering (DPHE), the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE), Upzilla Officials and
local leaders to understand their involvement and support in the programme. These meetings
also explored their understanding and knowledge of `WASH in Schools‟ programme and
policies. As the 76 Field Agencies and Community Hygiene Promoters engaged in the field
have withdrawn, they could not be consulted.
Sharing of Field Observations: The Consultant attended the Workshop held at Bandarban (4
March 2014) in Chittagong Hill Tract (CHT) and had the opportunity to share the field
observations, jointly with UNICEF, from Bandarban schools with the NGOs (Oxfam, Caritas
and Concern Universal) working on UNICEF‟s Dutch Funded `WASH in Schools‟
programme. A special meeting of these NGO partners was organized on 13 March 2014 by
UNICEF BCO in Dhaka to share the observations from the field visits. The findings were
also shared within UNICEF in WASH and Education Section. A special session was
organized with the newly appointed engineers by UNICEF WASH Section for sharing
observations on the construction of sanitation facilities.
Field Reports: The field observations are compiled as Field Reports and attached as
Annexure 3, 4 and 5. The findings presented in this report are largely based on these
observations and various consultations held during the review.
Limitations of the Study
4. The findings presented in this report are based on a small sample of 21 project schools
visited during the assignment, discussions held with various stakeholders and review of
project documents provided. In many schools, the visits were known to the schools and
therefore the visiting team could not get the representation of real situations. The findings
may not represent the real situation in all the project schools, but they are useful to draw
broader conclusions and develop recommendations.
4
Chapter 2 Overview of WASH in Schools Programme in Bangladesh
Country Profile
Bangladesh lies in Bengal Delta in South Asia and
bordered by India to its west, north and east and by
Burma to its south east and by the Bay of Bengal to its
south. Bangladesh with a population of 144 Million
(Census 2011)and is the 8th
largest populated country in
the world and ranked 12 in the population density9.
Bangladesh is recognized as the Next Eleven Economy
in the world. However, poverty and child nutrition
remain high in the country with 26% of its population
live below the international poverty line of $1.25 per
day.
Bangladesh is divided into seven administrative
divisions each named after their respective divisional
headquarters:Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajsh
ahi, Sylhet and Rangpur (Ref.Map10
). Divisions are
subdivided into districts (zila). There are 64 districts in
Bangladesh, each further subdivided into upazila
(subdistricts). Upzillas are further divided into Unions
and Wards covering a group of villages. There are
estimated to be about 87000 plus villages in the country.
Bangladesh is recognized as one of the most vulnerable
to climate change and gets affected by floods, tropical
cyclones, tornadoes and tidal bores every year. The
country is also affected with high arsenic contamination
in drinking water across its regions. According to
UNICEF Statistics11
, one in five tubewells and nearly
20”% of shallow wells across the country are
contaminated with high concentrations of Arsenic.
Water and Sanitation Coverage and MDGs
1. The Government of Bangladesh committed to achieve 100% sanitation by 201312
. As
per the 2013 JMP data, access to improved sanitation facilities in rural areas is 55%13
as of
2011 and the coverage has significantly increased from 42% in 2000 which could be
attributed to substantial emphasis placed by the government on sanitation since the last
9 988 Persons/sq.km (2014) according to United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
(www.em.wikipedia.org) 10
Source: www.en.wikipedia.org 11
http://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/Arsenic.pdf 12
Sanitation Sector Status and GAP Analysis, Md.Mujibur Rahman, BEUT, Dhaka for GSF-WSSCC, Sep 2009 13
Demographic and Health Survey of 2011 places a lower figure of 34% as the proportion of population with
improved sanitation facilities.
5
decade. The challenges are still there as 14% rural population is still using unhygienic
sanitation facilities and about 5% population practice open defecation.
National Policies for WASH Sector
2. The Ministry of Local Government for Rural Development and Co-operatives
(MoLGRD&C) is responsible for the development of Water and Sanitation related sectoral
policies in Bangladesh. The Ministry has issued several policies, circulars and guidelines
since 1998 and majority of these address household sanitation in rural and urban areas. The
policies in Bangladesh during the last two decades are listed below.
National Policy for Water Supply and Sanitation (1998)
Sector Development Framework (2004)
National Sanitation Strategy (2005)
Pro Poor Strategy for Water and Sanitation Sector in Bangladesh (2005)
Policies related to WASH in Schools
3. The sector policies in Bangladesh emphasize sanitation coverage and hygiene
practices and highlight approaches and strategies that were tested and remained successful in
the context of Bangladesh but there is little reflection on approaches of WASH in Schools in
these documents. As of today, the available policies and guidelines do not adequately reflect
and commit to complete WASH achievements in Schools in tandem with the national goal of
achieving 100% sanitation coverage.
National Standards for WASH for schools
4. These were developed with support from UNICEF and released by the Ministry of
Primary and Mass Education (MoPME) in 2012. The standards deal with hygiene promotion,
control of vector-borne disease, cleaning and waste disposal, food storage and preparation,
water supply (water quality, quantity and access) and sanitation (quantity, quality and
access). The Standards also recommend appropriate facilities14 for menstrual hygiene
management for female teachers and adolescent girls. The standards highlight the need for
sustained hygiene promotion and use of water and sanitation facilities as an essential resource
for improved hygiene behavior. The Standards place the responsibility of the day to day
operation and maintenance of WASH Facilities in schools with the School Management
Committee (SMC) and Parent Teachers Association (PTA) and allocating resources for the
same. Some of the provisions of the Standards are as below.
Hygiene Promotion
Training and refresher training to teachers by the DPE and the DPHE
Students‟ brigade from students of Grade 3-5 in primary schools and Grade 6-8 in
Secondary schools shall be formed and will be given responsibilities for school
cleanliness activities and hygiene promotion in schools and communities.
14 A private place to change (and wash and dry) cloth or rags, provision of covered wastage containers to throw
away rags (or sanitary pads), and water inside cubicles for cleaning.
6
Water
Location of Water Points should be at least 10 meters away from latrines, One
Water Point for each 100 students in school
Acceptable Arsenic concentration ≤ 50 μg/l15
Basic Quantities – Day Schools – 5 lpcd for children and staff
Additional Quantities – Flushing toilets (10-20 lpcd), Pour flush toilets(1.3-3 lpcd)
Toilets
Separate toilets for boys and girls
1 per 50 children, 1 for each 10 female staff and 1 for each 10 male staff
60% of total amount of boys facilities as urinals.
At least 1 separate cubicle each for male and female children with disabilities with
ramped access, a wide door, sufficient space inside to manoeuvre and provision of
handrail.
Handwashing facility near the toilet
5. The standards however do not include details of potential safe disposal arrangements
for used cloths/rags or sanitary pads in school environments as part of Menstrual Hygiene
Management.
National Hygiene Promotion Strategy for Water Supply and Sanitation
6. Ministry of Local Government for Rural Development and Co-operatives
(MoLGRD&C) issued this policy in 2011, again developed with support from UNICEF and
provides broader framework for hygiene promotion in rural and urban areas and recommends
inter-sectoral efforts to target communities and schools.
The National Forum for Water Supply and Sanitation (NF-WSS) under LGD is to co-
ordinate, provide guidance and resource allocation for hygiene promotion activities at
the national level. The forum is also responsible for monitoring the progress and
success of the hygiene promotion activities through Upzilla WATSAN Committees in
rural area and Ward WATSAN Committees in Urban area.
The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME) to ensure hygiene education
in primary schools and ensure hygienic practices in schools by ensuring facilities
through Directorate of Primary Education (DPE). They are to incorporate hygiene
practices in the curriculum at different levels and highlight the importance of running
water in latrines in schools to maintain hygiene.
The Ministry of Information (MoI) is responsible for spreading the hygiene related
messages by mass media campaign and through electronic and print media.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and the Ministry of Education
(MoE) are to promote hygiene in general.
15 As per “ The Environment Conservation Rules, 1997, Schedule – 3B Standards for Water/Drinking Water”
The standard is five times higher than the WHO specified standard of 10μg/l.
7
7. The strategy outlines key thematic areas for hygiene promotion in plain land areas and
Hard-to-reach areas in the country. Some of the relevant approaches are the integration of
Monitoring Information System (MIS) at National level, thematic group of partners in Water
Supply and Sanitation, appropriate sanitation technologies, Behavioural Change
Communication (BCC) through inter personal communication, use of mass-community-
social media and national hygiene campaigns.
8. The policy however focuses on primary schools and does not adequately address the
needs of hygiene education in secondary schools.
Institutional Set-up for WASH in Schools
Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE)
9. The DPHE is the responsible agency under the Ministry of Local Government for
Rural Development and Co-operatives (MoLGRD&C) for water and sanitation in rural and
urban areas (except Dhaka, Chittagong and Narayanganj cities) across the country. They are
responsible for infrastructure development and O&M technical assistance in areas of human
excreta, sullage disposal, drainage and solid waste management. Among other
responsibilities, they are also responsible for water quality monitoring and surveillance, water
supply technology development including water quality mitigation measures, hygiene
promotion and capacity development of Local Government Institutions (LGIs) and others.
The DPHE was involved in WASH in Schools programme for technical support for
construction of WASH Facilities by the SMCs.
Directorate of Primary and Mass Education (DPE)
10. The DPE, under the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education which was created in
2003, is responsible for administration and development of primary and non formal education
in the country. Primary education is compulsory in the country and free for all. Education
from pre-primary to Grade V is administered by the DPE. The DPE was involved in
providing WASH training to primary teachers in the initial period of SHEWA-B.
11. The DPE is currently implementing the largest primary education and development
programme in the country (PEDP 3). The project is a part of a sector wide approach to
establish an efficient, inclusive and equitable primary education system aimed at delivering
effective and relevant child-friendly learning to all children in Bangladesh.
Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE)
12. The DSHE is under the Ministry of Education responsible for administration and
development of post-primay education which covers general education, madrashah education,
technical-vocational education and professional education. The National Academy for
Education Management is responsible for in-service training of senior administrators and
teachers at secondary and higher secondary levels. The DSHE was involved in the training of
secondary schools teachers in SHEWA-B.
13. Although, primary and secondary education is administered by two separate
ministries, both the ministries are headed by a common Minister of Education.
8
Schools in Bangladesh
14. In Bangladesh, there are 104017 primary schools and 15273 secondary schools as per
the 2012 statistics although the proportion of private schools and secondary schools are quite
high in the country. About 63% primary schools and 98% secondary schools are run by the
private sector. Enrolment of girls in primary (50.2%) and secondary schools (51.1%) is
higher compared to boys. Table below presents the number of schools under various
categories.
Management Nos No of Teachers No of Students
Male Female Total Boys Girls Total
Primary Schools
Govt 37672 79339 135319 214658 5279955 5476811 10756766
Regd.Non Govt 22101 41600 44936 86536 2037172 2066808 4103980
Non-Regd Non-Govt 1949 2044 4603 6647 141251 138800 280051
Experimental 56 26 206 232 5759 5618 11377
Others* 42239 64903 76823 141726 1998971 1852065 3851036
Total Primary 104017 187912 261887 449799 9463108 9540102 19003210
Secondary Schools
Public 453 6991 2343 7225 125716 121538 247254
Private 21284 153194 46487 199681 3324697 3839815 7164512
Total Secondary 21737 158076 48830 206906 3450413 3961353 7411766
GRAND TOTAL 125754 345988 310717 656705 12913521 13501455 26414976
Source: Ministry of Education Statistics-2012 on www.moedu.gov.bd
*Include Community schools, High School Attached primary schools, Ebtedyee Madrasah, High Madrasah
Attached Ebtedyee, NGO Schools, Kindergartern, BRAC Centres. ROSC, Shishu Kollyan.
School Operations
15. As observed in the field, secondary schools operate in single shift and most primary in
double shifts (divided in Grade 1-2 and Grade 3-5) except in some schools where double
shifts are run owing to limited classrooms. With the average timetable for primary schools in
double shifts is 3 hours, in practice Grades 1-2 receive only two hours of lessons and Grade
3-5 receive 3.5 hrs of lessons. Primary schools remain open for about 228 days16 considering
holidays and vacations. Secondary schools remain open for about 6 hours in a day including
lunch time. Generally, a lunch break for 45 minutes to an hour is provided in all schools
during which children use water and sanitation facilities in schools. Children are allowed to
use sanitation facilities during classes upon request by them. Many schools reported problem
of limited space available for expansion of sanitation facilities and for additional classrooms.
School Development and Resources
16. Government Primary schools (GPS) and Secondary Schools are fully managed by the
government and School Management Committees (SMCs). Registered non government
Primary and Secondary schools receive the government support in the form salaries of
teachers, physical infrastructure development, cost of educational supplies and equipment
from the Government.
16 Official days 242 as per ASPR 2013
9
Water and Sanitation Situation in Schools
17. According to the Annual Sector Performance report (ASPR) which provides statistics
of 2012, 85% primary schools have at least one functional toilet and 92% schools have
functional potable water point. The table below provides more details of the WASH situation
in primary schools.
Indicator Baseline
2010 2011 2012
Target
2016
% of schools with separate functioning toilet for girls 31 48 63 80
% of schools with atleast one functioning toilet 96 97 85 100
% of schools with potable water 71 77 79 100
% of schools which depend on a functional water points 33 47 67 95
% of schools which have a functioning water point that
have a potable water 83 82 92 95
18. There has been a significant increase especially in the provision of separate toilets for
girls among other improvements. Most of the schools have tubewells as water points but
some of them are yet to be tested for arsenic contamination and painted. Similar data for
secondary schools is not available.
Historical and Ongoing `WASH in Schools’ Programmes in Bangladesh
Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP 3)
19. The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME) and Ministry of Education
(MoE) plan their school development programmes. This approach applies to WASH in
Schools also. The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education has been working towards an
inclusive and equitable education system and improving school environments with the
construction of classrooms and WASH facility under the sector wide Approach adopted
through massive Primary Education and Development Programmes being implemented since
2003. PEDP 2 implemented from 2003-2010 and PEDP 3 has been underway since 2011 and
is expected to continue to 2016. Total of 128,955 toilets and 39,300 tube-wells in the primary
schools will be constructed17
. On completion of PEDP 3, it is expected that all government
primary schools will be covered with WASH facilities by 2016. PEDP 3 implements `WASH
in Schools‟ infrastructure with the involvement of the DPHE.
20. National standards of WASH in Schools were relaxed in PEDP 318 owing to space
constraints in schools and funds constraints in the national level. PEDP 3 has adopted toilet
children ratio of 1:50 for girls and 1:75 for boys and considered that teachers would also use
the same in order to ensure cleanliness of toilets.
21. Planning processes in PEDP 3 are based on the national school assessment done
initially in the project which is still being used for selection of schools and planning the
infrastructure in schools. Field visits by UNICEF Team to GPSs in Moulvibazar19 and
Sylhet20 District observed several gaps. These are –
17 www.washinschoolsmapping.com
18 Report on Need-Based Infrastructure-PDEP3, Dr.P.K.Das, Consultant, New Delhi, India
19 Dakshinbhag Govt Primary School, Village: Aurangabad, Upzilla: Borelekha, Dist: Moulvibazar
10
Less flexibility in planning a) to accommodate schools where WASH facility does not
exist or in poor usable condition b) to modify proposals based on available and usable
WASH facility. Duplication of water points and toilet blocks observed in a few
schools where provision of the same was already made under SHEWA-B where as a
few schools were excluded on the pretext of no space available though they badly
needed the facility. It was also reported that the Selection of schools for WASH
facility was done on the basis of electricity availability in schools; the approach may
have resulted in exclusion of schools.
The planning is not adequately backed up with effective field level assessments which
are to be done jointly by DPE and DPHE officials. There is also no significant role for
the district officials to make changes in the plans received from the National level
based on local site conditions.
Hygiene promotion and capacity building of children, teachers and SMCs is not
covered by the programme.
Plans for maintenance and related capacity building of SMCs are also not covered by
the programme although provision of funds for maintenance is reported to be there.
The programme also does not cover any rehabilitation measures for existing WASH
facilities
22. Careful planning and hygiene promotion with maintenance related capacity building
can enhance the chances of sustained use of the WASH infrastructure developed in PEDP 3.
Sanitation, Hygiene Education and Water in Bangladesh (SHEWA-B)
23. With the support from DFID, UNICEF and the Government of Bangladesh
implemented this programme across 19 districts (16 plain and 3 in hilly areas of CHT) and
worked in communities and in schools in rural and urban areas over the period 2007-2013.
SHEWA-B was conceived based on successes and lessons learned from the Environmental
Sanitation, Hygiene, and Water Supply in Rural Areas (ESHWARA) implemented over the
period 2001-2006. The project objective targeted 21.4 million people within the project area
to improve their hygiene practices and behavior on a sustainable basis, whilst ensuring
adequate sanitation and safe water supply in selected un-served and under-served areas,
particularly for the poorest.
