WASH: Girls with Disability Suffer, Rejected in Lagos Special Schools
Children with disabilities have right to inclusive Water Sanitation and Hygiene, WASH, which is also crucial to quality education. However, due to unavailability of WASH facilities in special schools, they have to contend with lots of dehumanising situations in their quest to be educated. In some cases, girls are even denied admission, thereby dashing their hopes of a promising future, 1
0- year old Titi has been visually impaired from birth. Not minding her condition, she is determined to be great in life. She aspires to be an Accountant, hence her raging passion for education. "I was told I can only become an accountant if I go to school”, she said.
Along the line, her burning desire for education waned. She said she was discouraged about her school's WASH facilities and environment that was not suiting of her condition.
Titi's school, Local Government Primary School in Ipakodo, Ikorodu, is one of the 44 inclusive schools in Lagos.
An inclusive school derives from United Nations' (UN) mandate for inclusive education. UN describes inclusive school as one specially set aside to accommodate and cater to all children regardless of their needs, background and abilities.
According to Titi, she is always sad anytime she needs to ease herself because of the hurdles on the path to the toilet and inside the toilet, sited not so close to her classroom.
She has no cane to guide her to the toilet, yet the school does not have a caregiver to assist her. As a result, she said she often misses her steps and falls on dangerous objects while helping herself to the toilet.
"There was a day I hit my left eye on a sharp stone and blood started gushing out. That day, I cried and became disinterested in school but my mother encouraged me", she recounted.
By UN guidelines for inclusive schools, Titi’s school should have a guide string or rope stretch to guide her and others in her condition to and from toilet facility, especially for pupils lacking a white cane, like Titi. None was available.
Titi later found help in her visually unimpaired male friend, Tunde who had been assisting her through toilet routine, as others were reluctant. This, experts say could make her a potential victim of sexual abuse.
Now in primary four, Titi recently got a white cane after four years of frequent falls, she said she will still be needing Tunde around to guide her because of the rough and unsafe path to toilet.
Like Titi, 11 and 13 year-old visually impaired siblings, Amina and Bose are not spared of falls, but their greatest obstacle awaits them inside the toilet which lacks running water.
Water is significant in schools and a key element of WASH,quite instrumental to the realisation of Sustainable Development Goal, SDG four, five and six.
While the school has a central water source, water is not connected to the toilet, making usage difficult for students.
Bose said, “Anytime the water drum in the toilet is empty and the cleaner was not available or reluctant to refill it,
we are forced to hold our excreta no matter how much we are pressed. Although painful, we had to do it because we don't want to mess up ourselves and the toilet bowl like others do."
Manwhile, medics have warned against holding back excreta which they say it is risky to the body and increases human chance to health issues like hemorrhoid, fecal impaction, incontinence or appendicitis and more severe complications.
On how Tobi, another visually impaired pupil copes with lack of water in the toilet, he did not see it as a big deal like the girls. He said he either urinates openly behind toilet building or defecates in the toilet while he cleans himself with any paper found on the ground.
Unlike Tobi, Amina and Bose who became disabled later in life said they could not do it in the open, given their biological features, adding that they respect their privacy.
Asked Tobi how he cleans his hand, he said, “I don't clean my hand except it got stained with faeces, then I clean it on my uniform”.
Tobi somehow found those hands in his mouth while snacking during break time or after school closes".
In Nigeria, 1.4 million persons have died to diseases traceable to inadequate hand wash, according to Africa Youth Growth Foundation, AYGR.
Inclusive Education defined
UN defines Inclusive Education (IE) system as one that accommodates all students whatever their abilities or requirements and at all levels- preschool, primary, secondary, tertiary, vocational and life-long learning.
According to Chairman of JONAPWD, Lagos, Dr. Adebukola Adebayo, the idea of IE is ensuring that Children with Disabilities (CWDs) and those without disabilities learn together in same classroom, using the same facilities.
Adebayo said the rationale behind IE was to bridge social distance between children with disabilities and children without disabilities.
Complying with UN mandate, the Lagos State government in May 26, 2015 endorsed the state's IE Policy. This is with expectations that policy will facilitate the state's Special Peoples’ Law of 2011 and increase enrollment figure of CWDs in school.
