NAMIBIAS EDUCATION MINISTRY LAUNCHES WASH CAMPAIGN IN SCHOOLS WINDHOEK, June 19 (NNN-NAMPA) -- Seventy-eight per cent of schools in Namibia surveyed in the 2013 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Interventions in Schools (WinS) survey have been found to have access to safe water, but no access to toilets. The survey also found that one in 10 schools do not have toilets, while at other schools, large numbers of pupils are forced to share one toilet, according to Education Minister David Namwandi in a speech read on his behalf by the Director of Programmes and Quality Assurance in the Ministry, Edda Bohn, during the launch of the National Inter-School WASH Competition here Tuesday. Namwandi said the supply of toilets had not kept up with demand, noting that 52 per cent of schools had no soap or water available for hand washing. Functional hand-washing facilities are essential components for good health and hygiene practices of both pupils and school staff members. The situation was found to be the worst in the Kavango East and West, Ohangwena and Oshikoto Regions (Provinces), the minister said. The aim of the WinS project is to promote good health and hygiene practices in all schools in order to create a positive environment for behaviour change, particularly by learners and staff members in Government primary and combined schools. Namwandi explained that among the interventions his ministry is implementing is to ensure that pupils have access to safe water and good sanitation through the WASH Interventions Schools supported by the Millennium Challenge Account Namibia (MCA-N). “These initiatives are aimed at helping to cultivate appropriate hygiene behaviours which protect against water-borne or related diseases, including worm infestation. These initiatives, we believe, will also have a secondary impact on the wider community as learners become agents of change within their own homes,” the Minister said. -- NNN-NAMPA
Posted on: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 04:03:42 +0000
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