World Toilet Day

World Toilet Day : Today, the 19th of November is World Toilet Day, a day set aside by the World Toilet Organization to demand proper sanitation for the world’s people. The lack of sanitation is the world’s largest cause of infection which contributes to approximately 4 billion cases of diarrheal diseases per year (e.g., cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, and dysentery) and roughly 600 million cases of intestinal worms which can lead to malnutrition, anemia, and retarded growth according to the World Bank.
In Ghana, about 4 million school children do not have access to toilets in schools, and have no option other than the bushes. This causes absenteeism in school, especially, among girls. GNECC is concerned with the issue of quality of education and gender parity. The Coalition observes that the lack of separate toilets and changing rooms for girls is a major cause of absenteeism. In 2008, the Ministry of Education reported that about 50% of basic schools had no toilet facilities in Ghana. This is a clear denial of the right to dignity and quality education. Over 12,000 schools in Ghana do not have toilet facilities because District Chief Executives simply ignore approved school designs to suit their personal and political interest.
GNECC implores the Ghana Education Service, the Ministry of Local Government and the Ministry of Education to commit to implementing the Ministry of Education’s standardized infrastructure policy that integrates separate toilets for girls in every basic school in Ghana. The Ministry of Education should dialogue with the Ministry of Local Government to reach a consensus on the need to build schools using only GES/MoE approved school designs.
On this day, World Toilet Day, we further urge District Chief Executives and Regional Ministers to be committed to approving only school building contracts that integrates separate toilets for girls and boys and conforms to the Ghana Education Service minimum infrastructure standards. Civil Society with the able partnership and support of the media will name and shame DCE’s who are found to award school building contracts without separate toilets for girls and boys.
Let all be reminded that “Education for All by 2015 requires a safer school environment for all”.