The Department of Education (DepEd) said that sanitation infrastructure is still a challenge despite numerous schools being able to make a significant improvement in the management of their water, sanitation, and hygiene.
According to the WASH in Schools (WinS) report from school years 2017-2018 to 2019-2020, 26.5% of nearly 40, 000 participating schools were able to meet the indicators and national standards of the program. The number has tripled from a 9% record since the program started.
OTHER STORIES:
However, the same report indicated that there are still schools struggling to deal with sanitation infrastructure because it demands investment and a longer time for the construction of toilet and handwashing amenities.
Based on DepEd Order No. 10 series of 2016 entitled “Policy and Guidelines for the Comprehensive WinS Program,” a school has to satisfy the following requirements in order to earn at least a star out of the three-star rating:
- safe drinking water
- gender-segregated toilets
- group handwashing facility with soap
- daily group handwashing activities
- sanitary pads
The report also cited improvement in public schools’ performances in areas with less investment such as water, deworming, health education, and behavioral change management like handwashing, toothbrushing routines, and regular cleaning of sanitation facilities
WinS is one of the flagship programs under the “Oplan Kalusugan sa DepEd” which is a convergence initiative of DepEd’s health and nutrition programs and was implemented by Save the Children Philippines in partnership with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), UNICEF.
OTHER ARTICLES:
DepEd: "Sanitation infrastructure still a challenge in schools"
Reviewed by Issues PH
on
March 19, 2021
Rating:
Reviewed by Issues PH
on
March 19, 2021
Rating:
No comments: