Evaluation of Adequacy and Level of Utilization of Sanitation Facilities in Primary Schools in Manga Sub County, Nyamira, County, Kenya

Abstract

Good sanitation and hygiene practices promote the wellbeing of children in schools. According to WHO(World Health Organization), 88% of all diarrheal related illnesses result from poor sanitation and hygiene practices as well as unsafe water. In addition, UN Secretary General and Millennium Projects have highlighted the need to address sanitation facilities in schools. This is not just limited to inclusion of 80% of school children educated on hygiene but also that all schools are equipped with adequate sanitation facilities. This study sought to find out the adequacy and utilization of sanitation facilities among school going children in Manga Sub County, Nyarnira County. To achieve the set objective 10 schools were selected to participate in the study. A chi-square test was used to find out whether there was association between awareness of pupils on consequences of poor sanitation and utilization of the sanitation facil ities. All the 10 schools used pit latrines for their disposal of fecal matter while 8 schools had hand washing facilities in place. Latrines were found to be inadequate in 8schools having below minimum standard of latrine to pupil ratio of 1:25 for girls and 1:30 for boys set by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with Ministry of Education. Chi square test showed a significant association. APvalue of 0.04 was achieved in a test comparing awareness/knowledge and utilization of available sanitation facilities. Thus the need for schools to enforce utilization of the available sanitation facilities, put in more effort to build additional facilities as well as equip the hand washing facilities by ensuring continuous. availability of water all geared towards promoting utilization.