24. SHEWA-B targeted 9187 primary and 650 secondary schools in rural and urban areas
through a component called WASH in Schools. The programme was implemented in
collaboration with the DPHE, the DPE and the DSHE at the National level and in Project
Districts, and with involvement and support from NGOs and Facilitating agencies.
UNICEF-Dutch Embassy Funded `WASH in Schools’ Programme
25. With the assistance of Dutch Funding, UNICEF planned to cover 500 primary and
secondary schools in Difficult and Hard-to-Reach areas of seven districts21 from November
2012 to December 2014. Learning from the successes of outreach activities in cluster
Baraikandi Government Primary School, Moharani, Union-2 Gashipur Bazar, Dist:Moulvibazar 20
Chikanagul Adarsh School, Village: Ghaterchoti, Dist: Sylhet 21
Khulna, Satkhira, Narail and Bagerhat districts in the southwest, Patuakhali district in the south-central,
Kagrachari, Bandarban and Rangamati in the southeast
11
communities in SHEWA-B, the programme will scale up the School Led Total Sanitation
(SLTS) approach in these schools to achieve sustainable hygiene behavior among children
and those of school communities. The programme would also cover a comprehensive
capacity building of Teachers, Masons and SMCs on construction of WASH facilities and the
construction activities will be further supervised by engineers recruited through the
programme NGOs.
WASH in Schools programme by Other Players
26. There are several other major stakeholders involved in `WASH in Schools‟
programme in the country such as Save the Children, BRAC and several other NGOs. BRAC,
the largest NGO in Bangladesh and implementing `WASH in Schools‟ programme covering
4964 schools in 245 Upzillas with support from Dutch and DFID. The BRAC programme
targets private secondary schools and the focus has been on the construction of toilets for
girls with menstrual hygiene management facilities (collection waste bin inside the toilet and
dumper outside). Handwashing and water points where needed are covered under the
programme. The programme does not target any O&M related interventions. BRAC is also
offering hygiene promotion in primary schools.
12
Chapter 3 Review of WASH in Schools Programme of SHEWA-B
The `WASH in Schools’ Programme Areas and Achievements
1. The WASH in Schools component of SHEWA-B supported four major areas of a)
hygiene promotion and social mobilisation, b) construction of water points c)
rehabilitation/new construction of sanitation facilities and d) supported development of
several polices at national level with inter-sectoral collaborations as a part of the sector
support.
2. Hygiene promotion was supported in all 9837 schools where as rehabilitation and
construction of new WASH facilities were supported in selected schools. The project also
tested hygiene promotion and sanitation activities in cluster communities around schools in
450 schools and received successes in select schools. Following is the progress achieved by
the closure of the project in 2013.
Sr.
No. Indicator
Primary
Schools
Secondary
Schools
Total
1 No of schools received Hygiene Promotion 9187 650 9837
2 No of Schools where WASH facilities rehabilitated 2007 134 2141
3 No of Schools where WASH facilities constructed 2194 187 2381
4 No of School Children received hygiene promotion 2509031 109030 2618061
5 No of School Children accessed WASH Facilities 1170490 159389 1329879
6 No of Teachers trained on Hygiene Promotion 27561 3250 30811
7 No of SMC members trained on Hygiene Promotion 18374 1950 20324
Source: UNICEF Data
3. The `WASH in Schools‟ achievements against some key indicators are given below.
The `WASH in Schools‟ component did fairly well and surpassed the targets in terms of
reaching students on hygiene messages through Hygiene Promotion activities. It also
achieved substantial progress in the provision of improved sanitation facilities in schools
(63%) and ensuring availability of soap for handwashing at schools and at household level
(72%). Maintenance of sanitation facilities in schools however remained a major challenge.
Sr.
No.
Project LogFrame Indicators
(November 2011) Targets 2012
Project
Achievements*
1 No.of Schools gaining access to improved
sanitation facilities 7,153 Schools
4,522 (2141+2381)
(63%)
2
Number of students gaining access to arsenic-safe
water as a result of newly installed/repaired water
points in primary and secondary schools
1,238,250
Students
459,192 Students
(37%)
3
Number of students in primary schools gaining
new or repaired latrines for boys and for girls,
which are accessible
1,238,750
Students
702,294 Students
(56%)
13
4
Number of people in communities and
schoolchildren in project area having acquired
adequate knowledge of hygiene, sanitation and safe
water messages. (Total 21.4 million population,
and 2.4 million school children)
1.56 Million
school children
2.35 Million school
children (150%)
5
Number of people and students in project area
whose household/school has soap/ash and water at
convenient place for handwashing after defecation
event. (Total 21.4 million population; 2.4 million
schoolchildren)
1.92 Million
Students
1.38 Million
Students (72%)
* UNICEF Data
Implementation Approaches and Strategies
4. SHEWA-B was originally designed to be delivered from 2006-2011. The actual
implementation started in 2007 and therefore, the project had to be extended. The project
received an extension in 2011 upto 2012 but some activities were added in WASH in Schools
and those continued till the end of 2013. The extension to the project came with expansion of
WASH in School activities in 500 secondary schools. During the extension period, the
project implementation suffered on account of political unrest in the country in 2012 and
General Elections in 2013. Implementation approaches and strategies for various areas of the
`WASH in Schools‟ are discussed below.
Hygiene Promotion and Social Mobilisation
5. Hygiene Promotion and social mobilisation activities called as `Software Support‟,
were largely guided by the baseline and midline monitoring findings. A joint study by the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and icddr,b in 2009 prior to the Mid-Term
Review of the project influenced the project to redesign its hygiene promotion strategy to
focus on 3 hygiene behaviors (in schools only 2 hygiene behaviors were focused; hand
washing with soap after using the toilet and before taking food) from 11 messages earlier
planned. In the early stages of the project, the software support was delivered through the
DPE and the DSHE using a cascade approach of training teachers and then to school children.
During the extended project period of 2011-12, support was provided through 3 National
NGOs with support of 76 Field Agencies in the districts.
6. A cascade approach with a standard package of 3 day training for 3 teachers and 2
SMC members was offered to project schools. In primary schools, the training was delivered
by the DPE through their Primary Teachers Training Institutes (PTIs) and in secondary
schools, the project NGOs conducted these training with support from the DSHE and the
DPHE officials. In both the categories of schools, the trained teachers formed the school
brigades as per the School Brigade Guideline developed by the Government of Bangladesh
and developed activities to promote messages in schools.
7. School Brigades comprising boys and girls were formed in primary and secondary
schools and the responsibilities were given for hygiene promotion in schools and in cluster
communities around schools, with prior training from the school teachers at the school level.
14
Construction of Water Points and Water Quality
8. New water points (tubewells) were constructed in schools to provide arsenic safe
water for drinking and adequate water for handwashing and sanitation purposes. In almost all
schools, running water in toilets and at handwashing facilities was ensured by a provision of
pumped system22 and overhead storages23 or an innovative non-pumped system connecting
tube well with ground storage.
9. Across the project, water points in schools were constructed through SMCs with
technical support either from the DPHE or from the project NGOs. Water Points are required
to be painted red if arsenic concentration exceeds the permissible limit of 50μg/l or green if
arsenic is within the permissible limit. Such painting of water points is done based on the
water testing done by water mechanic24 of the DPHE.
Rehabilitation and Construction of New Sanitation Facilities
10. The WASH in Schools programme supported the development of various designs for
school sanitation facilities. There are several designs available now as many as 15 for schools
with different student enrollment numbers and for boy‟s toilets, girls toilets and combined
toilets for boys and girls. The designs are continuously being modified based on the feedback
to make them more child friendly.
11. Rehabilitation of existing sanitation facilities is being done where existing facilities
are in repairable conditions. New facilities are constructed when rehabilitation is not possible,
old toilets are abandoned or facilities do not exist. Rehabilitation or new constructions are
done through SMCs with technical support from the DPHE. In SHEWA-B, funds were
disbursed to the SMCs through the DPHE or directly through the NGOs. in the early stages of
the project but later on, disbursements were made through the NGOs. The nature of technical
support included engagement of masons, their training, construction supervision and onsite
technical advice.
Observations and Findings – Programme Support
12. The following is the summary of observations and findings of the review. These are
further discussed and analysed in the subsequent paragraphs. Comments on Sector Support
are discussed later.
Areas that worked well
Hygiene Behavioral Communication (messages reinforced through various sources)
Empowering School Children as Change Agents (School Brigades)
Improved water availability (new water points and running water in toilets and
handwashing facilities)
Improved sanitation facilities with separate toilets for boys and girls and handwashing
facility
22 Water points fitted with 1 Horse Power (HP) or higher capacity submersible pumps
23 Typical Overhead Water Storages observed in the field were of 1000 litres capacity, which were filled as and
when needed. 24
Generally, 4 mechanics are attached to each upzilla office
15
Areas that worked to a less Extent
Support and participation of Districts and Upzillas
Capacity Building of Teachers, School Brigades and those of government officials
Water safety and remedial measures (water quality testing, location of water points at
a safe distance from toilets –minimum 10m, painting of water points for arsenic
safety, and mitigation measures)
Construction supervision for sanitation facilities (ventilation, designs of sewage
disposal facilities, user friendly drawings)
Operation and maintenance of school water and sanitation facilities
Gaps
Consultations with children on school sanitation facilities
Sensitization of adolescent girls, female teachers on menstrual hygiene management
and safe disposal facilities for used menstrual materials
Capacity building of SMCs and their mobilisation on maintenance of WASH facilities
Monitoring at school level by districts & upzillas
Areas that Worked well
Hygiene Behavioral Change Communication
13. In the WASH in Schools component, hygiene
promotion covering handwashing messages was
promoted using printed materials (posters, Teachers
Guides, Story Books), and school based activities. These
were further supported and reinforced by an ongoing
mass communication programme run on TV with
support from UNICEF which telecasted hygiene
messages. Many schools were found with hygiene
messages posters posted in classrooms, libraries and in
Head Teachers‟ office. Many children also reported
seeing Meena Cartoon on TV and the story books used in the schools. A high recall of
messages and source references provided confirmation that posters provided in schools and
mass communication programme on TV remained effective in reinforcing the massages.
School based activities were led by school teachers and included weekly or biweekly hygiene
sessions (generally held on Thursdays), hygiene messages recall in assemblies, school
cleanliness activities and celebration of handwashing days. According to primary school
children, classroom sessions and demonstrations of hand washing remained effective in
disseminating hygiene messages. In secondary schools, posters, involvement of an external
facilitator25
and sessions by teachers were reported to be effective. The strategy of delivering
messages through multiple sources has greatly reinforced the messages among children.
25 Community Health Promoters (CHPs) engaged in the project visited project schools for a short period of 9
months during July 2011-March 2012. They reportedly demonstrated handwashing in schools. Their support
reportedly diminished during the later part of their involvement.
16
14. Outdoor activities linked to hygiene promotion (sports, games etc) were however not
attempted in schools. Hygiene corners developed in some schools found to be not used as
intended to be in absence of clear guidance on their effective use.
15. Consultations with children in intervention and non-intervention schools (Sylhet)
confirmed that the knowledge of hand washing messages existed among children from an
early age and they received it from their mothers and teachers and from the practices
promoted in homes. The findings of the Endline Assessment done by icddr,b in 2012
confirms that there were no significant differences in knowledge levels of children in control
schools (non-intervention) compared to those in intervention schools.
Outcomes Control Schools BCC Schools Combined Schools
2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012
KNOWLEDGE
Knew both messages 81% 84% 87% 90% 90% 88%
Knew HW after defecation 90% 91% 93% 94% 94% 94%
Knew HW before eating 88% 90% 93% 95% 95% 93%
Source: SHEWA-B WASH in Schools (WinS), Endline Assessment 2012, August 2013
16. It was reported that hygiene messages were included in the curriculum of primary and
secondary schools. However, due to the language and time constraints, the same could not be
reviewed during the review but it is suggested that the messages to be reviewed jointly with
17
the DPE and the DSHE in immediate future and the methodologies to deliver these messages
through school based activities to be evolved and agreed.
17. During the consultations with children in schools, children demanded more
information on health and hygiene aspects indicating some knowledge gaps and suggested
demonstrations and the use of multimedia for dissemination of messages. The knowledge
levels of school children on the messages certainly guides to the nature of future interventions
required to fill current knowledge gaps and provide more opportunities to practice their
knowledge in school environments.
18. More structured inputs with innovative and creative activities focusing on filling
knowledge gaps and promoting practices could strengthen the current behavioral change
communication approach in schools. Frequency and intensity of school activities have varied
from school to school depending on the support and interests taken by teachers and have
reduced after the closure of the project. It is also a challenge to sustain such activities at
school level in a non-project environment and in absence of any incentives.
Empowering Children as Change Agents (School Brigades)
19. School brigades were formed in primary and secondary schools representing children
from school catchment areas nearby. The formation was generally guided by the DPE
Guideline issued in 2010. School Brigades, with equal number of boys and girls, were largely
involved in cleanliness of school classrooms, school premises, school toilets and community
level hygiene promotion activities. The activities and involvement of school brigades vary
from school to school and depending on interests taken and support by Head Teachers and
teachers. During the field visits, school brigades in most of the secondary schools were found
to be active with high motivation levels and it is important that their motivation levels are
sustained through their continuous engagement in various activities at school level.
20. According to the Government of Bangladesh guidelines, Students Councils are
formed in primary schools which are more involved in classroom management and
monitoring. However, school brigades have been accepted and continued by many schools
but the issue of integration of school brigades and student councils remains unclear. BRAC,
the largest NGO in Bangladesh, has adopted the concept of the School Brigade and it is being
replicated in 4964 schools where WASH support is being provided.
21. The formative research done by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine (2009) recommended involving children to promote new social norm of hygiene
behavior in communities. In line with this recommendation, an approach was tested in
limited ways in 450 schools where school brigades carried out hygiene promotion and
sanitation assessments in cluster communities. In Fekulmohammadpur School in Jamalganj
Upzilla (Sunamgonj district), the school brigade could mobilize and influence 176
households for conversion of unhygienic toilets to hygienic toilets. The results were quite
encouraging to promote children as effective change agents and influence community
behaviors. The results strongly indicate the potential value of this approach for promoting
community sanitation. There was however, less evidence that school brigades were involved
in peer-group education within their schools and influenced hygiene behaviors of other
students into the community.
18
Improved Water Availability and Running Water in toilets
22. By construction of new water points and a provision of pumped/manual systems and
storage, the majority of schools got access to running water in toilets (handwashing facility
was part of the toilet facility) which is a significant contribution in accelerating handwashing
in schools. This single most factor has also impacted significantly on improving attendance
by girls and boys who otherwise reported to be absent from classes to use alternate facilities
outside schools. Such improvement in attendance was confirmed by Head Teachers and also
narrated by girl children during interviews with them in a few schools26
. The impact of water
availability on attendance of girls and boys was more visible in schools where water was
scarce or not available at all (CHT area).
Improved Sanitation Facilities
23. The sanitation facilities in a total of 2141 schools were rehabilitated and newly
constructed in 4522 schools. These improved/new facilities provided access to nearly 1.2
Million children from primary and secondary schools. In case of rehabilitated facilities,
separate toilets were provided for boys and girls and if required added new ones. The existing
disposal arrangements (either septic tank or leach pits) were also rehabilitated or additionally
provided. Newly constructed facilities were generally provided with septic tanks for
treatment of fecal matter. In almost all cases, a provision of running water in toilets was made
as a part of the package. The provision of improved toilets was marked a significant
improvement over the existing situations in schools with no toilets, limited toilets, less water
or no water at all. Access to improved toilets has also improved the school attendance by
girls and boys and reduced significantly the crowding of toilets and resultant queuing up by
children (Alluadin Memorial High School, Shilimganj, Somangonj District).
24. Many of the newly constructed facilities offered several features such as mirrors, feet
and handwashing facility inside the toilet complex, running water inside the toilets and at
handwashing facility, and rag washing platforms for girls for washing their used menstruation
materials (in secondary schools). The new facilities are also easy to clean and maintain due to
the use of tiles inside and outside the toilets.
26 Parachhara High School, Union: Khagrachari, Khagrachari District
Alluadin Memorial High School, Shilimganj, Somangonj District
19
Areas that worked to a lesser extent
Support and participation of Districts and Upzillas
25. UNICEF advocated for the collaborative efforts of the DPE, the DSHE and the
DPHE. Both the DPE27 and the DSHE signed a MoU of collaborative efforts with the DPHE
in November 2009 recognizing that safe water, clean toilets and handwashing facilities as a
pre-condition for creating learning environments in schools. The MoU clearly identified the
areas of support from these partners with hardware support from the DPHE and hygiene
promotion support from the DPE/the DSHE. Although the DPHE was involved in the
supervision of the WASH facilities and the water quality testing, the DSHE and the DPEs
involvement remained limited to supporting initial training conducted for the school teachers
and the SMCs but in the later processes of the programme, their involvement and support
were almost absent.
