The shame of the sorry state of our crumbling public schools

 

 

The state of the only pit latrine serving Lung'a primary school in Ugenya, Siaya county in a picture taken on October 04,2016. Lack of sanitation amenities has pushed both boys and girls to share the torn iron sheet walled structure to releave self. (Photo: Denish Ochieng/ Standard)

The collapse of pit latrines has condemned over 500 pupils of Ludodo Primary School in Likuyani Sub-county to stay at home.

Its closure by the public health department last Tuesday highlights the deteriorating sanitary conditions in some public schools across the country.

Thousands of pupils risk contracting diseases daily while in pursuit of their academic dream, with filthy toilets, dilapidated classrooms and lack of clean water posing the major risks.

Developments in these schools have not kept up with the rising enrolment, which has put pressure on existing facilities.

The introduction of universal primary education saw enrolment rise from 5.9 million pupils in 2002 to 7.2 million in 2003. The number currently stands at more than eight million pupils.

The National School Health Strategy Implementation Plan 2011-2015 noted this trend had strained hygiene and sanitation facilities in schools.

“Water, sanitation and hygiene are critical towards creating a child-friendly environment in learning institutions. Improved water, sanitation and hygiene in learning institutions generate considerable benefits in terms of improved child health, attendance, performance, retention and transition,” reads the report authored by then Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation.

The impact of improved sanitary condition is demonstrated by the case of Mwangala Primary School in Likoni sub-county that was closed down in 2014 after its pit latrines collapsed during heavy rains.

The number of pupils increased after it reopened with a modern sanitation block with clean water, thanks to the Mombasa County government and the government of Netherlands.

It benefited from the Mombasa Public Primary Schools Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash) project, which involves construction of sanitation blocks and water supply to promote hand wash after use of toilets. The local community now benefits from the school water.

SANITATION CHALLENGES

School enrolment has increased from 350 pupils to 537 in a year. The number of teachers has grown from seven to 12. The ECDE section has also seen numbers grow from 80 to 180.

“This school has just resumed full operation after closure over serious sanitation challenges. Our pit latrine collapsed during rains and we were relieving ourselves in bushes,” recalled headteacher Mr Rama Nyanje.

The Health Strategy report added: “The health benefits of safe and adequate water, improved sanitation and hygiene range from reduction in diarrhoea, intestinal worms, ecto-parasites, infections and trachoma, to enhanced psycho-social well-being afforded via such factors as the dignity that goes with using a clean toilet/latrine.”

 

It is to tackle this challenge that Government came up with the plan that included a Sh1.5 billion programme for rehabilitating toilets in 10,000 schools and provision of clean water.

Efforts to get details of the progress of implementation were futile as Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang could not be reached for comment.

But recent data from the ministry showed up to 30 per cent of children drop out of school due to lack of clean water.

It is this disturbing data that prompted the Government, through the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, to recently unveil a Sh15 billion programme that targets to connect 9,000 public primary schools to clean piped water in the next three years.

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Secretary General Akello Misori has said the Government is squarely to blame for the wanting sanitation status in schools.

Misori said it was the same Government’s health officials who inspected schools and gave them a clean bill knowing fully well that they did not meet the threshold.

“So basically, the Education CS cannot complain and say schools are to take responsibility. He is just a victim of his own Government’s poor oversight,” said Misori, referring to the CS’ rebuke of a school that had bought a bus yet students were living in pathetic conditions.

During the visit to Kathiani Boys last week, Matiang’i lamented that school managers were not investing in the most basic areas but were spending on luxury.

The school had purchased a bus worth Sh12 million but the students were living in a poor environment with torn mattresses and dirty dorms.

Misori defended teachers, saying they were only implementing what they had been instructed to do by the State and school boards.

“Of course, if the board passes a resolution that a bus be bought, there is no way you will divert the money to build a toilet,” he argued. “But the students of these days are strange also, you will find that they do not mind lacking books as they would rather have an expensive bus, and there will be no complaints”.

GRAVE CONSEQUENCES

Asked about the status of sanitation and water in schools, Dr Kepher Ombacho, who heads the Public Health Department in the Ministry of Health, said over 80 per cent of schools had basic sanitation facilities.

Health centres without basic hygiene stood at 42 per cent and two per cent lacked sanitation facilities, he added.

But he demonstrated the grave consequences of poor sanitation, saying 88 per cent of all cases of diarrhoea globally were attributable to water, sanitation and hygiene.

He observed that diarrhoea caused the deaths of around 24,000 children under five in Kenya in 2008. Under the 2011-15 programme, some 2,000 schools were to be connected to piped water at a cost of Sh120 million.

The Government was also to construct shallow wells at safe distances from toilets for another Sh100 million.

“The Government will construct boreholes in cases where no other viable options exist for 200 schools (Sh360 million) and rehabilitate school sanitation facilities in 70 per cent of schools,” reads the plan in part.

The plan was also to develop appropriate technical toilet design for schools, including catering for children with disability (Sh8.5 million), construct new school toilets in 10,000 schools in all constituencies, rehabilitate existing toilets in 10,000 schools (Sh800 million) and construct new toilets for children with special needs in 216 special schools (Sh64.8 million).