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More toilets, more girls in school in Malawi
17 March 2008
After school fees were abolished in Malawi in 1994, M’buka Primary School found
itself, like many others in the country, bursting at the seams, unable to cope with
the huge increase in pupil numbers. More children were getting an education, but this meant
more pressure on facilities that were already over-stretched.
For instance, despite having more than 3,000 pupils, M’buka had no toilets. As well as being a serious hygiene risk, this was also a cause of absenteeism.
Together with UNICEF, DFID worked to improve toilet facilities at schools like M'buka, complementing this with lessons in good hygiene. Healthier children, better able to learn, was the goal.
Unappealing facilities
The shortage of toilets at M’buka was not unusual for Malawi. A 2001 survey found that many schools had only one toilet for more than 100 children, and that these were often badly built, unsanitary and liable to be vandalised.
So unappealing were these facilities that children often didn’t use them at all, answering the call of nature in the bush instead. Lacking a proper toilet at school, many pupils, especially girls, stayed at home.
When asked, the girls explained that the long queues for the toilets caused them to miss lessons or break-time. Another concern was that their toilets were too close to the boys', compromising their privacy.
Building urinals, teaching hygiene
The solution to the girls' problems was low-cost female urinals with washbasins. These would allow them to go to the loo more quickly, avoiding the queues and ensuring they were back in class in good time.
DFID and UNICEF's project operated in two districts, targeting 100 schools including M'buka. The urinals were easy to build, and could be constructed by the schools themselves, using local materials. In the interests of privacy, they were often situated in a separate block well away from the boys' facilities.
Education was integral to the long term success of the initiative. Children were
taught good habits such as washing their hands after using the toilet,
before preparing or eating food, and after cleaning away babies' faeces - simple
measures that can prevent fatal illnesses like cholera and diarrhoea.
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No more visits to the bush
At M'buka alone, the new facilities have made a
major difference. As
12-year-old pupil
Edna Phiri testifies:
"Since the urinals were built, I've been attending school regularly. Also, I don't have to go to the bush to urinate, as
I did before. In fact, there are
fewer girls getting sick - before the toilets were built, you sometimes stepped
in faeces on your way to the bush."
M’buka's head teacher,
Mrs. Dilla, enthuses about how the school is now a more pleasant and hygienic place
to study. Gone are the days when a bad smell would often rise up from the school's pit
latrines.
Although the DFID/UNICEF project came to an end in 2004, the work to improve sanitation in Malawi's education system continues. The Government will include the provision of water supplies and proper facilities, together with hygiene promotion, in its national plans for the construction of schools. And DFID is providing further money that will bring child-friendly, easy-to-clean latrines and urinals to more of the country's schoolchildren.
Key facts
- DFID provided UNICEF with £1 million to implement the Strategic School Sanitation Hygiene Promotion (December 2000 to April 2004).
- DFID has improved sanitation at 400 schools, reaching 381,000 children since 2003, and improved water supplies at 158 schools. Similar work is currently going on in 65 more schools in six additional districts.
- An annual review of DFID (Malawi) Infrastructure Management Unit in 2007 found that ensuring adequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion in schools increases attendance and retention, resulting in healthier pupils who are more able to learn effectively.
- DFID is investing £985,647 towards the implementation of a water sector Policy and Governance Project. The project started in January 2008 and will run up to December 2011. It aims to improve coordination in the water and sanitation sector and to support the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Development to deliver sustainable water and sanitation services, and overall improved water governance and equity in allocation of water and sanitation facilities.
- DFID has allocated £150,835 towards the provision of water supply in Malawi's schools for the year 2007/08. This money is administered by the DFID Infrastructure Management Unit on behalf of the Ministry of Education.
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