Capacity Building
26. Capacity building within the programme was limited to a single training offered to the
DPE, DSHE Officials at District and Upzilla level and also to 3 Teachers and 2 members of
the SMCs. There were no follow up training offered which could have helped to fill
knowledge gaps and strengthen their skills. The school children received their orientations
only through their teachers and some facilitation support from the Project NGOs.
27 Signed between Director General of DPE and Chief Engineer DPHE
20
Water Safety and Remedial Measures
27. Field observations confirm that at several locations, water points were found
constructed at less than the recommended28
minimum distance of 10m from septic tanks or
leach pits of school latrines. Such water points close to the toilets reported to be used for hand
and feet washing and collecting water for cleaning the toilets. This could be possibly true as
in some schools29
, there were separate water points –which were much away from the toilets -
used for drinking water. Water points close to toilets carry the risk of being used for drinking
by children (due to the practice of drinking water directly from the water point) and to avert
such risks, they need to be constructed beyond 10m distance even though they are meant for
non-drinking purpose. Closer monitoring on the field can guide location of water points or
construction of toilets at recommended safe distance from each other.
28. Water Quality Testing for arsenic contamination, especially in arsenic affected areas,
by the local DPHE staff was not done consistently in all schools on account of limited staff (4
water mechanics at each Upzilla level involved in such testing) and absence of national water
quality monitoring programme for testing of 100% water points . One of the schools30
informed that the testing was not done since the last 1-2 years. Pending such testing, many of
the water points are yet to be painted (water point top assembly) to confirm their status as
safe or unsafe. There is no clear data available in terms of any such testing done by the
Project NGOs. Anecdotal data suggests that arsenic contamination have varied over a period
of time at a particular location and across locations warranting regular testing. Arsenic
contamination issues are significant for schools in arsenic affected area.
Construction Supervision of Sanitation Facilities
29. The project has succeeded in integrating several child friendly features with the
improved sanitation facilities but there are areas of further improvement. There were
inadequacies noticed with the rehabilitated or newly constructed facilities in terms of
inadequate cross ventilation or no ventilation in toilets, non provision of ramps and hand
railings for children with disability, rag washing platforms with an inappropriate height, in
appropriate height of water taps in urinals and other privacy features. Volumes for septic
tanks provided were similar irrespective of number of children in schools. Interconnections of
septic tanks and soak pits were incorrect in a school31
in Bandarban and similar in corrections
were done in other schools also as reported by the NGO (DAM), and the leach pit junction
box was not rehabilitated in a school32
in Sunamgonj. Some of these features, though they
were part of the original designs, were not implemented on the ground largely due to lack of
on time technical support and lack of understanding of the same among the SMCs and the
Masons. In Bandarban, where schools are supported by the NGO (DAM), it was reported that
there was only one engineer from the NGO to supervise works in multiple schools in the
entire district.
30. There are several designs for school sanitation facilities are available. There are no
standard design prototypes available at the national level. It was observed that the toilets
28 National Standards for WASH in Schools, 2012
29 Itauri Haji Yunusmiah Memorial High School, Village: Itauri, Union: Nizbadhpur, Upzilla: Boralekha, Dist:
Moulvibazar and Shahid Sudarshan High School, Dengla Village, Sunamganj District 30
Dakshinbhag Govt Primary School, Village: Aurangabad, Upzilla: Borelekha, Dist: Moulvibazar 31 Raicha High School, Upzilla: Bandarban Sadar 32 Karimpur Primary School, Upzilla: Jamalgonj
21
drawings developed were of highly technical nature (engineering drawings) and less user
friendly when they were to be referred by SMCs and local masons. In the CHT area, where
getting experienced masons is a problem and providing frequent on-site technical support is
difficult due to remoteness of villages, user friendly drawings can be used as an useful
reference by SMCs and masons to undertake constructions as per designs.
31. Some of the design issues such toilet/children ratio and selection of appropriate
sanitation technology, require further review. With the addition of new toilets, the toilet
children ratio in schools is still high (Refer table below) in the schools visited and is well
above the national standard of 1:50 or even the PEDP 3 standard of 1:75 for boys. However,
in the schools visited, there were no reports of overcrowding of toilets where the facilities
were newly constructed. This could be attributed to longer lunch breaks (45 minutes to 1
hour) provided and children were allowed to use toilets during classes. But this needs to be
examined further in the field.
Schools Children
Strength Teachers
Teachers/
Children
ratio
Toilet/
Boys
Toilet/
Girls
Toilet/
Teachers
Sylhet, Moilvibazar
Primary Schools 150-600 3-13 44-58 70-173 77-296 0-10
Secondary Schools 300-1600 6-20 35-89 61-222 50-122 0-20
CHT (Bandarban, Khagrachhari)
Primary Schools 261-461 4-14 27 81-162 54-163 12
Secondary Schools 268-400 8-12 26-35 66-175 44-175 4-11
32. A standard technology choice of septic tanks is used across plain areas and hilly areas.
Septic tank may be more suitable for plain areas where ground water table is high. But in the
hilly area (CHT) where ground water table is low and water availability is low, other
technology options such pour flush toilets with leach pits could have been useful.
Depending on ground water table conditions and water availability, a choice of technology
can be made for plain and the CHT area which will optimize the capital costs for sanitation
facilities particularly in the CHT area.
Gaps
Consultations with Children on Sanitation Facilities
33. There were no consultations held with children prior to the design of the sanitation
facilities or during the construction. There are several features of the facilities that required
prior consultations such as type and no of taps for handwashing, access, ventilation, privacy
features and provision of facilities for menstrual hygiene management (with girls). Such
consultations would have guided the design of the sanitation facilities to make them more
child friendly.
Sensitization of Adolescent Girls and Safe Disposal Facilities for Used Menstrual Materials
34. New sanitary facilities in secondary schools are provided with rag washing platforms
for girls to wash their used menstruation clothes. Although, the facilities were provided,
22
sensitization to girls on the facility as well on Menstrual Hygiene Management issues was
missed in the project. Non-Provision of safe disposal arrangements for used menstrual clothes
in schools is also a gap.
Capacity Building of SMCs and their mobilisation on maintenance of WASH Facilities
35. Training to the SMCs especially on construction (for secondary schools) and
maintenance of WASH facilities remained a major gap in the project. Similarly, PTAs also
did not receive any support in the project. In the absence of any mobilisation support, the
SMCs could not be actively engaged on issues of maintenance. Procurement of supplies
(soaps, cleaning chemicals) remained adhoc and inadequate. In a school in Sunamganj
District (Alluadin Memorial High School, Shilimganj), electrical connection for the newly
installed pumped tube well was not obtained by the SMC on time so the school had to fetch
water manually.
Monitoring at School level and by Districts & Upzillas
36. Hygiene promotion activities and hygiene behaviors were rarely monitored by District
and Upzilla officials. School based monitoring systems were also absent which could have
been useful especially for School Brigades for tracking availability of soap, handwashing, use
of toilets and cleanliness of toilets etc. School based monitoring systems, if implemented
properly can stimulate demand for upkeep and maintenance of WASH facilities and
eventually for clean and hygienic facilities. Interestingly, during the school visits, many of
the schools cited that external monitoring would be the largest incentive to improve the
maintenance.
Challenges and Issues concerning Sustainability
Sustaining Hygiene Activities at school level
37. After the initial training in the project, hygiene promotion activities remained
subjective to school initiatives with limited hand holding support from the project, and they
generally lacked the creativity. There was also feedback given that teachers considered these
interventions as an additional burden and developed a sense of disassociation. Integration of
hygiene promotion activities with school level activities is therefore critical for the
sustenance of hygiene promotion activities at school level. It may be possible to address this
issue by way of a) developing school based activities to deliver messages given in the
curriculum so that such activities shall be conducted across all schools and b) developing a
training module for teachers on WASH in Schools and delivering it through teachers training
institutes of the DPE and the DSHE so that teachers can gain the knowledge and learn the
skills to conduct activities in schools.
38. There are also limited motivational and monitoring factors for teachers and School
Brigades to continue to work on hygiene promotion. A system of monitoring, recognition,
appreciation and exposing them to competitiveness can provide an encouraging environment
for them to continue with the work. UNICEF has already planned a 3 star approach on similar
lines and it is being discussed with the government. Monitoring of schools, school ratings on
performance and incentives in a form of recognitions and rewards would be needed to
strengthen and promote hygiene behaviors at school level.
23
Sustaining Hygiene Behaviours at school level
39. Non-availability of soap, water shortages or non-availability of water (CHT area),
unclean or unhygienic toilets or inadequate number of toilets in schools have adversely
impacted the access and use of WASH facilities and practice of handwashing with soap by
children in schools. These factors have also impacted the attendance of girls and boys in
schools as they had to go out of schools looking for other clean toilets for urination or
defecation (Parachhara High School, Union: Khagrachhari, Khagrachhari District). Shortage
of water during summer forced the school children to use stones or sticks as anal cleansing
material and vandalized the water taps at the handwashing facility in Dalpura High school in
Soalok in Bandarban. Water availability in toilets (either running water or functional water
point), availability of soap and hygienic toilets are key factors and critical to sustain hygiene
behaviors at the school level. Maintenance of WASH facilities remains the key issue in
sustaining hygiene behaviors at school level and requires appropriate policy support to
mobilize SMCs for effective maintenance including provision of adequate supplies (soap and
toilet cleaning chemicals).
Maintenance of WASH Facilities and Financing
40. Maintenance of WASH Facilities, financing and mobilisation of SMCs was
highlighted as a major gap in the project. Although SMCs are responsible for operation and
maintenance of WASH facilities, they were found to be generally not very active on this
issue. In secondary school33 in Bandarban, the blocked toilets were left unattended for several
months due to lack of initiative from the SMC despite having a reserve fund34 of 50,000 BDT
with them. In primary schools35 in Sylhet and Moulvibazar, the sanitation facilities were
badly maintained and found to be not cleaned for a long time.
33 Dalupura High School, Saolok
34 Generated by renting out commercial shops owned by the SMC
35 Chikanagul Government Primary School, Village: Ghaterchoti, Distl Sylhet
Baraikandi Government Primary School, Moharani, Union-2 Gashipur Bazar, Dist: Moulvibazar
Shatma Government Primary School, Village: Boralekha, Dist: Moulvibazar
24
41. With respect to cleaning and maintenance of toilets (existing, rehabilitated or newly
built), different practices were observed in the field for cleaning the toilets. School Brigades,
children, a school staff (a peon) or a hired person, are engaged in cleaning of the toilets. In
most of the cases, the cleaning is irregular or absent. Procurement of soaps, toilet cleaning
materials is observed to be done on an adhoc basis using several funds available at the school
level and appeared to be inadequate to support handwashing with soap and maintain
sanitation facilities in hygienic conditions. Most of the procurement is decided by Head
Teachers who are appointed as member secretaries of SMCs.
42. There have been serious budget constraints raised by schools to mobilize funds for
procurement of the supplies (soap, cleaning materials) and maintenance (minor and major).
There are several issues observed in the field with respect to school finances and financing of
maintenance. There are two types of funds received from the government by primary and
secondary schools. Primary schools have funds such as School Level Improvement Fund
(SLIP) and Contingency Fund. Secondary schools have General School Fund and
Contingency Fund. The provisions of these funds are discussed below.
School Level Improvement Plan (SLIP) Fund36
The SLIP fund, a minimum of 20,000 BDT and a maximum of 50,000 BDT is given
to each primary school (GPS and RNGPS) annually for school level development as
these schools do not have any other source of funding (e.g. school fees which are
waived). SMCs are managing this fund at their discretion based on the guidelines
provided. SLIP funds are also used by a few schools for procuring soap, toilet
cleaning materials and repairs to WASH facilities but largely, many schools have not
prioritised the procurement of supplies and maintenance of toilets using this fund. So
far the Government of Bangladesh has been able to target 60% of GPS and RNGPS in
the country and is planning to enhance the amount and coverage in near future. There
are however cases where the funds have not been released for the last two years.
There is no such fund available for secondary schools.
Contingency Fund
This is given to primary and secondary schools for meeting expenses on stationery,
conveyance for teachers for attending meetings etc. The amounts received under this
fund are small ranging from 500-700 BDT/month and reported to be highly
insufficient by teachers to meet the directed expenses. Many schools informed that
36 Operational Guidelines for the Preparation and Implementation of School Level Improvement Plan (SLIP),
Directorate of Primary Education, August 2008
25
this fund cannot be used to maintain facilities or buy supplies. In Khagrachhari, the
primary school37
was reported using this fund to procure supplies.
General School Fund
This fund is available to secondary schools and is generated through contributions
raised from children as school fees. As observed in the field, such contributions are in
the range of 50-200 BDT per child per month. In some of the schools, additional
contributions of 12-50 BDT per child per year are collected as a sanitation fund.
According to these schools, these contributions are not even adequate to meet the
expenses of supplies let alone the repairs. Many schools showed willingness to raise
fees further to cover maintenance costs of WASH Facilities and supplies (soap and
toilet cleaning materials).
43. The issue of raising funds for maintenance in secondary schools apparently seems to
be manageable as raising funds is in control of SMCs. In the case of primary schools, the
problem is challenging as they do not have any internal resources to raise funds and have to
rely entirely on funds given by the government. According to schools, guidelines currently
available on these funds do not specify any budget allocations or budget heads against which
the expenditure for maintenance can be booked. Such guidelines from the government will
help resolve mobilizing finances for maintenance.
Typical Maintenance Requirements for WASH Facility in School
44. A rough estimate prepared based on the current expenditures incurred by a sample
school indicates that annual maintenance cost equates to about 2% of annual budget of the
school. Such estimate is presented in Annexure 6. A guideline from the DPE and the DSHE
for setting aside such % of school budgets will certainly help resolve the problem. Such
guidelines will draw the attention of SMCs and teachers towards maintenance and the same
can be monitored by upzillas and districts. The estimated budget however requires further
work to make it more realistic and suitable for a range of children enrolled in schools.
45. The budget estimated above also broadly indicates that the SLIP fund alone may not
be sufficient to meet the full cost of maintenance and supplies in the school and the costs may
have to be further supported from the school budget. A combination of SLIP fund and the
school budget would be an ideal to meet the full cost.
Observations and Findings – Enabling Environment (Sector Support)
Inter-sectoral Collaborations
46. At national level, Local Consultative Groups, National Sanitation Task Force,
Disparity Working Group (PEDP 3) are available. Among these, the National Sanitation Task
Force co-ordinates inter-sectoral inputs from the DPE, the DSHE and the DPHE and from
NGOs and Donors. There are no such inter-sectoral working groups at District Level to
discuss programmatic issues and to co-ordinate efforts of all partners and those of the
government. Upzillas are having such inter-sectoral efforts by conducting monthly meetings.
Having a more formal arrangement at the District would help to synergies the efforts.
37 Panchari Bazar Model Sarkari Prathmik Vidyalaya, Panchari Upzilla
26
Similarly, inter-sectoral collaboration among the WASH and Education Section within
UNICEF are also need to be strengthened to facilitate and support the inter-sectoral
collaborations at the national level.
Monitoring
Sectoral Data
47. Currently, the DPE and the DSHE maintain their databases related to schools
independently. Annual School Census of the DPE captures data WASH in schools (only
government and registered non government schools) using 5 indicators38 which need further
refinement with additional indicators to track coverage, toilets for boys, access to arsenic
water etc which is currently a gap.
48. The DSHE maintains its own Education Management Information System (EMIS).
Also BENBIS (The Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics Bureau of
Education under the Ministry of Education) maintains the data for primary and secondary
schools but they maintain data only related to education. It may be possible to integrate
additional WASH indicators with the EMIS or the BANBEIS system for secondary schools.
At present, there is no mechanism to collect data on WASH in schools with respect to
secondary schools. This is a major gap.
49. Secondly, there are huge numbers of WASH facilities being developed by the private
sector, NGOs and Donors and the data of the same is not shared with the government.
Therefore, consolidated data on WASH in Schools is not available either for primary or for
secondary schools. Integration of MIS at a national level, as suggested by the National
Strategy for Hygiene Promotion, could be a possible solution to obtain sectoral data on
WASH in schools.
Monitoring Process and Impact
50. At UNICEF level, process and impact monitoring was done systematically and
externally through the consultants. Process monitoring was done by Yusuf and Company
during 2007-2009 and by Nielson Bangladesh during 2010-2012. The process monitoring
was done through sample surveys in schools with a set of indicators and comparing
improvements over base line situations. The process monitoring provided greater insights into
activities happening at school level and was a valuable exercise to continue in future. The
process monitoring however relied heavily on collection of statistical data on indicators and
provided limited analysis to guide the project interventions in schools
51. Impact monitoring was done by icddr,b with an interim study in 2011 and an end line
assessment in 2012 which covered 1200 schools from intervention and control clusters. The
report highlights significant increase in handwashing with soap, increased access to toilets
and clean toilets compared to non-intervention schools (control).