As part of UN's stipulation for IE is eliminating all forms of discrimination in learning environment, such as providing disabilities -accessible or inclusive WASH services.
WASH gap driving inequality
Despite the obstacles to locate WASH facilities in Local Government School, the facilities are still not targeted or inclusive like UN specifies for inclusive schools.
The situation is the same and worse off in seven other schools visited by this reporter,
Like in Methodist Primary School, Igbogbo, Ikorodu, there is no sight of any WASH facility, including toilet. A borehole sighted by reporter is said to be just donated by a non- government organisation, NGO, but for another regular school sharing premises with Methodist school.
A male pupil with paraplegia, dark and short who spoke to this reporter said they either sneak into neighbouring school or hide behind the classroom to ease themselves. Even at that, the pupils still have to wait for someone to help them descend from the raised entrance of the classroom since it has no ramp.
The experience of these pupils further corroborates United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, UNICEF, submission that CWDs are less likely to benefit from WASH in Schools programmes, despite its importance.
No wonder, many inclusive schools in Lagos are lacking accessible WASH services, as discovered in this investigation.
According to WaterAid, only 36 percent of schools have access to basic WASH service in Lagos, as of 2021.
Focal person, School Hygiene, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Peter Ojonuba recognised the importance of WASH in schools, lack of it which he linked to poor education outcome and illhealth. He mentioned that the effects are more torturous on girls.
Government provided inadequate WASH facilities, yet in their flawed and deplorable state are quite burdensome to children without disabilities, they are double woes for those with disabilities, especially girls, like above.
Due to WASH inadequacy, UNICEF stated that many girls with disabilities have dropped out of school in Nigeria.
But beyond this, this report further discovered that girls with disabilities are also rejected while seeking admission in Lagos schools for reasons linked to WASH deficiency. This is what befell Shade, a supposed daughter of this reporter presented in schools as being visually and or physically impaired.
Findings showed that admission preference is given to children with hearing impairment, despite that all CWDs have equal right to education.
Country Director of Action Aid Nigeria, Ene Obi stated that 95.5 percent of CWDs are outof-school because of their non-enrolment due to their conditions. Ene who said females are more affected cited inaccessible learning environment for their non-enrollment.
Above suggests how WASH may be widening gap not just education inequality but also gender inequality within Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) community.
According to former National President of Joint National Association for Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), Mrs Ekaite Umoh, only two percent of PWDs are able to get formal education in Nigeria.
Rejected on ground of gender, disability condition
It was a few minute past mid -day when this reporter strolled into Oore-ofe inclusive unit (Primary), unquestioned and unchecked.
At the slightly busy entrance of the school occupied by confectioners, was a porous unpainted security fence, a portion of the wall painted white and blue bears the school signage, screaming the sketch of a man in wheelchair. Also, an inscription, reading: "come and register your child at Oore-ofe inclusive unit. For children with special needs". That was quite welcoming and reassuring! However, the 'special needs children' note on the signage turned out to be referring to children with hearing impairments, and may be autistic. The wheel chair symbol was just a camouflage.
The students probably had one or two more lectures, before they called it a day. This reporter had enquired about enrolling her child with disability, Shade with one of the teachers, who later directed her to Mrs Onifade. Onifade is one of the senior officials in the school.
As this reporter headed towards Onifade's office, a putrid smell that seemed from human waste overpowered her. The reporter would have to wait for almost half hour in Onifade's office before she joined her.
Waiting in Onifade's office, this reporter, occasionally shielded her nostrils with her hands to avoid inhaling the odious smell that rented the air. Oh! The stench was indescribable.
"Sorry I was busy cleaning up a girl who had fouled his body with faeces", Onifade pleaded as she joined reporter. Seeing reporter gaped, she added, "Oh! It is a regular occurrence, don’t be surprised" She smiled as she briskly dries her damp hand on her clothing.
-This report was facilitated by Africa Centre for Development Journalism as part of its 2023 inequalities reporting fellowship supported by the MacArthur Foundation through the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Reporting.