Evaluation of the implementation of the School WASH Programme in Choma District of Zambia
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Date
2015-02-17
Authors
Chikwanu, Fred
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Abstract
The provision of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme in schools
has been a major concern in Choma District and has received significant attention
in terms of policy consideration and dissemination with the aim of improving
health in the learning environment. The implementation of the programme has not
matched the concerns, which have affected programme effectiveness and
consumer satisfaction. This study evaluated the implementation of WASH in
schools of Choma District of Southern Province of Zambia in 2013. The study
objectives were to assess the role of the Zambian government and guidelines for
implementation of the School WASH programme. It also determined benefits
schools received from government’s support and evaluated the performance of the
School Health and Nutrition (SHN) policy in the implementation process. A
stratified random sample of 65 schools which comprised Secondary, Basic
(Primary) and Community schools was used for data collection. Implementation
of the programme was assessed by questionnaire based interviews and
observations. Purposive selection of key informants as respondents for the
interviews was also used. Views of the different groups on the implementation of
WASH in schools were obtained by group discussion with pupils, female and
male teachers.
Results obtained indicated that funding was limited especially among rural
schools. Despite being fully known at the district level, the programme was not
yet introduced in most schools and the government ran a parallel programme the
School Health and Nutrition (SHN), which did not fully integrate WASH
activities. It is in this context that the research found that there were no clear
guidelines on the implementation of WASH in schools and the programme was
largely an Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) or cooperating partners’
supported-activity. This conflicted with the role of government as an
implementer. Additionally, implementation of the programme was poor due to
uncoordinated roles and limited funding, yielding more challenges that led to the
failure for the programme to realise desired benefits. Similarly, the SHN policy
was poorly implemented in schools in regard to the set objectives.
It is concluded that, implementation of WASH in schools of Choma District was
limited because the Ministry of Education, Science and Vocational Training and
Early Education had good plans only on paper on how to effectively implement
programme in Choma and Zambia in general. The plans were not translated into
the implementation of the programme as there was no tangible evidence of the
existence of the programme in schools. It was therefore recommended that a
School WASH policy needed to be formulated so as to guide the implementation
of the programme. Similarly, more funds ought to be committed towards the
programme by the government. The Ministry of Education, Science and
Vocational Training and Early Education’s infrastructure plan should be revisited
to include issues of water, sanitation and hygiene during construction of schools
and classrooms should have adequate WASH facilities in line pupils’ enrolments.
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Keywords
Water Supply-Choma, Zambia , Integrated Water development-Choma, Zambia