38 a) % of schools with separate functioning toilets for girls b) % of schools with atleast one functional toilet
c) % of schools with potable water d) % of schools which depend on water points for water where the water
point is in working condition e) % of schools which have a functioning water point that have potable water
27
Review of Select IEC Materials
52. The consultant reviewed Teachers Guide for Primary School (2008) as it was
available in english version and reviewed 6 posters developed for hygiene promotion as a part
of this assignment. The Teacher Guide requires substantial improvements and these are
presented in Annexure 7. Posters also require modifications and these are given in Annexure
8.
28
Chapter 4 Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusions
1. Several findings of the review are summarized in the table below. The review also
learned and firmly believed that that following key factors and their inter-linkages are key to
achieve sustainable hygiene behaviors in school environments.
Sustained Hygiene Communication (demand creation)
Sustainable O&M of WASH Facilities
Water Availability, Safety and Reliability
Sector Support (addressing sustainability issues)
o Integrating Hygiene Promotion with school activities
o Policies on WASH in Schools Maintenance and Financing
o Monitoring
o School Rating and Rewards
Sr.
No. Areas that worked Well
Areas That worked to a
lesser Extent Gaps
Programme Support
1 Hygiene behavior
communication
Support and participation
of districts and upzillas
Consultation with children on
sanitation facilities
2
Empowering school children
as change agents (School
Brigades)
Capacity building of
officials, teachers, SMCs,
children
Sensitization of adolescent
girls on MHM and provision
of disposal facilities in
Schools
3 Improved water availability
and running water in toilets
Water safety and remedial
measures
Maintenance of WASH
facilities
4 Improved sanitation and hand
washing facilities
Construction supervision
of sanitation facilities
Capacity Building of SMCs on
construction and maintenance
Monitoring at school and by
district/upzillas
Sector Support
5 Process and impact
monitoring
Inter-sectoral
collaborations
Monitoring-sectoral data and
integration of MIS
Policies on WASH in Schools
maintenance and financing
School rating and
rewards/recognitions
2. Recommendations are developed keeping in mind key learning and the factors to
make WASH in Schools programme more robust and sustainable. Recommendations have
been developed in three categories and discussed below.
Areas that can be learned from SHEWA-B interventions
29
Areas for UNICEF‟ direct programme support for current and future programme
Areas for UNICEF‟s strategic support to the sector
Recommendations for Learning from SHEWA-B interventions
3. There have been several learning‟s from SHEWA-B which could be used to refine
and strengthen the approaches and strategies in the current and future programmes. Specific
recommendations are as below.
a. It is recommended that systematic assessments in select schools (may be 20 schools),
be conducted where WASH facilities were constructed or rehabilitated, for obtaining
feedback from children on adequacy and use of sanitation facilities and any further
improvements required to enhance their child friendliness. The feedback could be
used to refine the current models of sanitation blocks and also to test adequacy of
designs in terms of toilet/children ratio.
b. It is recommended that UNICEF documents successes and achievements of WASH in
School programme in the form of short films and case studies for advocacy and
training purposes for various audiences in the sector. Suggested areas of such
documentations include - school brigades‟ work in schools and communities, effective
hygiene promotion activities conducted by teachers and brigades in schools, cleaning
and maintenance of facilities by SMCs, lessons learned and overall process of
`WASH in Schools‟‟ implementation.
Recommendations for Direct Programme Support for Current Programme
4. The following key set of interventions is additionally recommended for direct
programme support provided under the current programme.
a. Continue support for development of replicable models of child friendly sanitation
facilities. The efforts of developing models should eventually help advocate
development of national models for sanitation facilities in schools.
b. Support mobilisation of SMCs and Teachers for planning and prioritising finances for
maintenance and procurement of supplies at a school level in collaboration with the
DPE and DSHE and assess constraints if any
c. Advocate and support development of school based monitoring systems at school,
upzilla and district level in collaboration with the DPE and the DSHE
5. It is recommended that hardware support for new sanitation facilities be continued
under current programmes to evolve replicable models that are child friendly and address
sanitation as well as menstrual hygiene needs of adolescent girls. This should be done with
feedback from children in SHEWA-B schools (see recommendations for SHEWA-B). While
implementing such replicable models, it is recommended that the drawings for the sanitation
facilities be prepared in user friendly manner (with 3D views on the same layout, elevations
and sections, all texts in local language) for their easy interpretation, and school specific
drawings are to be developed that take account of local site conditions.
30
Recommendations for Direct Programme Support (Future Programme)
6. WASH in Schools coverage for all primary schools is targeted under PEDP 3 by 2016
(may get extended till 2018) and any left out schools shall likely to be covered by the next
phase of the programme (PEDP 4). Although no concrete data available on coverage of
secondary schools, there are indications that there is substantial coverage of WASH facilities
in secondary schools. It is likely that the sector may not need substantial WASH hardware
investments in the future as it may be possible to meet any gaps through government
resources. Major thrust of future support is therefore required on advocating and addressing
sustainability issues than on hardware. The following set of interventions is therefore
recommended for UNICEF‟s future direct programme support.
a) Complement PEDP3 for hygiene promotion and capacity building of teachers and
SMCs on maintenance and contribute to the plan for PEDP4 based on the learning
from SHEWA-B and current programmes
b) Evaluate effectiveness of hygiene promotion strategies in current programmes and
strengthen them in future programmes with structured and creative school based
activities with capacity building of teachers, children and Parent Teachers
Associations (PTAs). Focus on leveraging budgetary support from the government for
capacity building of teachers and children and scaling up hygiene promotion in other
non-intervention schools.
c) Evaluate School Led Total Sanitation (SLTS) approach in the Dutch funded project
and scale it up depending on the successes achieved.
d) Programme support to include a minimum need based hardware support – running
water and handwashing facility
e) Advocate and support scaling up of menstrual hygiene management interventions
f) Support capacity building and mobilisation of SMCs on maintenance of WASH
facilities in collaboration with and leveraging funds from the DPE and the DSHE
g) Continue support for the development of WASH-relevant school-based monitoring
tools (support to the DPE and the DSHE) and their integration into a national database
7. These are further discussed below.
Complimenting PEDP 3
8. PEDP 3 offers opportunities for scaling up hygiene promotion and capacity building
of teachers, children, SMCs and PTAs, and capacity building of SMCs on maintenance. It is
recommended that WASH and Education Sections of UNICEF explore the opportunities for
integrating and supporting such inputs and scale up hygiene promotion in primary schools.
Improved Strategy for Hygiene Promotion
9. It is recommended that hygiene promotion strategies in the current programme be
reviewed and strengthened in the future programmes. It is recommended that coherent yet
distinctly different hygiene promotion strategies to offer structured hygiene education
activities for primary schools and for secondary schools are developed and delivered. Such
strategies shall include a clear set of activities and shall have flexibility to accommodate
school specific preferences of activities. It is recommended that a separate social mobilisation
strategy (SLTS approach) should be developed and delivered subject to its successes
achieved in the Dutch funded programme.
31
Need Based Hardware Support for WASH Facilities
10. It is recommended that the infrastructure for provision of running water in toilets and
at handwashing facilities – be it a pumped system with overhead tank on toilets or a ground
storage connected to a water point, should be continued as a minimum package for hardware
support in schools. Testing of Water Points for arsenic is recommended with designated
colour codes for confirming their safe or unsafe status.
Menstrual Hygiene Management
11. It is recommended that following set of activities be supported by UNICEF in future
`WASH in Schools‟ interventions.
a) Sensitization of adolescent girls targeting those who are yet to experience
menstruation and who are experiencing menstruation. Similar sensitization is required
for teachers and boys. Already several training materials are available and those could
be reviewed, modified and used in the context of Bangladesh. Such sensitization
sessions should be supported with a representative from local health clinic to provide
advice on queries that the girls may have,
b) Rag washing facilities provided in toilets be tested further in consultations with
girls and be modified with support from the DPHE.
c) Appropriate technology options for collection and safe disposal of used menstrual
clothes be developed and implemented in interventions schools.
12. Menstrual Hygiene Management has potential for scaling up across the country and a
set of activities could include a) development of trainers manual on MHM b) sensitization of
teachers through PTIs (Primary Schools) and teachers training institutions (secondary
schools) b) sensitization of girls through school based MHM sessions c) development of
reference book for MHM for girls and e) implementation of technology options for safe
disposal of used menstrual clothes/pads in schools by leveraging funding support from the
government. It is recommended that UNICEF supports these opportunities for scaling up
efforts on MHM.
Capacity building and mobilisation of SMCs on maintenance of WASH Facilities
13. It is strongly recommended that UNICEF supports all possible opportunities in future
interventions to engage with SMCs-Teachers-PTAs for their capacity building, encouraging
them to allocate/use existing schools budgets or other available resources to procure soaps,
cleaning materials and undertake repairs to WASH facility if any, for supporting hygiene
practices at school level. No doubt, such field experiences will have to be backed up
parallely by advocacy efforts at national level for developing a directive on maintenance
financing. (Ref. Section on Sector Support).
Development of School Based Monitoring System
14. Such system is important for schools to monitor behaviors, availability of soap and
cleaning materials, upkeep and maintenance of toilets and can be a stimulus for raising
awareness and generating demand among children for clean toilets and water facilities. It is
recommended that UNICEF advocates with the DPE and DSHE and support development of
such systems that could be replicable and can be used for assessments in rating the schools..
32
Recommendations on Sector Support
15. With the considerable experience and learning in hand from SHEWA-B, UNICEF
needs to continue to engage with the government and strengthen partnerships at all levels to
move towards improved programming and polices for a sustainable WASH in School
Programme. The following set of interventions is recommended for sector support and they
are discussed later with specific recommendations in each of these areas.
i. Strengthen partnerships with the DPE, the DSHE, the DPHE and the Health
Department and support appropriate capacity building measures on WASH in Schools
issues.
a. Strengthen and support inter-sectoral and cross-sectoral collaborations at national and
district level by facilitating Local Consultative Groups and National Sanitation Task
Force at National level and exploring opportunities for creating such inter-sectoral
groups at the district level. Within UNICEF, such inter-sectoral collaborations could
be enhanced among WASH and Education Section through regular meetings and
sharing of experiences and issues. b. Engage and support a consultant in collaboration with the DPE and the DSHE to
develop Hygiene Promotion toolkits and other IEC Materials (posters, films etc) in
consultations with children, teachers and parents. Also modify the current Teachers
Guides based on the suggestions provided in this review and develop maintenance
manuals for SMCs. Again these are to be done in consultation with select schools,
SMCs, the DPE and the DSHE.
c. On addressing issues of sustained hygiene promotion activities at a school level,
following are recommended. i. Advocate with the DPE and the DSHE for a joint review of school curriculum
(primary and secondary) for hygiene messages already included and any
amendments to them and explore methodologies to deliver them at a school
level by way of school based activities.
ii. Advocate with the DPE and the DSHE and support development of a training
module on WASH in Schools for teachers, to be delivered through Teachers
Training Institutes (PITs) of primary and secondary schools for sustained
capacity building of teachers on WASH in Schools issue.
iii. Advocate and encourage involvement of the Health Department and local
health staff for their involvement in hygiene promotion and sensitisation of
adolescent girls on MHM (secondary schools) at a school level.
iv. Advocate and support introduction of formal recognitions, rewards system (3
star approach is already planned by UNICEF) for performing schools and the
SMCs (pilot in 4 districts, one in each division) in collaboration with the DPE
and the DSHE.
d. Support a Maintenance Cost Study to arrive at realistic estimates39
of O&M
requirements for WASH Facilities for a range of schools and develops budgets in
collaboration with schools and the DPE/DSHE/DPHE.
e. Support technical options study for strengthening water sources in CHT area
f. Advocate and support modifications of available 5 indicators of the DPE and
integration of similar modified indicators with EMIS of the DSHE.
39 Sufficient to maintain hygiene and clean toilets for a particular number of enrolled children in school
33
g. Support process and impact external monitoring
Partnerships with the DPE, the DSHE, the DPHE and the Health Department
16. It is recommended that the partnership with these partners and their involvement is
enhanced in ongoing and future `WASH in Schools‟ interventions to develop mutual
knowledge and understanding of `WASH in Schools‟ issues and successes. Such involvement
is also important at district and upzilla level and UNICEF‟s Field Offices can play a vital role
to facilitate their involvement. Involvement of health department would be useful in
conducting health checks ups at the school level, facilitating hygiene sessions in schools and
leading sensitization programme for adolescent girls on menstrual hygiene management
particularly in secondary schools.
17. Substantial capacity building is required at union, upzilla, district and national levels
on planning, implementation, Finances, monitoring, WASH issues, menstrual hygiene
management etc. The stakeholders include the key upzilla, district and national level staff of
the DPHE, the DPE and the DSHE and elected representatives. It is recommended that the
appropriate capacity building programmes be developed and incorporated in the ongoing and
future programmes to enhance skills, understanding of roles and responsibilities, programme
interventions, and to encourage active engagement with programme.
18. With respect to capacity building of teachers in primary and secondary schools, it is
recommended that capacities of PTIs (Primary Schools) and teachers training institutes of
Secondary School be assessed for delivering hygiene promotion training to teachers and
children and they be roped in to provide training, including refresher training to teachers. It
should also be advocated to include training modules for hygiene promotion for teachers as
part of the training calendars of these institutes. Partnerships with these institutions would be
useful for scaling up capacity building of teaching staff on WASH in Schools issues across
the country.
19. It is also recommended that links with the health department especially with local
health staff and local clinics be explored for their inputs (health camps, hygiene promotion)
for contributing to sustained hygiene promotion activities at the school level and acting as
key resources for sensitizing adolescent girls on menstrual hygiene management issues. The
WASH section may have to collaborate with the health section internally in UNICEF.
Strengthen and Support Inter-Sectoral Collaborations at National and District level
20. It is recommended that such inter-sectoral collaborations be supported and facilitated
at National level (Local Consultative Groups and National Sanitation Task Force) and such
forums are created at district level and facilitated for advocating issues related to WASH in
Schools.
21. It is recommended that UNICEF strengthens its internal inter-sectoral interactions
and collaborations with Education Section, Health Section and C4D section at the BCO and
at the field offices, to provide strategic support to `WASH in Schools‟ programme and to step
up advocacy efforts at the National level. Some of the priority issues that the inter-sectoral
collaborations could consider are – planning of WASH Facilities backed up with strong field
assessments to avoid duplication and exclusions of schools in PEDP 3, sharing of databases
by all partners and creating a common database depository, strengthening School Census in
primary and existing EMIS in Secondary schools with additional indicators to track WASH
34
coverage and usage, reviewing maintenance issues related to WASH facilities and related
policy directives and amendments to national standards on WASH if any.
22. There is a need for enhanced facilitation and monitoring support from UNICEF Field
Offices to the programme interventions on the ground to ensure that they are on track to
achieve the intended results and to ensure that the problems/constraints are identified and
they are resolved on time. It is recommended that UNICEF reviews its internal programme
support strategies in WASH Section and modifies /strengthens those with adequate resources.
Development of Hygiene Promotion Toolkits and IEC Materials
23. It is recommended that hygiene promotion tool kits for primary schools and secondary
schools be developed through participatory exercises and feedback from children and
teachers. Such tool kit may comprise descriptions/processes of indoor and outdoor activities,
games, audio-visuals, etc which can be used by schools to promote hygiene behaviors. It is
recommended that UNICEF support such development of tool kits by engaging a suitable
consultant having such experience. These tool kits could also be used as a resource material
for training of teachers and school brigades.
24. It is also recommended that UNICEF continues to document the successes and
achievements of the WASH in schools programme in a form of short films and case studies
for advocacy and training purposes for various stakeholders in the sector. Already a film on
handwashing is available from Indian experience but similar films of Bangladesh context are
recommended for development.
Policy Support for Financing Maintenance of WASH Facilities
25. It is recommended that UNICEF supports a maintenance cost study to arrive at
realistic estimates40
of O&M requirements for WASH facilities for a range of schools and
develops budgets in collaboration with schools and the DPE/DSHE/DPHE. Such estimates
could be used for discussions in inter-sectoral groups and advocacy on developing directives
for maintenance financing from the DPE and the DSHE on setting aside a certain proportion
of a school budget for maintenance to be pulled in from various funds. Such a study should
involve critical review of provisions of SLIP Funds, Contingency Funds, General Funds and
any other funds that are available to schools, for ascertaining their adequacy to meet the full
cost of soap, cleaning material and maintenance of WASH facilities at a school level.
26. It is recommended that any directives on maintenance financing (as discussed above)
should also specify roles and responsibilities for Districts and Upzillas Education Offices to
monitor budget allocations and utilization by schools for WASH facilities. In addition,
school performances related to maintenance and use of WASH facilities should be tracked in
their routine School Performance Monitoring Activities and discussed and supported at all
levels.
