WASH Boosts School Enrolment in Aguata LGA
Kuni Tyessi
The Headmistress of Anuli Community School in Ezenifite, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, Mrs. Francisca Onyebuchi, has disclosed that school enrolment and attendance has improved as a result of the availability of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
Onyebuchi who made this known when a team of journalists visited the school on an inspection tour of European Union (EU) projects, said before the construction of toilets within the school premises, the teachers and pupils were used to going into bushes to defecate.
The headmistress who was grateful to the EU through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which had worked in collaboration with the Anambra state government, said the establishment of WASH did not only improve enrolment and attendance but has improved the hygiene of the pupils especially the girls.
According to her, “Enrolment has increased seriously and I am very happy. Before toilets were established, they go to the bush. We were having toilets before, but the toilets collapsed and after that, short put and digging the ground to bury it was the practice.
“The children were used to coming late because they had to fetch water for domestic use before coming to school. They also brought water from their houses for their use in school and this is usually not enough. But all of that has stopped. We have also created a hand washing club which is open for all the pupils and there we teach them how to wash their hands. It is as a result of all this that we have given all of them the title of ambassador,” she said.
A primary five and six pupils of the school, Miss Emmanuella Ezeakachukwu and Onyinyechi Iloduba, said before the emergence of WASH, they were known for coming late to the school as they had to fetch water for their parents from distant places.
They also revealed that bullying from the boys as a result of stained uniforms during their cycle which could not be immediately taken care of, has become a thing of the past as the availability of water and sanitation had tackled such alongside their hand washing clubs which had helped in adequate sensitisation.