Water in schools
Overview
In 2020, 3 in 10 of the world’s children were without basic drinking water services at school, and more than 4 in 10 lack access to soap and water to wash their hands. This means limited access for hundreds of millions of children to the safe water and hygiene needed for child development and health. Poor WASH services may also exacerbate gender inequality in education where menstrual hygiene management is not available to female students and staff.
Auditing WASH services in Kenyan schools
In Kenya, our researchers collaborated with county and national government to audit school water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in 1,887 primary and secondary schools in Kitui County, informing the development of policy responses and new thinking on the delivery of safely-managed water services for Kenyan schools.
Delivering safe drinking water in Bangladesh
School water services are also a focus of research in Bangladesh where the REACH programme has launched the SafePani model for rural water services with government partners.
Reaching out to schools
Smith School water research is helping schools make the most of water as an interdisciplinary learning topic through the Water Module, a set of case-study-based learning activities and practical experiments for environmental clubs and classes. With ESRC Impact Acceleration funding, the research team have developed a Water Learning Partnership with an in-school teacher training programme in Cameroon, aiming to enhance learning and pupil engagement.