40 Sufficient to maintain hygiene and clean toilets for a particular strength of children in school
35
School Ratings, Recognitions and Rewards
27. Sustaining hygiene promotion activities at school level and upkeep of facilities to
promote usage of the same are great challenges in `WASH in Schools‟ Programme.
Sustaining motivation levels for teachers, school brigades and children to continue work on
behaviors is also equally challenging. It is recommended that appropriate modalities for
rating schools, measuring their performance, recognitions or rewards be discussed and agreed
and operationalised in the future programmes. Such reward system (e.g UNICEF‟s 3 Star
approach ) is already being formulated by WASH Section and could be further advocated at
the government level for its implementation.
Study on Source Strengthening Measures in the CHT Area
28. In case of interventions in CHT areas, it is recommended that a study be supported to
examine technical options to identify reliable water sources or to suggest strengthening
measures for existing sources to increase their reliability. The recommendations of such study
could be piloted/demonstrated through current or future programmes when feasible.
Strengthening existing MISs on WASH in Schools and Integration
29. The indicators used by the DPE require modifications to capture relevant information
on WASH in Schools. The EMIS maintained by the DSHE do not capture information on
WASH in Schools. It is recommended that UNICEF WASH Section in collaboration with
Education Section advocates and supports modifications of available 5 indicators of the DPE
and integration of similar modified indicators with EMIS of the DSHE. Both the MIS should
track availability of soaps and cleaning materials, clean toilets, availability-use and
maintenance of WASH facilities and budgets spent by SMCs on WASH facilities in schools.
30. It is also recommended that necessary support for developing and operationalising
such integration of modified indicators be supported by UNICEF. Integration of both the MIS
of the DPE and the DSHE and making it online could be further explored to have a
consolidated database on WASH in Schools for the country.
Process and Impact Monitoring
31. It is recommended that process and impact monitoring be continued in ongoing and
future interventions with the participation of government partners, and findings are shared to
disseminate lessons learned, advocate issues and refine programme strategies and
interventions. The scope of the process monitoring should be widened to provide analysis of
effectiveness or ineffectiveness linked to project inputs, approaches and strategies to enhance
their intended impact on hygiene behaviors.
36
ANNEXURE 1
TERMS OF REFERENCE
The Terms of Reference included the following tasks and deliverables.
Tasks
Collate Information on the various WASH in Schools Packages undertaken by the
programme understanding the context of the SHEWA B Programme
Develop an assessment schedule
Development of assessment materials (questionnaires, surveys etc)
Conduct Meetings with Key relevant Stakeholders at National Level
Visit Selected Schools to review the range of interventions and meetings with local
stakeholders (including whether there are any discernible trends relating to school
attendance)
Critically examine the materials produced (posters, teaching guides, standards etc) for
their efficacy and their appropriateness;
Produce a report collating the learning from the interviews, material reviews, and
school visits clearly outlining:
o activities which worked well and proposing reasons for such;
o activities which worked to a lesser extent and possible reasons for such;
o areas of increased potential for future interventions in terms of increasing the
effective coverage of WASH facilities, consistent and sustainable effective
handwashing practice and strengthening the enabling environment to increase
the demand for, and capacity to provide improved facilities;
o areas to implement/scale up to ensure the sustainability of the historic, current
and future interventions
Incorporate feedback from UNICEF and produce a final report
Deliverables
Inception Report
Draft Report
Final Report
Timeframe
11 February-26 March 2014
37
ANNEXURE 2
Checklists and Questionnaires for Field Visits
Interview with Head Teacher
Name : Contact No:
School : Primary/Secondary:
Village/Area :
Union Parishad : Upzilla :
Date of Interview :
School Name, Village, Union Parishad, Upzilla, District
School type (Primary, Secondary)
School Intervention – Software, Software + Hardware
Grades
School timings for various grades- single shift, double shift
Student Strength: Total, Boys, Girls in each of the Grades/Sessions
Students (Boys, Girls) with disability, Type of Disability
Teaching Staff Strength: Total, Male and Female
Recess Timings: Duration, timings
School Brigades –Establishment, members and their activities
No of children affected by diarrhoeal Incidences over the last six months
Absenteeism and reasons among boys and girls (Check the school records if available)
School Feeding Programme - details
Any School Action Plan prepared under SHEWA-B?
Hygiene Promotion Activities conducted in school
Activities, frequency, who conducted, when, plans for continuation
Any HP material received from the DPHE/DPE or UNICEF?
Any training received in the past ?
School Management Committees: Establishment, Members, Meetings
Parent Teacher Association: Establishment, Members, Meetings
Involvement in Management of SLIP Fund, how much they received in 2013 and its
utilisation?
Water Quality Testing – Bacterial and Chemical, Frequency, Feedback
Water Contaminations – Bacterial or chemical (arsenic), painting of the source,
remedial measures
Maintenance of WASH Facilities, Sources of funds, budget allocations
Procurement of soap and cleaning materials in the school – Quantity required=procured-
source of fund
Are their donations/contributions from the community or other sources raised?
The school performance – frequency, monitoring, paramaters, awards, recognitions
38
Visit to the WASH Facility and Walk around the School Premise
Observations related to the WASH Facility
Source, installation year, functionality, protection measures
Has it been painted to confirm its status of safe or unsafe?
Location of the source point from the toilets
Type of overhead tank
Availability of Water – during normal seasons and during summer
Adequacy of water - during normal seasons and during summer
Use of Available Water : Drinking, Cooking, Personal Hygiene, Sanitation, cleaning
school premises etc
Who is responsible for maintenance and upkeep
Observations related to the Sanitation Facility
Toilets
Types/Technology used
Toilets for boys & Girls or combined
Urinals for boys and Girls
Toilets for Teaching Staff : Male, Female
Urinals for Teaching staff; Male, Female
Location of Toilets from school/classroom
Accessibility – Access, are they locked/used by teachers?
Cleanliness
Physical Condition
Privacy
Availability of water near or inside the toilets
Maintenance Arrangement
Responsibility of cleaning, Frequency
Availability of cleaning materials and type of materials used
Quantity of cleaning materials available
Purchase/Procurement arrangements
Knowledge of using the cleaning materials
Disposal of sludge/excreta /effluent
Disposal of Urine
Usage of toilets
Handwashing Facility
Availability and location in latrine or outside, distance to latrine
Adequacy (No of taps, No of facilities etc)
Provision of Water
Soap availability
Solid Waste Disposal
Type of waste generated in school
Approximate quantity of such waste
Current practice of collection
Current practice for safe disposal
39
Observations related to School Premises
Upkeep of the premises
Frequency of cleaning, responsibility for cleaning
Disposal of solid waste
Availability of collection bins, disposal pit
40
Consultations with Children on Toilets
(To be conducted with boys and girls separately)
School : Primary/Secondary: Grade:
Village/Area :
Union Parishad : Upzilla :
Date of Consultation :
Key Questions Response
1 How many of them have toilets at home?
2 How many of them use their toilets at home?
3 How many of you like to use the School toilet? Why
4 How many of you donot like to use the school toilet why?
5 Where do you go for toilet then?
6 How many of you have washed hands with after using the toilet for
defecation?
7 How many of you have washed hands after using the toilet for urination?
8 How many of you have washed hands with before food in the school?
9 Do they wash hands with soap and water after using toilet?
10 Do they wash hands with soap and water after using toilet?
11 Where do they wash their hands?
12 How do they wash their hands? Ask children to
demonstrate
13 Have they been taught how to wash hands with soap?
14 Are there any constraints in washing hands with soap?
15 In case they use water for ablution, then how much water is used? (See
the container they use)
16 Is there sufficient water available for ablution?
18 When was the school toilet cleaned last time ? By whom and how?
19 Is your school toilet clean and usable? Do they have any constraints in
using them?
20 What improvements you see that will encourage the use of the toilets for
defecation and urination?
(Location, Access, availability of Water/other material for cleaning,
space inside the toilet, lighting, ventilation, privacy aspects, doors-
windows, fixtures used for doors/windows, roof, maintenance/cleaning of
toilets etc)
21 Is handwashing with soap, use of toilets taught in the classrooms? If yes,
by whom and when?
Check for any materials
available in the class
and check those with the
children.
22 Have they seen in any of these in the school?
1. Pictorial Booklet (Kalim Chacha)
2. Three Wishes of Meena
3. WASH Rhymes (Chanda Charai Shasthabidi)
41
4. Leaflet (1)
5. Posters (6 posters on 6 different issues: "F" Diagram, Water
Safety Plan, Maintenance of Tubewell, Maintenance of latrines,
handwashing with soap and Maintaining safe school
environment)
23 What are the most liked by them and why?
24 In future, who do they like to receive information on hygiene and
sanitation?
25 Where do you throw waste papers and other wastes?
26 What are the suggestions to improve the waste collection and disposal?
27 Are you involved in involved in monitoring of the sanitation & hand
washing facilities?
42
Consultation with the School Brigade School :
Village/Area :
Union Parishad : Upzilla :
Date of Consultation :
Establishment, no of members, tenure
Ask members – why did they join the brigade?
Activities in schools
Activities at home
Activities at community level
When was the last activity conducted in school?
Materials and Tools Available them to carry out
activities
Training received in the past
Support available from the School
Support Available from others (PTA, SMC,
Others)
Do they know the members of the SMC, PTA?
Have they participated in the SMC or PTA
meetings?
Monitoring
Recognition, rewards?
Suggestions for continuing the work and
motivating others to join
43
Consultations with Teaching Staff
School : Primary/Secondary:
Village/Area :
Union Parishad : Upzilla :
Date of Consultation :
(Preferably through a meeting with them – including male and female staff)
Key Questions Response
A WASH Facilities
1 Are they happy with the Water facility in the school?
2 Do you get sufficient water?
3 Do you have toilet facility in the school?
4 Are the toilets sufficient?
5 Do they handwashing facility available?
6 Who is responsible for cleaning and maintenance of the toilets?
7 Is cleaning materials used for cleaning toilets?
8 How cleaning materials are procured? What is the source of the fund?
9 What is the purpose of the SLIP Fund? Can they use to procure materials
and maintenance of the facilities?
10 Can the school get soap and cleaning material as donations from
Parents/community?
B School Based Hygiene Promotion Activities
11 Have you received any training in the past on Hygiene Promotion? How
many events and days of training?
12 Have you recieved any materials and manual as part of this training?
(Teachers Guide)
13 What activities are conducted in schools as a part of Hygiene promotion?
14 Are there any specific hygiene sessions conducted in schools? When and
how frequent?
15 Are there any specific IEC Materials used to conduct these sessions?
16 What are the key messages promoted?
17 Are those effective in terms of knowledge dissemination and encouraging
practices?
18 What further improvements can be made in the current set of activities to
make them more effective?
19 What activities by School Brigades are encouraged to conduct in schools?
20 How do you support them to keep them functional and active?
21 Are there any visits made by the Community Hygiene Promotors (CHPs)?
How many in the last year? What activities he or she performed in the
school?
15 What needs to be done to keep these activities going on a long term basis?
What are the constraints and what support is needed?
16 Does your curriculum cover messages on hygiene? Which subject and what
messages?
17 Are those messages being taught in the school? Who teaches them? Any
constraints?
C Suggestions
Handwashing practices
Use of toilets
Maintenance of toilets
44
Maintenance of Water Points
Skills and Knowledge Development
Check Materials used in Primary School:
1. Teachers Guide
2. Pictorial Booklet (Kalim Chacha)
3. Three Wishes of Meena
4. WASH Rhymes (Chanda Charai Shasthabidi)
5. Leaflet (1)
6. Posters (6 posters on 6 different issues: "F" Diagram, Water Safety Plan, Maintenance of
Tubewell, Maintenance of latrines, handwashing with soap and Maintaining safe school
environment)
Check Materials used in Secondary Schools:
1. Teacher's Guide for Grade VI
2. Teacher's Guide for Grade VII
3. Teacher's Guide for Grade VIII
4. Student Brigade Guide Book for Secondary Schools
5. Posters (same posters used for secondary schools)
45
Consultations with Girls (Menstrual Hygiene) (Optional)
School (Secondary) :
Village/Area :
Union Parishad : Upzilla :
Date of Consultation :
Key Questions Response
1 How many of you have experienced menstruation?
2 In case of menstruation in school, do they attend the school or remain absent or go
home?
4 How many of you have remained absent from the school during menstruation?
For how many days?
5 How many of you have attended the school during menstruation?
6 What materials are used during menstruation in school?
(Clothes/Pads or other material?)
7 How many of you use clothes during menstruation in schools?
8 How many of you use pads during menstruation in schools?
9 If pads/clothes have to be changed, where these are changed? (Toilet/Other rooms
etc?)
10 How many pads/clothes are used during menstruation in schools?
11 Are the clothes washed and recycled?
12 Where and how are the pads disposed?
13 What facilities are expected at the school to facilitate menstrual management at
school?
14 Whom do they contact in school in case of need of an advice or information?
15 Have they received any information on MHM in the past?
16 Do they know how manage menstruation hygienically?
46
Consultations with School Management Committee
School : Primary/Secondary:
Village/Area :
Union Parishad : Upzilla : Date of Consultation :
Key Questions Response
1 When was the SMC formed?
2 Composition and tenure, Whom they are accountable to at the Upzilla level?
3 No of Meetings conducted so far and frequency?
5 What are the roles and responsibilities carried out by the SMC?
6 Have they received any training in the past?
Topics and no of days of training?
7 Have they visited the school lately? Purpose
8 What are the priorities for the SMC?
9 Have they had any opportunity to consult children on any issues in the past?
Construction of Water Points (In case if the SMC is involved in the construction)
10 What was the role played by the SMC in construction of a new water point?
11 Who helped in locating the point and selection of technology?
12 Who constructed it? Who selected them?
13 Does it require repairs often? What kind of repairs?
14 What are the maintenance arrangements?
15 Do they have the tools and equipment to carry out maintenance on their own?
16 Is the water point tested for Arsenic? When was it last tested? Are they aware of
testing results?
17 What improvements can be made to ensure safe water to children on a sustainable
basis?
18 Any cash or kind contributions made by the SMC?
Construction of Sanitation Facilities (In case if the SMC is involved in the construction)
19 What was the role played by the SMC in construction of a sanitation facility?
20 Who helped in locating the point and selection of technology?
21 Who constructed it? Who selected them?
22 Who supervised the work? How the quality of the work was ensured?
23 What are the arrangements for maintenance?
24 Any cash or kind contributions made by the SMC?
25 What are the other Activities of the SMC?
Maintenance of the WASH Facilities and SLIP
26 Do they consider water points and toilets are essential part of school environment
which can help improve learning and retention?
27 Do they consider that water and sanitation facilities are operational in the school?
What are the difficulties or challenges faced b y the school?
28 Who is responsible for the maintenance?
29 How much fund they received under the SLIP?
30 What did they utilise for during 2013?
31 Can they use it for maintenance of WASH facilities and procurement of materials?
32 Do they need any approval from higher level for this? Or can they take the decision
on their own?
33 Have they raised any contribution for the maintenance of the WASH facilities in
the school?
34 Have they received any training on Hygiene and maintenance of WASH Facility in
the past?
35 Any suggestions?
47
Consultations with Parent Teachers Association
School : Primary/Secondary:
Village/Area :
Union Parishad : Upzilla :
Date of Consultation :
Key Questions Response
1 When was the PTA formed?
2 No of Members and Tenure
3 No of Meetings conducted so far and frequency?
4 What are the roles and responsibilities carried out by the SMC?
5 Have they received any training in the past?
Topics and no of days of training?
6 Have they visited the school lately? Purpose
7 What are the priorities for the PTA?
8 Have they had any opportunity to consult children on any issues in the past?
9 Have the children complained of any problems in school?
10 Have they spoken to teachers/headmaster about the problems?
11 Have they demanded any PTA meetings in the past?
12 Do they consider water points and toilets are essential part of school
environment which can help improve learning and retention?
13 Do they consider that water and sanitation facilities are operational in the
school?
14 Who maintains them?
15 What are their suggestions on maintenance of school facilities?
16 Is hand washing before food and after defection practiced at home by all? Is it
regular or occasional?
17 How to make a regular habit at home and at School?
48
ANNEXURE 3
FIELD VISIT REPORT
SUNAMGONJ, MOULVIBAZAR AND SYLHET DISTRICTS (23-26 Feb 2014)
The Field Visits were undertaken jointly with Ms.Fiona Ward, WASH Specialist, BCO and
Mr.Kamrul Alam, WASH Officer, UNICEF Sylhet, to SHEWA B schools in Sunamgonj,
Moulvibazar and Sylhet districts to understand and assess effectiveness of various interventions, their
potential to influence hygiene behaviours and school attendance, gaps and opportunities for further
support and replication or scaling up. The visits covered schools with software and software+
Hardware packages. Two non-interventions schools were also visited for comparison. Total of 12
schools were visited and included primary and secondary schools, government and registered non-
government, and where hardware construction was supported by DPHE and by DAM- the NGO. The
table below presents the details of these schools.
