St Peters Roman Catholic Mission primary school, Ota

WASH in Schools

By Babatope Babalobi and Racheal Ogundipe

eWASH team visited St Peters Roman Catholic Mission primary school, Ota, on the 20^th of March 2023. We met with the assistant headmistress in the absence of the headmistress, Mrs O.A Ologun. The assistant headmistress briefed us on the status of the school and also took us around the school to enable us to assess the school environment.

We made use of an observational checklist, and some of the things that we set out to observe are:

1. The sources of drinking water in the school.
2. History and causes of waterborne illnesses such as diarrhoea or cholera
3. Availability of gender-sensitive toilets in the school
4. Students toilet usage
5. Availability of water in the toilet and the cleanliness and those responsible for the cleanliness.
6. Presence of handwashing facilities in the toilet, such as Soap and Water
7. Attention to privacy for proper menstrual hygiene facilities and materials such as water, access to sanitary pads, waste bins, private space, etc.
8. Water, sanitation, and hygiene challenges as a student

Our Findings

• The school has school I and school II
• The school has a population of 430 students, while school II has a population of 366
• Both schools make use of the same toilet with 5 units.
• The toilet is in very bad shape, and the students openly defecate everywhere around the toilet area.
• They do not have water on the school premises, and they have to fetch water from the church around the school and the car wash outside the school
• They have a water structure, but it is not working, and it does not generate water
• The school has a health officer, Community Health Officer (CHO) Hassan, but they do not have a sanitation committee in the school or among the students. The officer is in charge of the treatment, counselling and also the inspection of the food sellers
• The school does not have a functioning sickbay in the school or a first aid box. The parents give the school a few drugs for the students, such as paracetamol.
• They do not also have a functioning old student association in the school
• The parents are not willing to also help the situation regarding the toilet, sanitation and hygiene of the students

Recommendations

• There should be an identification of stakeholders which will include the Olota of Ota and school alumni
• There needs to be a reconstruction of the current toilet facility
• An expert needs to check the water facility and deduce ways in which it can generate water
• A sanitation group needs to be formed among the students to oversee the sanitation of the school
• Students and school management need to undergo training and awareness that will lead to behavioural change