A CLEAN ENVIRONMENT FOR CHILDREN

Children spend a significant amount of time in and around their schools. Inadequate water supply and sanitation facilities, not only are a health hazard, but also affect school attendance, retention and educational performance. Yet these invaluable commodities are not available to many Tanzanian school children.



 

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities in Tanzania's schools are extremely poor. The rapid increase in primary school enrollment since the abolition of school fees for primary education has put a heavy burden on existing school infrastructure and particularly on WASH facilities, which generally were already suffering from poor operation and maintenance. Many new schools and classrooms are built with no consideration for WASH facilities or of built, these rarely follow any standards.

After reaching puberty, girls in particular are less likely to regularly attend school if toilet and hygiene facilities are inadequate or nonexistent. Children in such schools also face increased health risks including diarrhoea, worms and urinary infections - which can impact their ability to learn and could result to increased absenteeism.