The methodology for assessments in these schools covered consultations with the Head Teachers,
Members of the SMCs and Children and reconnaissance of WASH Facilities. The visits were made to
cover schools in poorer where household sanitation coverage level was less as well as economically
better of areas of Sylhet district to get understanding of programme effectiveness in both these areas.
Programme Duration
All the SHEWA B schools visited were targeted under the programme during 2009-2013. In some
schools, the programme was implemented only for 11 months (DAM Schools in Sylhet) due to the
closure of the project by the end of 2013.
School Operations
All the schools visited are operating in a single shift with a fixed operating time of 10am to 4 pm with
one hour (1 to 2pm) lunch break. There are no recess breaks in between but children are allowed to
49
use toilets whenever they have the urge to go. All the schools visited were co-education schools with
children strength ranging from 160 to 1600. Children with disability were not there in all the schools
but where present, they were in limited nos of 2-5 per school but they need attention. Many of the
children come to their schools from a distance and remain in the schools till closure. Almost all of
them observed to be wearing shoes or sandals even while using sanitation facilities in schools.
Software Inputs –Hygiene Education
Across all the SHEWA-B schools visited in all categories in terms of packages provided and hardware
construction by the DPHE or the project NGOs, a common process was observed for capacity
building of school teachers and SMC members and those of Children.
Per school 5 participants; 3 teachers and 2 members of the School SMC (with 1 female mandatory)
were trained at Upzilla level by joint team of the DPHE, the DEO and master trainers from the
Teachers Training Institutes (in case of schools where the DPHE provided hardware) and the DPHE,
the DEO and the project NGO (in case of school where NGO provided the hardware). It was a 3 days
trainers training provided for participants from primary and secondary schools together. It was
expected that the trained teachers would form school brigades in their respective schools and provide
orientations to them. This process was followed by all the schools and they formed the school
brigades and oriented them. In many cases, the head teachers (both for primary and secondary) and
teachers of physical studies (secondary schools) did not participate in the training. There was no
further training offered in the project. There was also no direct training or orientation given to the
School Brigades using external resources across all the schools.
In case of the NGO supported schools, further follow up on hygiene education in terms of
handwashing demonstrations and use of IEC materials (particularly booklet on Karimchacha and
posters on hygiene messages) was carried out as narrated by the teachers and children. However, such
follow up was not observed among schools where hardware support was provided by the DPHE.
During the visit, many teachers and school brigades have requested refresher training and more
comprehensive information on Hygiene and Sanitation related matters. Such training particularly by
children was preferred in a form of posters, story books, films and demonstrations.
Many schools reported that they conduct hygiene sessions for duration of about half an hour to one
hour on Thursdays. Frequency of such sessions varies from school to school and some schools
conduct sessions almost twice a week – on Thursdays and Saturdays where some schools conduct
them only once in two weeks. The nature of such hygiene sessions was reported to be the use of the
posters and Karimchacha storybooks, talking to children on hygiene behaviours or undertake
cleanliness of school premises or the toilets through children and school brigades. A few schools
(Shahid Sudarshan), hygiene messages are recalled during assembly sessions before the beginning of
the classes. However, overall, the outdoor activities were largely observed to be less or almost absent
in many of the schools in terms of making such sessions effective for children. In a few schools
teachers have taken proactive role (Lamua primary school) to use the materials (Meena, Karimchacha
Booklet, Posters) and discipline children to use the WASH facilities in an effective way (staggered
timings for hand washing with soap, quing up for hand washing etc).
The CHPs visits were reported by schools (Lamua, Baraikandi) but their involvement is stopped now.
There is no clear evidence of their effective involvement with the schools except for a few
demonstrations and occasional participation in hygiene sessions.
Consultations with Children
Almost in all schools, an attempt was made to have conversations with children either outside or in
their classrooms to understand message recalls, reasons for adapting handwashing and effective
methods for communication, their preferences for sanitation facilities in their school etc.
50
Recall of Hygiene Messages
The recall of hygiene messages (particularly 2 messages of handwashing with soap at critical times;
after using toilet and before eating) among primary and secondary schools was observed to be very
high. Among the students of primary schools either those with software inputs or with software and
hardware inputs, the Karimchacha character is the most remembered one. According to the children,
learning through Posters and demonstrations of hand washing were two effective methods interesting
for them to learn. Primary sources for Karimchacha stories were teachers (Lamua GPS) and the CHP
(Baraikandi GPS). A very few children recalled seeing Karimchacha Advertisement on the TV.
In case of Secondary schools, children learned the messages from NGO facilitator (DAM supported
Alluddin HS) or the CHP in case of school supported by NGOs whereas teachers remained the source
of information in the schools where DPHE provided the support. There is little evidence of School
brigades communicating or reinforcing hygiene messages among other children in the school.
Consultations in Non-intervention Schools
Consultation with children in non-intervention schools (primary and secondary), children confirmed
that they learned this messages from their mothers and other family members during their childhood.
Children considered using soap for Handwashing as a) it cleans the hand properly, b) removes
bacteria and c) removes bad smell (all 3 as narrated by primary school children) and d) reduces
chances of being affected by diarrhoea, Cholera and Typhoid (as narrated by secondary school
children). The reason for strong recall of these messages could be attributed to practicing
handwashing at home after using the toilet as many of the children confirmed that they had toilets at
home and they practice hand washing with soap.
These practices get reinforced in schools when soap and running water is available. However, such
practices have yet to result in creating the demand for soap provisions in schools which is evident
from the practices of a few schools where soap was not available and children tend to wash their
hands only with water after using the toilets (Chikanagul HS and GPS). Appropriate platforms for
raising demands of children and by children are also needed.
The good level of knowledge of hand washing with soap in non-interventions school also suggests
that Hygiene Promotion strategy should work on putting this knowledge into practice at the school
level ensuring availability of soap and running water, maintenance of toilets for their increased use,
peer learning and creating pressure groups to demand critical provisions of soap and cleaning
materials.
Preferences for WASH Facilities
Consultations with children were held to explore preferences of children in having user friendly
sanitation facility in the school and any suggestions they liked to make for possible improvements in
the current design that would increase the comfort for using them. There were no specific suggestions
except from girls who demanded urinals as they did not like to use the toilets (as they are not
maintained well and smell) for urination (Itauri HS, and Baraikandi GPS). Such demand was common
in primary and secondary schools. In one school (Alluaddin HS, Shilimganj), children demanded to
protect soap from being eaten by crows. In few schools, Teaching staff demanded covering of the
toilet passages with roof on top to protect users from rains. More such participatory exercises with
children and teacher would be needed to explore their preferences further and in fact, such
consultations would be suitable for new initiatives as well.
School Brigades
The school Brigades have been formed in all schools where SHEWA-B was implemented. In most of
the schools, the school brigades are active and there seems to be equal and active participation of boys
51
and girls in the brigades. Children are members of school brigades since their formation and in some
cases, rotations of children have not happened yet (Itauri HS). School brigades are involved in various
activities as reported by them and the teachers – though the activities could not be witnessed on the
ground as such activities were reportedly done on Thursdays before or after the school hours. The
activities included cleaning of the premises and cleaning of the toilets in the schools and in some
schools where they were given responsibilities for community level hygiene promotion, they were
involved in household visits and meetings at the community level.
Notable work from School Brigades is noticed in Fekulmohammadpur School in Jamalganj where
school brigade worked in community in conversion of unhygienic toilets to hygienic toilets. The
school brigade was quite successful in achieving conversion of 176 unhygienic toilets in community
clusters which was considered as raising the proportion of hygienic toilets from 10% to 90%.The
experience sufficiently proves that children can act as change agents and influence communities in
adapting hygienic behaviours. A few hygienic toilets were seen by the visiting Team. The Brigade
used tools such as social mapping to indicate the users of unhygienic toilets. According to the Vice
Chairman of the Upzilla who was present at the time of the school visit, “..Children are bringing the
change..community is listening to them so we need to encourage children to promote cleanliness and
hygiene among households...community leaders and teachers can support children’s endeavours in
doing this...continuous hygiene education is the key for sustained hygiene behaviours at the school
and community level..” As he rightly said, support of community leaders and teachers would help
children in carrying out their work effectively in the community. It is however necessary for the
project to recognize the efforts of the school brigade and disseminate their good work to motivate
them for their sustained efforts.
It is also equally important that they are linked to the School Management Committees to voice their
preferences and demands so that the SMCs can plan for meeting their requirements and accommodate
them in their annual plans and budgets. Consultations with the SMCs in the field indicated their
willingness to have interactions with the school brigade. In future, the WinS programme can plan and
facilitate such interactions.
School Councils
Many schools reported that they have elected schools councils as per the new directions of the
Ministry of PM Education which is a major step in institutionalizing the concept of School Brigades
started under SHEWA B. Such councils have been elected annually since last 3 years while school
brigades were being formed. Many of the students of the school brigades have been nominated and
elected in School Councils which is good in terms of carrying forward the legacy of work done by the
brigades. The responsibilities of the school councils included cleaning of school premises and
organizing assembly etc. (More information needed on this). There is however no provision with the
Education Department for training of these councils (DPEO, Sylhet). Students from School Brigades
demanded more orientations on public health issues (Fekulmohammadpur School).
School Captains
There is also a system of School Captains which the team across in non-intervention schools. There is
a traditional concept called school captains which are nominated from each class in primary and
secondary class and such a group of captains have been effective in terms of monitoring the classes in
absence of Class teachers and monitoring various disciplines in the school.
Construction of WASH Facilities
Water Supply
52
Tubewells (shallow or deep) remain the major technology to make water available in schools. In
many cases, the tubewells have been motorised (using 1 HP or higher capacity pump) to facilitate
pumping to overhead tanks (capacity 1000 litres in many cases which gets filled in 10-15 minutes)
installed on top of the toilet blocks for making running water available in the toilet. Majority of the
schools have such running water and it has helped the children significantly in practicing
handwashing. Water is sufficiently available in schools except in a few cases where pump assemblies
were stolen (Karinpur GPS, Sontiki GPS) or connecting pipe to the storage tanks was removed by the
teacher (Karinpur GPS) or the electricity connection was not provided as the SMC failed to process
the connection procedure etc. Anti- Theft arrangement for the pump, facilitation by the DPHE on
electric connections are some of the measures that are required to ensure availability of water in
schools.
Locations of tubewells are close to the toilets, possibly to facilitate hand washing, is a cause of
concern and in many cases, the distance was less than 10m as specified in the National Norms. Water
Quality Testing, particularly for arsenic is appeared to be irregular and some schools reported that
such testing was done almost a year or two ago with no feedback to the schools. Safety indications
such as painting the pump with green paint if arsenic concentration is below safety level are done only
in a few schools. The DPHE Executive engineer at Sylhet confirmed that massive testing and painting
programme was undertaken during 2010-12 and similar programme is being planned now.
Hand washing Facility
These are provided as a part of the new sanitation facility in secondary schools. Primary schools were
not provided with such facility but could be useful to have such facility in these schools also.
Sanitation Facility
The new facilities were largely provided in secondary schools. The designs provided by the UNICEF
were used and the construction was done through the respective SMCs with technical support either
from the DPHE or from the NGO. Quality of workmanship of facilities in both the cases was found
similar and reasonable given the remoteness of the places etc. Generally, the construction has
completed on time with little overruns and in a few cases, there have been cost overruns. Many
schools had reported inadequate space available for construction of the facility perhaps due to the
perception of large land requirements. However, this may not be true in every case. In secondary
schools, largely the toilet complexes (toilets for boys & girls, Urinals for boys and handwashing
facilities for boys and girls) were provided. In case of primary schools, single toilets or a group of two
or more but without urinals and hand washing facility were promoted.
Considering the toilets provided and those existing, they found to be short of meeting the national
norm of 1:50 ratio of toilet and children. In case of secondary schools visited, the ratio works out to
1:61 to 1:222 for boys and 1:50 to 1:144 for girls. In case of primary schools, the ratios are 1:70 to
1:233 for boys and 1:80 to 1:296 for girls. The facilities need to take account the present strength of
the children (assuming that the capacity may get stretched when the strength increases in future) and
the present functional toilets available. Considering the space constraint in some schools, the norm
can be stretched to a certain extent.
It would be useful to review the current designs a) to address above disparities and ensure that a
standard set of facilities are made available to children irrespective of their grade and b) to identify
opportunities for optimising construction costs. Some of the micro details also need to be reviewed
and corrected through enhanced monitoring. For example, in primary school in Karinpur, the existing
toilets were extended to include 2 more toilets but the new toilets were without any windows or
ventilation. The taps in the urinals in the facility in Allauddin HS which were provided at
inappropriate height and could get contaminated with urine.
Technology Used
53
Many school sanitation facilities are connected with septic tanks for treatment and disposal of sewage.
Such technologies are maintenance intensive but may be relevant in Syleht context. The Sylhet region
is known for large and deeper depositions of sediments with shallow ground water tables in many
areas is perhaps not suitable for sanitation technologies such as leach pits especially in low lying areas
due to chances of contamination of ground water sources. So leach pits in higher areas and septic
tanks in low lying areas could be possible technology options in Sylhet. Some of the old toilets were
found connected with leach pits.
Integrating existing and new toilets and proposed toilets under PEDP III
There seems to be major issues of disparity related to selection of schools and construction of wash
facilities particularly in primary schools. In few locations, sanitation facilities are provided without
consideration to the existing functional toilets and in others, such facilities were rejected (Baraikundi
GPS), though the SMCs demanded, on the ground of inadequate space. Local officials acknowledge
these problems and they blame to the top down process followed in PEDP III where only
implementation is left to the Districts and Upzillas. Similar problems were reported for construction
of classrooms.
Maintenance of WASH Facilities
School Management Committees exist in all the schools but found to be constrained by lack of
adequate budgets in the management of school developments. They were actively involved in the
construction of sanitation facilities but such activeness was not visible in the maintenance of School
Sanitation facilities. School General Fund, Contingency Fund and SLIP (for primary schools) are the
major sources for school development activities but none of these are being used for procurement of
soap & cleaning materials and repairs or maintenance of the tubewells or sanitation facility due to
various reasons such as lack of provision of using these funds for maintenance (contingency fund),
non-availability of funds from the government (SLIP Fund) or failure to recognise and make
provisions for maintenance (General Fund). In one school (Ituari HS), the acting head teacher
reported that the school budget (General Fund) has a budget line which allows them to purchase soaps
and cleaning materials. However, this is only an exceptional case.
In many primary schools, expenses for soaps and cleaning materials are met partially by contributions
from teachers through their own salaries. Secondary schools are better off in mobilising some funds
through contributions from students, in addition to the regular school fees, in the range of 1 BDT per
child per month to 200 BDT/child/month, depending on the paying capacity of families. The
contributions are deposited in the school account as sanitation fund. Children receiving stipends are
generally excluded from paying such contributions. Many schools reported that such contributions are
inadequate to pay for even for cleaning materials and pay for electricity bills (as pumping involved)
leave alone the repairs. Voluntary contributions from communities are almost non-existent. In absence
of clear estimates of maintenance requirements (soap & cleaning materials, repairs for WASH
facilities) available, it is difficult to judge the sufficiency of the contributions collected and guide the
school management committees.
In the present situation, it is advisable to have a) clear requirements identified for soaps, cleaning
materials, electricity bills for tubewells, minor and major repairs for tubewells and those for sanitation
facilities and budgets are estimated for primary and secondary schools b) school management
committees of secondary schools convinced and facilitated to make clear provision of budgets for all
maintenance requirements of WASH facilities and appropriate adjustments in school contributions
from children. In case of primary schools, the issue requires further debate and work in terms of
exploring the possibility of provision of additional funds under general fund or contingency fund OR
to have regular SLIP fund released on time with provisions for maintenance.
Menstrual Hygiene Management
54
With respect to secondary schools, apparently there was no training or orientation organised for any
of the stakeholders at the school level on menstrual hygiene management. There has been limited
understanding among teachers or even female teachers (Chikanagul School) on the issue and little
awareness on the current practices adopted by adolescent girls. Teachers (Shahid Sudarshan School,
Dengala Village) demanded comprehensive training on the subject and such training not only for
teachers but for adolescent girls of the respective schools and their parents is essential to work with
the schools on this issue.
Advocacy for WASH Policy Development
There are several players involved in Wash In Schools Programme from district (DPHE,DPEO,
DSEO) and from Upzilla Parishad (Chairman, Vice Chairman, UNO, UEO, ASE). Despite PEDP III
being the largest school implemented at the district level, inter-sectoral co-ordination appeared to be
weak at the district level. DPHE and DPEO meet at the tender committee meetings (DPEO is the
member) but project specific meetings are held rarely. The nature of PEDP III demands no such co-
ordination at the district level as the plans are firmed up at the national level. A forum in the form of a
monthly meeting of UEO and ASEs are held on the behest of UNO at Upzilla Parishad level where
several issues are debated.
Involvement of these officials at upzilla and at district level is important for advocating project issues
and achievements and leveraging their support for resolving project issues. The field visits indicated
limited involvement of these officials and there has to be active engagement of these officials from
the beginning of the project. More facilitation and joint monitoring would help develop greater
understanding of the project issues and mobilise their support. Concerted efforts are required in future
interventions.
Monitoring and Learning
Monitoring – internally or externally is almost non-existent in the project. Internal monitoring could
have been done at the school level to monitor hygiene behaviours of children, cleaning of toilets and
use of toilets, availability of soap and cleaning materials etc which could have helped the school
brigades, teachers and the SMCs to take advance measures for improvement in creating healthy
school environments. External monitoring by DPHE or DEO is almost absent as monitoring without
backup resources is seen as a futile exercise. In absence of monitoring mechanisms, it is difficult to
measure the performance and compare the schools and also capture the best practices.
55
ANNEXURE 4
FIELD VISIT REPORT – BANDARBAN DISTRICT (3-4 Mar 2014)
The visits41
included 2 schools with software support and 2 with software plus hardware support. 4
schools visited were registered non government secondary schools where software and hardware
interventions were facilitated and supported by DAM. The details of these schools are given below.
Programme Duration
All the schools visited were targeted during 2013 from beginning of the year till November 2013. In
some schools, the interventions started in June 2013 at the time of onset of the monsoon and in a few
cases, the construction of WASH Facility had to be postponed after the monsoon. The schools were
selected under the project based on initial assessment of the WASH situations in schools by DAM and
later on the selection was done by the Upzilla Parishad headed by the Upzilla Chairman.
School Operations
All the schools visited are operating in a single shift with a fixed operating time between 10am to 4
pm with one hour (1 to 2pm) lunch break. There are no recess breaks in between but children are
allowed to use toilets whenever they have the urge to go. All the schools visited were co-education
schools with children strength ranging from 268 to 400. Children with disability were not there in all
the schools but where present, they were in limited nos of 2-5 per school but they need attention.
Many of the children come to their schools from a distance and remain in schools till the closure.
Almost all of them observed to be wearing shoes or sandals even while using sanitation facilities in
schools. In the school in Raicha, few students reside in the school during examinations to save time on
travelling. Children in the schools are from various religions42
of Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu with
predominantly from local tribes.
Software Inputs –Hygiene Education
41 Jointly with Fiona Ward, WASH Specialist and Mr.Md. Monirul Alam, WASH Officer, both from UNICEF
BCO 42
There are more than fifteen ethnic minorities living in the district besides the Bengalis, including:
the Bomong, Marma, Mru, Tanchangya, Khyang, Tripura, Lushei, Khumi, Chak, Kuki, Chakma,
Rakhine or Arakanese, Riyang, Usui and Pankho. The religious composition of the population, as of 1991, is
47.62% Muslim, 38% Buddhist, 7.27% Christian, 3.52% Hindu and 3.59% others. (en.wikipedia.org)
56
Across all the SHEWA-B schools visited in all categories in terms of packages provided and hardware
construction by DAM, a common process was observed for capacity building of school teachers and
SMC members and those of Children.
Per school 5 participants; 3 teachers and 2 members of the School SMC (with 1 female mandatory)
were trained at Upzilla level by joint team of DPHE, DEO and NGO. It was a 3 days trainers training
provided for secondary schools together. It was expected that the trained teachers would form school
brigades in their respective schools and provide orientations to them. This process was followed by all
the schools and they formed the school brigades and oriented them. There was no refresher training
offered for teachers in the project. Many teachers said that it was their first such training which
helped them learned hand washing with soap and F diagram. Most of them however said that the
training needed to be 5 days with more activities. Such extended training should cover how to work
with brigades and raise their consciousness towards hygienic behaviours. Refresher training were also
demanded (once in six months) to strengthen the knowledge base.
On continuing hygiene promotion in schools, practices are different in different schools. Conducting
hygiene sessions was reported only in one school (Soalok) whereas one school (Raicha) reported
observing cleanliness day on every Saturday. Teachers Guide and other hygiene materials (posters,
Karimchacha story books) were available in most of the schools but its frequent use is absent although
posters (Handwashing, F Diagram) were seen in the Head teachers room and in few classes. Hygiene
corner was developed in one school (Soalok) but its effective use was questionable.
During the visit, many teachers and school brigades/children have requested refresher training and
more comprehensive information on Hygiene and Sanitation related matters. Such training
particularly by children was preferred in a form of posters, story books, films and demonstrations.
Training of all teachers, continuous knowledge support to brigades, external monitoring of
behaviours, involvement of captains (selected in each class) to monitor students were some of the
other suggestions to sustain behaviours at the school level. There has been almost no involvement of
DEO, Upzilla Education Officer reported by any of the schools which could have been motivating for
the school teaching staff.
All the 4 schools visited reported water shortages during summer (March onwards) which pose
problems for the schools managements to get sufficient water for drinking, maintaining hygiene in
sanitation facilities and for hand washing. It is also challenging for the school to sustain hand washing
practices during such shortages.
Consultations with Children
Almost in all schools, an attempt was made to have conversations with children either outside or in
their classrooms to understand message recalls, reasons for adapting handwashing and effective
methods for communication, their preferences for sanitation facilities in their school etc.
Recall of Hygiene Messages
The recall of hygiene messages (particularly 2 messages of handwashing with soap at critical times;
after using toilet and before eating) was observed to be very high. Children confirmed that they have
seen Meena and Karimchacha characters on TV and in the story books in the school respectively
(Sangu). However, the messages given by the characters are not remembered well. Some of them
knew about handwashing with soap from their primary school classes (Raicha) and others have
learned from the posters displayed in the school. The role of the NGO did not figure in the discussions
with children, which indicates that the NGO may not have directly involved in any hygiene promotion
activities at the school level.
57
The reason for strong recall of these messages could be attributed to practicing hand washing at home
after using the toilet as many of the children confirmed that they had toilets at home and they practice
hand washing with soap.
School Brigades
The school Brigades have been formed in all schools where SHEWA-B was implemented. The school
brigades were found active in Raicha and Soalok High schools. With the introduction of Students
Councils, there is less attention to School Brigades and in fact, they were not formed among the new
children enrolled in the Grade 6th. It was reported that school brigades are involved in cleaning of the
premises and cleaning of the toilets in the schools. In Soalok school, school brigades were sent to the
community for hygiene promotion immediately after their formation. They were involved in
promoting cleanliness, handwashing messages and sanitary surveys at the community level without
much support from Teachers. The Head Teacher suggested that the community level processes needed
technical support from the NGO as teachers have several commitments at the school level. The
school brigade in Soalok still visits the communities once a week. The experience at Soalok suggests
that the community work by children requires development of a clear strategy and process with
adequate capacity building of children and building support mechanisms. There has to be adequate
time gap for building their capacity and skills before they are sent to the communities.
School Councils
Many schools reported that they have elected schools councils as per the new directions of the
Ministry of PM Education. However, they are yet to be seen active in the schools. The programme has
to make a decision for future interventions whether to continue with School Brigades or work with
Student Councils by strengthening them. The later seems to be the case for future interventions.
Construction of WASH Facilities
Water Supply
All the schools reported water shortages during summer (from March onwards). Ringwells reported to
be going dry during summer. The Schools had no alternative sources available but to fetch water (by
children or by a hired person) from long distant sources. There were reports of children missing
classes in schools on account of non-availability of water in toilets. Hydrogeological investigations
are not a usual practice for locating the sites for tubewells but they may prove to be beneficial in
locating the potential sites for reliable wells (to be discussed with the DPHE).
Due to hilly area, the wells were located in low areas and much away from the toilets in the schools.
Water Quality of such wells reported to be good with no major chemical contaminations (Arsenic or
Iron). All the schools had overhead tanks and running water arrangement inside the toilets and at
handwashing facilities where available.
Hand washing Facility
These are provided in schools where new sanitation facility or existing sanitation facility was
rehabilitated. In other schools (Sangu) where such support was not provided, handwashing facility
was not provided but children had to wash their hands at nearby tubewells or in toilets. Software
schools need handwashing facility as a part of the programme to ensure that handwashing with soap is
practiced across all schools. The current approach of only hygiene education in software schools
requires review.
Sanitation Facility
New sanitation was provided in Raicha School and existing facility was rehabilitated in Soalok
school. The ratio of toilet to children is observed to be about 1:66 to 1:175 which is high compared to
national norm of 1:50.
58
The new facility at Raicha School was still under construction due to late start in November 13. The
facility provides 2 toilets for boys with one urinal and one handwashing facility and 3 toilets for girls
with one handwashing facility. According to DAM representative, the Group Handwashing facility in
both boys and girls toilets had to be dropped from the design due to space constraint on the site.
Rag Washing platforms, railings for children with disability were yet to be constructed. Urinals were
constructed assuming that boys would squat while urinating and the design has to be sensitive to
practices in various religions when the school has children of mixed religions, a typical characteristic
of schools in this region. (Muslim children squat while Hindus/Buddhits stand while urinating).
Overall the design (layouts, accessories, disposal technology etc) aspects of sanitation facility require
review to make them more child friendly and sensitive to local cultures. Layouts of the facilities
should also be shared with the Teaching Staff and the SMCs in the schools.
Technology Used
Many school sanitation facilities are connected with septic tanks for treatment and disposal of sewage
from the toilets. The septic tanks provided (in Raicha) had a wrong outlet connection from the bottom
of the second tank, which is connected to the soakpit. Ideally it should be from the top to remove the
supernatant liquid. This needs to be corrected before the toilets are commissioned. Secondly, the area
has low ground water table and leach pit technology may be suitable for toilets. The technology
should be reviewed to reduce the construction costs further.
Construction Supervision
It was told that the constructions of the sanitation facilities were being supervised by an engineer
engaged by DAM at the district level. It would be advisable to have critical construction checks done
on time to avoid mistakes (like the one with the septic tank) and such check lists are used and reported
by the agency involved in construction.
Capacity Building
It was observed that there was no construction training provided to the SMCs members. It is essential
that the construction training is provided to the prospective masons, SMCs and the Teaching staff
covering various aspects of procurement of materials, costing, quality control, maintenance of the
facility and cleaning of the septic tanks and safe disposal of septage.
It is also equally important that children (the users of the facility) are provided a short training on how
to use and maintain the facility.
Maintenance of WASH Facilities
School Management Committees exist in all the schools. They were involved in the construction of
the sanitation facility but not so active on the maintenance of the facility. Head Teachers observed to
be making all the decisions on maintenance (procurement of materials, hiring persons to clean or
repairing of the facility).
Water shortages have badly impacted the maintenance of the facilities in schools. In Sangu, the toilets
were badly smelling. In Dulupara School, the WASH Facility was constructed by World Vision in
2002. The toilets were badly maintained on account of poor construction of the facility, water
shortages and blockages caused by using stones and other materials by children as anal cleansing
materials in absence of water.
The procurement of soap and cleaning material is done as and when required. Two schools (Raicha
and Soalok) practice raising funds for maintenance through childrens contributions (50
BDT/year/child and 10 BDT per month per child respectively) and the schools admitted that these
contributions are not sufficient and need to be raised. The schools require guidance in terms of
maintenance requirements and a guideline would help them. Also budgeting exercises at the school
level would help make provision of or raising the funds to ensure that supplies are available in
59
adequate quantity round the year. Such exercise should be done involving respective SMC, Teachers
and School Brigades.
In all schools, the toilets are cleaned by a school staff (peon) or a hired person from outside expect in
a school in Raicha where it is done by school brigade. The frequency of such cleaning is unclear.
School General Fund, Contingency Fund and SLIP (for primary schools) are the major sources for
school development activities but none of these were reported to be used for procuring supplies or
repairs.
Menstrual Hygiene Management
Although, rag washing facility is being provided in new sanitation facility (Raicha HS), training or
orientations to girls on MHM are yet to happen in the schools. Such orientations are required in these
schools.
Advocacy for WASH Policy Development
In the schools visited and discussions with the Teaching staff confirmed that there has been almost no
involvement of Upzilla and Distict level officials in the programme activities except for initial
teachers training. Monthly meetings of teachers at Upzilla are also irregular and are not of much help
to teachers. More facilitation and joint monitoring would help develop greater understanding of the
project issues and mobilise their support. Concerted efforts are required in future interventions.
Technology options for water resources as well as sanitation facility needs to be further explored at
the DPHE level.
Monitoring and Learning
Monitoring – internally or externally is almost non-existent in the project. Facilitation support from
UNICEF is also observed to be weak. Monitoring requires urgent attention in the programme and
needs to be addressed on priority.
60
ANNEXURE 5
FIELD VISIT REPORT -KHAGRACHHARI DISTRICT (5-6 Mar 2014)
Visits to Schools in Khagarchari District, 5-6 Mar 2014
Field Visits43
were undertaken to schools supported under SHEWA-B in Khagrachhari district to
understand and assess effectiveness of various interventions of the programme, their potential to
influence hygiene behaviours and school attendance, gaps and opportunities for support and
replication or scaling up. The visits included 2 primary and 2 secondary schools with software and
hardware support through DAM and DPHE. The details of these schools are presented below.
The methodology for assessments in these schools covered consultations with the Head Teachers,
Members of the SMCs and School Children and reconnaissance survey of WASH Facilities.
Programme Duration
All the schools visited were targeted during 2011-12. The schools were selected under the project
based on initial assessment of the WASH situations in schools by DAM and DPHE and later on the
selection was done by the respective Upzilla Parishads.
School Operations
All the secondary schools visited are operating in a single shift with a fixed operating time between
10am to 4:30 pm with one hour (1 to 2pm) lunch break. Primary schools operate in two shifts from 9
to 12 and 12 to 4:30pm. There are no recess breaks in between but children are allowed to use toilets
whenever they have the urge to go. All the schools visited were co-education schools with children
strength ranging from 260-460 in primary schools and about 325 in secondary schools. Children with
disability were not there in all the schools but where present, they were in limited nos of about 2 per
43 Jointly with Fiona Ward, WASH Specialist and Mr.Md.Moniril Alam, WASH Officer, both from UNICEF
BCO
61
school. Children in the schools are from various religions of Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu with
predominantly from local tribes.
Software Inputs –Hygiene Education
The process of training to teachers & SMC members and formation school brigade was similar to
Bandarban/Sylhet. Teachers and SMC members from the intervention schools were trained on WASH
for 3 days. The trained teachers then formed the school brigades in their respective schools. There
was no refresher training offered for teachers in the project. More refresher training, extended
residential training of 5 days and combined training with children were demanded by Teachers.
There seems to be slow down on hygiene activities in schools – only one primary school (Panchari
Bazar) reported to have hygiene sessions every week. It was also reflected in the consultations with
the children that there were no recent activities conducted on hygiene education.
About continuing hygiene promotion in schools, there were suggestions from Teachers which
included combined training of teachers and children using multimedia, dissemination using sports
activities and inviting doctors to visit schools etc.
There has been almost no involvement of DEO, Upzilla Education Officer reported by any of the
schools which could have been motivating for the school teaching staff.
Consultations with Children
Almost in all schools, an attempt was made to have conversations with children either outside or in
their classrooms to understand message recalls, reasons for adapting handwashing and effective
methods for communication, their preferences for sanitation facilities in their school etc.
Recall of Hygiene Messages
The recall of hygiene messages (particularly 2 messages of handwashing with soap at critical times;
after using toilet and before eating) was observed to be very high particularly among primary school
children (Panchari Bazar and Kalnal). In these schools, children confirmed that they learned these
messages from Teacher and mothers at home. They remembered Meena character advertised on the
TV (a few even remembered the telecast on every Friday 9am) and displayed on their books.
Karimchacha character was remembered and the messages by the character were not known.
Recall of children in secondary school was poor and could remember seeing only posters in the
school. They were not even aware of the School Brigades. The role of the NGO did not figure in the
discussions with children, which indicates that the NGO may not have directly involved in any
hygiene promotion activities at the school level.
Requirement of Urinals
In Panakeya secondary schools, the girls demanded separate urinals.
School Brigades
The school Brigades have been formed in all schools. School Brigades exists in secondary schools but
found to be less active now. In primary schools, the brigades have been dissolved due to formation of
Student‟s council. School brigades are involved in cleaning of school premises, holding debates on
cleanliness and in the past, they were also involved in hygiene promotion in neighbouring
communities.
School Councils
Many schools reported that they have elected schools councils as per the new directions of the
Ministry of PM Education. However, they are yet to be seen active in the schools.
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Construction of WASH Facilities
Water Supply
Apparently, the area does not face water shortages in summer. All the schools had tubewells as a
source and either a ground level tank or overhead tanks were available to provide running water in the
toilets. In Panchari Bazar School, the SMC member donated funds to have water provision in the
school. Water Quality is not an issue in the area.
Hand washing Facility
These are provided only in secondary schools. Primary schools lacked such facility and those are
required in these schools also to get children habituated from early stages. Soaps were provided in
toilets and handwashing is practiced inside the toilets. The practice of washing hands in toilets needs
review.
Sanitation Facility
Except at one school (Parachhara), remaining schools had new sanitation facilities. The ratio of toilet
to children is observed to be about 1:54 to 1:218. Except for one school (Panakeya), the ratio is high
in other schools and in Panchari Bazar school, children confirmed that they go out for urination when
toilets are crowded. The sanitation facility design requires a review.
Technology Used
Except for the school Panakeya where septic tank is constructed, in remaining places leach pits
technology was used for disposal of toilet waste which seemed to be appropriate for the region where
ground water table is low. The SMC, Teaching Staff needs to be oriented on the technology used for
the toilets, maintenance requirements etc.
Maintenance of WASH Facilities
School Management Committees exist in all the schools. They were involved in the construction of
the sanitation facility but not so active on the maintenance of the facility. Head Teachers observed to
be making all the decisions on maintenance (procurement of materials, hiring persons to clean or
repairing of the facility). Except for one school (Parichhara), other schools engage children in
cleaning of the toilets.
Secondary schools (Parichhara) raise funds for maintenance through children contributions whereas
primary schools are using SLIP Fund or Contingency Fund to purchase soaps and cleaning materials.
Primary School (Kalinal) had budgeted 12 soaps a year (SLIP Fund) and 2 bottles of Harpic
(Contingency Fund) for cleaning toilets which are not sufficient for the year.
The schools require guidance in terms of maintenance requirements and a guideline would help them.
Also budgeting exercises at the school level would help make provision of or raising the funds to
ensure that supplies are available in adequate quantity round the year. Such exercise should be done
involving respective SMC, Teachers and School Brigades.
Menstrual Hygiene Management
In secondary schools, MHM related facilities were not included but Parichhara High School has taken
proactive steps to orient girls through a doctor who visits twice the school a year and to keep the stock
of napkins. Details with Head Teacher were not available on demand for such napkins and their
disposal in the school premise. He suggested to have a joint workshop of parents and teachers on the
MHM issue and said that a booklet for girls would be useful.
63
Advocacy for WASH Policy Development
Here again, there has been almost no involvement of Upzilla or District officials in the programme
activities. More facilitation and joint monitoring would help develop greater understanding of the
project issues and mobilise their support. Concerted efforts are required in future interventions.
Monitoring and Learning
Monitoring – internally or externally is almost non-existent in the project. Facilitation support from
UNICEF is also observed to be weak. Monitoring requires urgent attention in the programme and
needs to be addressed on priority.
64
ANNEXURE 6
Sample Maintenance Budget Calculations for a Secondary School in Sylhet (Estimated – Not actual)
School Strength = 662 Children
School Budget = 1 Million BDT per Year
Annual Soap requirement for effective 10 months = 10gms* per child per month x 10= 100 gms x
622 children = 6220 gms, that means 83 soap bars (75 gms each) per year. Cost of Soaps @ BDT
30 = 83x 30 = 2490 BDT
Cleaning Materials – applications 2 times in a week per toilet @20ml every time, 8 applications in
month per toilet, use for 5 toilets = 20*8*5=800Ml per month x10 months = 8000 Ml. With a
volume of 500 ML, 16 bottles per annum are required. Cost of cleaning materials @ BDT 150 =
16*150 = 2400 BDT
Total = 2490 + 2400 = 4890 rounded off to say 6000 BDT Maximum.
Add repairs of water points and sanitation facility repairs appx 10000 BDT
Add for Electricity bills for water points @ 300 BDT per month = 3600 BDT
Total 19600 BDT say 20,000 BDT
This amount is about 2% of the total budget spent by the school. However, more such
exercises are required to arrive at a realistic figure.
„* Soap requirement has been estimated based on SPHERE Standard which recommends 250gms of
soap per person per month. However, the quantity is for all washing purposes in emergency situations.
In a study done in Pakistan to test this standard, it was found that only ¼ of the specified quantity of
soap was actually used by the people in the camps.
In absence of any other data on soap consumption, the SPHERE data is used. It is assumed in a
normal situation, soap requirement at household would be about double of this quantity i.e. 125 gms
per person per month. For only handwashing , it is assumed that only less than 10% of it is required
i.e 10 gms per person per month and the same is considered for the estimate above.
65
ANNEXURE 7
Review of Teachers Guide on Primary School Sanitation and Hygiene Education
The Guide covers topics of safe water, sanitation, Hygiene, Environment and Tree Plantation,
Menstrual Management, Disaster Management and the roles of teachers, Children, SMCs and
Communities in school sanitation programmes. Approach of the Guide is on providing basic
knowledge of water, sanitation and hygiene in communities and in school environments.
Comments on the Content
The Guide should be an operational guide for Teachers to promote
hygiene behaviors, engage and support children on hygiene behaviors,
assess situations and address issues of upkeep and maintenance of
WASH facilities in collaboration with SMCs and PTAs. The Guide
should focus on real situations in schools related to WASH and suggest
ways of addressing these situations clearly highlighting roles of
children, teachers, head teachers and SMCs. The current Guide requires
substantial restructuring to bring issues in focus and giving practical
suggestions and ideas for Teachers to address them substantiated with
real case studies, pictures and photos.
Following is the suggested structure for the Teachers Guide in Primary
and in Secondary Schools. It is recommended that the meeting with
select teachers from Primary and Secondary schools be organized
separately to discuss the content and seek their suggestions and comments to make the guide more
meaningful and relevant for them.
Section I : WASH in Schools
Why WASH in Schools? What is the situation in schools(Provide pictures, photos and real
case studies to have the desired impact)? Toilets locked by teachers, badly maintained? Non
availability of Water and soap? What is the status of the facility in their schools? (Provide
them assessment tool/checklist)
Impact on Attendance and Learning of Children (especially in the event of non-availability of
water-soap-clean toilets) (Give real examples)
Commitment from Government and key policy guidelines relevant to Schools/Teachers/Their
Departments – giving them understanding that this is not additional work (rather UNICEF
work) but its their own mandate too!!!
Key players at the school level – SMC, PTA, Head Teachers, teachers, School Brigades, boys
and girls, children with disability
Section II : Basic Knowledge of WASH
Water - Water Quantity Requirements (use Standards), Water Safety (Bacteriological and
Arsenic contaminations), Siting of Water Points (ref.standards), water quality testing done by
DPHE, and Painting them for their safe or unsafe status,
Sanitation- Why sanitation? F Diagram suited to school environments, types of toilets, toilets
children ratio, child friendly features, disposal of waste
Hygiene – handwashing with soap, correct process and a diagram of sequence of
handwashing with soap
Section III : Hygiene Promotion in School Environments
Key Hygiene Behaviors in school environments. How to promote these behaviours in school
environments and engage children in practicing those? (Tools for education, tools for
66
situation assessments by teachers and children, indoor-outdoor activities, games, events
throughout the year, involvement of SMCs-PTAs and Upzilla Education officer/ higher
officials)
Provide a typical calendar of activities for a year for Teachers and School Brigades
School Based Monitoring System – with key performance indicators
What are the key determinants for sustaining hygiene practices? Availability of Water, Soap
and Upkeep and Maintenance of WASH Facilities
Section IV: Operation and Maintenance of WASH Facilities
Roles of SMCs , PTA, Head Teachers, Teachers and School Brigades, School Children
Typical Requirements of O&M of WASH Facilities in schools – day to day, periodic
O&M Budget Exercise (Give them norms and let them work it for their schools based on
children strength and no of toilets they have)
Financing of Maintenance – Sources of Funds for Maintenance
Process for Budgeting and Mobilising Funds
Technical Support Available from DPHE and others
Section V: Menstrual Hygiene Management (Optional for Primary but required for Secondary
Schools)
General content in the Guide is ok. However add the following –
Approaches for breaking the silence on this – A designated Lady Teacher on guide adolescent
girls on this, Girls from School Brigades can also be approached, meeting with parents of girls
etc, separate sessions for girls in schools on the topic )
Need for keeping the toilets clean in case of no changing rooms available
Need for emergency advise and help
Collection and Disposal arrangement for used menstrual clothes/pads in school environments
Section V: Hygiene Promotion in Communities (For SLTS Approach)
Key Hygiene Behaviors in Community environments. How to promote these behaviors in
Community environments and engage households in practicing those? (Working with
community supporters, Tools for assessment of situations, inter-personal communication, use
of IEC Materials, monitoring, facilitate support from the DPHE and other government
departments, involvement of SMCs-PTAs and Upzilla/District officials)
Provide a typical calendar of activities for a year for School Brigades
Comments on Presentation
Use Photos and pictures, real case studies and examples to highlight the issue
Avoid household sanitation photos and description except the section V to ensure that the
focus of the information remains on School Environment
Use boxes to highlight key messages and do‟s and don‟ts instructions
Add prototype tools, charts, figures (useful for teachers for conducting sessions with children)
as supplement to the Guide.
Use simple but crisp narration…
Overall Guide should not be more than 50 pages!!!
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ANNEXURE 8
Review of Posters (6 Nos) on Hygiene Education
Poster on Cleaning of the Water Point
Good, simple and clear poster
Needs to highlight significance of green painting
Needs to message on Arsenic Contamination
Needs to show soak pit for drainage of wastewater
Need to add messages on protecting it from Theft and Vendalism
The message given in the form of Poem at the bottom of the poster to be modified
accordingly.
Poster on Process of Handwashing with Soap
Covers 2 hygiene messages of handwashing with soap before eating and after defecation
Needs to indicate the towel used should be hygienic
Needs to add a message that ` You do it whether at home or at School‟
Needs to add a message that ` You do it and encourage others to do it‟
Poster on Keeping the School Latrine Clean
Covers the message of cleaning the toilet after its use and wearing the shoes at the time of
using the toilet.
May be some indication of frequency of toilet washing would be good.
Needs to add message that `you need to wash your both hands with soap after cleaning
the toilet‟
The poem line at the bottom to be modified accordingly.
Poster on Cleaning the School Compound
No comments
Poster on 5 Steps of Water Safety
Step 1 : The word `Safe‟ used in the message should be changed to `Protect‟
Step 2 : This can be gender balanced….let the boy do the pumping.
Step 3 : No comment
Step 4 : Add message that `not to dip a glass or a vessel inside the drinking water pot to
avoid contaminations through hands‟
Step 5 : No comment
Again, message about significance of colour code (Use for arsenic contamination) could be repeated
here.
Poster 6 on F Diagram
This poster can be changed to depict school situations such as urine flooded toilets, soiled toilet pans,
non wearing of shoes inside the toilets, non-washing of hands with soap at handwashing facility, to
make this diagram more relevant.
Message on handwashing is given in the top picture. But the soap is missing in the text.
The barrier line (Red) could be explained with brief descriptions which are nothing but messages.
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Additional Posters Suggested
a) Activity Chart for School Brigades
b) Arsenic Contaminations and its effects and remedial measures
c) Maintenance Chart for WASH Facility – showing maintenance items such as soap, chemicals,
brush, brooms, buckets, mugs, electricity bills, repairs to Tubewell, Repairs to sanitation facility,
repairs to handwashing facility
Brief calculations chart on soap required, chemicals required, repairs etc
Responsibilities of SMCs, Teachers and Children
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List of People Met
UNICEF BCO
Mr. Charlie Hrachya Sargsyan, Chief of WASH Section
Ms.Fiona Ward, WASH Specialist,
Ms.Nujulee Begum, WASH Specialist (`WASH in Schools‟),
Mr.Md.Monir Alam, WASH Officer
Mr.Shofiqul Alm, Urban Development Specialist
Mr.Sayed Adnan Ibna Hakim, Project Officer
Mr.Kamal Khadka, Construction Specialist, Supply and Procurement Section,
Mr.Mohammad Mohasin, Education Specialist, Education Section,
Ms.Shirin Hussain, Communication for Development Specialist, C4D Section
UNICEF Sylhet Zonal Office
Mr.A.A.Kamrul Alam, WASH Officer, Sylhet Division
Newly recruited Engineers by UNICEF
Md.Nazmul Islam, Consultant, Dhaka
Md.Nesar Ahmed, Field Engineer, Khulna
Md.Emdad, Field Engineer, Chittagong
UNICEF’s Dutch Funded Programme Partners
Mr.Md.Walidul Islam, Project Co-ordinator, Health and WASH Unit, Concern Universal
Engr.Mohammad Ali, Public Health Engineer, Oxfam GB, Bangladesh
Mr.Ranjit Da, Public Health Prooter-Coordinator, Oxfam GB, Bangladesh
Mr.Md.Ruhul Amin (Deluxe), Oxfam GB, Bangladesh
Engr.AHAB Siddique, Assistant Manager (WASH), Caritas, Bangladesh
DAM
Mr.Syed Nur-A-Alam Siddique, Program Manager, Dhaka
VERC
Mr. Ahamed Hoosain Choudhury, Area Co-ordinator, Dhaka
Mr.Md.Masud Hassan, Co-ordinator, Dhaka
BRAC
Mr.Milan Kanti Barua, Adviser, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, BRAC, Bangladesh (13 Mar 14)
DPHE and DPE
Mr.Mohammad Hanif, Executive Engineer, DPHE, Sylhet
Mr.Mohuddin Ahmad, District Primary Education Officer, Sylhet District
Mr.Jahangir, ASE, Khagrachhari District
School Staff, Children and SMC members
Sunamganj, Moulvibazar and Sylhet Districts
Shahid Sudarshan High School, Dengla Village, 23 Feb 2014
Lamua Primary School, 23 Feb 14
Sontiki Primary School, 23 Feb 2014
Karinpur Primary School , 23 Feb 14
Alluadin Memorial High School, Shilimganj?? 24 Feb 14
70
Itauri Haji Yunusmiah Memorial High School, Village: Itauri, Union: Nizbadhpur, Upzilla:
Boralekha, Dist: Maulvibazar 25 February 2014
Dakshinbhag Govt Primary School, Village: Aurangabad, Upzilla: Borelekha, Dist: Maulvibazar (25
February 2014)
Shatma Government Primary School, Village: Boralekha 25 February 2014
Baraikandi Government Primary School, Moharani, Union-2 Gashipur Bazar, (25 Feb 14)
Chikanagul Adarsh School, Village: Ghaterchoti, Dist: Sylhet (Non intervention school) (26 Feb 14)
Chikanagul Government Primary School, Village: Ghaterchoti, Dist: Sylhet (Non intervention school)
(26 Feb 14)
Bandarban District
Raicha High School, Raicha, Union: Raicha, Upzilla: Bandarban Sadar, Dist: Bandarban- 04 Mar
2014
Soalok High School, Village Soalok, Union : Soalok, Upzilla: Bandarban Sadar- 04 Mar 14
Sangu High School, Bandarban Para, Upzilla: Bandarban- 04 Mar 14
Dalupura High School, Saolok - 04 Mar 14
Khagrachhari District
Panakeya Para High School, Panakeya, Upzilla: Khagrachhari
Parachhara High School, Union: Khagrachhari
Panchari Bazar Model Sarkari Prathmik Vidyalaya, Panchari Upzilla
Kalnal Govt Primary School,
71
References
Assessment of WASH Conditions in Schools, Human Development Research Centre
(HDRC), September 2011
Bangladesh Primary Education Annual Sector Performance Report-2013, M&E Division,
Directorate of Primary Education, Bangladesh, November 2013
Demographic and Health Survey, Bangladesh, 2011
National Hygiene Promotion Strategy for Water Supply and Sanitation in Bangladesh,
December 2011
National Standard of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Schools in Bangladesh - 2012
Operational Guidelines for the Preparation and Implementation of School Level
Improvement Plan (SLIP), Directorate of Primary Education, August 2008
Process Monitoring Endline Report (SHEWA-B), Neilsen Bangladesh, December 2012
Programme Document, PEDP III, Directorate of Primary Education, June 2011
Project Co-operation Agreement (PCA) of UNICEF Bangladesh and Oxfam (undated)
Report on Need Based Infrastructure PEDP 3, Dr.P.K.Das, Consultant, 31 July 2012
School Brigade Guidelines
School Brigades as Change Agents – A note by Kamrul Alam, UNICEF (undated)
SHEWA-B WASH in Schools, Endline Assessment, 2012, icddr,b, August 2013
SHEWA-by School Database shared by UNICEF WASH Section
Students Brigades as Change Agents- Nujulee Begum, UNICEF (undated)
Teacher‟s Guide on Primary School Sanitation and Hygiene Education, DPHE and DPE,
2009
The Story of SHEWA-B, UNICEF BCO, 2013