Annie Musonda-Mubanga, Wanga Weluzani Chakanika & Kabwe Harnadih Mubanga Abstract This study investigated the state of sanitation facilities, and knowledge on sanitation and hygiene practices among pupils at Chongwe Secondary School (CSS) and Mukamambo II Girls Secondary School (MGSS). Reported communicable diseases among pupils which might affect their ability to attend classes regularly and better school performance necessitated the need for this study. Data collection was conducted using questionnaires administered to 121 randomly sampled pupils from the two schools. Stratification of the sample was such that 74 and 47 were randomly sampled from CSS and MGSS, respectively. Data was analysed using thematic analysis, descriptive statistics and chi-square test of association. Results indicated that sanitary utensils such as toilets, hand washing facilities and drinking water points were highly inadequate for the population of students catered. Majority of learners had knowledge of sanitation and hygiene issues experienced at the school, however, some felt that toilets were too dirty and lacked adequate water and that cleanliness of the classrooms and surroundings was unsanitary. The safety and cleanliness of water used by pupils was also a source of concern. Most girls attested to having missed classes during menstruation periods as sanitary pads were not readily available and water was inadequate. Some pupils from CSS cited incidences when a leakage in the sewer line supposedly led to the contents of the sewer pipes finding their way into the water. It was concluded that pupils perceived the sanitation of their schools as of low quality. The lack of pupil satisfaction as regards the provided sanitation facilities could be a factor in pupils adopting unhygienic practices, decreased class attendance and low academic performance. In order for boarding schools in Chongwe District to attract and retain healthy learners, it is recommended that schools need to prioritise sanitation issues and teachers need to educate pupils on good hygiene practices. There is also need for regular inspections of sanitation facilities by the teachers-on-duty, health environment personnel and officers-in-charge of standards in secondary education at Ministry of General Education. Full article available: Subscribe to Chalimbana University Multi-disciplinary Journal of Research: http://journal.chalimbanauniversity.net

1. Sanitation and Hygiene in Public Boarding
Schools in Chongwe, Zambia: What do Pupils
Know? Do they Care?
By
Annie Musonda-Mubanga
Wanga Weluzani Chakanika
Kabwe Harnadih Mubanga
Paper presented at the 2019 Southern African Universities Learning and Teaching
(SAULT) International Conference.
Livingstone, Zambia

2. INTRODUCTION
• Good sanitation – is one of the basic determinants of quality
education. (World Vision: 2009).
• 2.6 Billion people globally lack adequate access to sanitation;
53% is from sub-Sahara Africa . Issues surrounding sanitation
and hygiene have been rated as major global challenges
(WHO:2004)
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3. SANITATION
• It implies setting up measures necessary for improving and protecting
the health and well-being of the people.
• School sanitation refers to an education system that strives to provide
clean facilities and physical environment. It promotes proper disposal
of waste, provides soap, clean and safe water, ensures proper use of
toilets and instill hygienic habits in its population.
HYGIENE
• Is the practice of keeping oneself and surroundings clean, especially
to avoid illness or the spread of preventable diseases (UNICEF:
2010).
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4. MAP OF ZAMBIA SHOWING LOCATION OF THE STUDY
The total number of pupils in Chongwe District is 50, 315 of which 2, 806 are girls
and 3, 077 are boys in secondary schools (District Education Statistical Data: 2018).
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5. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
• The purpose was to investigate the state of sanitation facilities
and hygiene practices among pupils at Chongwe Secondary
School (CSS) and Mukamambo II Girls Secondary School
(MGSS).
OBJECTIVES
• To determine the state of sanitation facilities
• To investigate pupils’ understanding of sanitation and hygiene
• To investigate pupils’ hygiene practices
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6. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
• This study was necessitated as an effort to help school
management alleviate unnecessary communicable diseases
and create a safer learning environment for their valuable
clients, the pupils.
• Since in Chongwe District research on school sanitation and
hygiene practices among school boys and girls is very limited,
there was need to help inform policy makers (MOGE) on the
state of sanitation.
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7. BRIEF LITERATURE REVIEW
• Promotion of school sanitation and hygiene education is a major
component of most African countries’ National Strategy
Framework. (World Vision: 2009)
• Evaluation of WASH in schools showed that girls were less absent in
schools where there was more hand washing and high toilet use,
and there were reduced incidences of diarrhea diseases- case
studies of Kenya, Malawi and Zambia (Njuguna et al., 2008)
• MOGE (2018) has advanced collective action on the importance of
improved infrastructure, sanitation and hygiene in schools. This
was made operational in the Seventh National Development Plan
(SNDP).
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8. METHODOLOGY
• Research design was descriptive and explanatory.
• Sampling Strategy - stratified and simple random sampling (the grades were our stratas and class
registers were used to do the simple random)
• The questionnaires included a survey using a 5-pointer Likert scale which pupils used to rate the
sanitation around their schools.
• Data on the state of toilets, classrooms, the dining hall and the kitchen as well as the physical
environment surrounding the schools were collected largely by observation.
• School managers or their representatives were the major key informants used in this study.
• Data analysis was done in SPSS23 and Microsoft excel 13.
• Data was analyzed using thematic analysis, descriptive statistics and chi-square test of association.
• descriptive statistics (helped us to generate means and percentages for purposes of generating the
graphs for easy interpretation)chi-square test of association (used to show the significance of the
pupils’ ratings of the general school sanitation).
• Ethical Considerations. Permission was sought from head teachers and pupils had informed consent.
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9. SAMPLING
Stratified Sampling Simple Random Sampling
Variable Stratas Number sampled
CSS MGSS
Grade
8 3 7
9 18 5
10 17 14
11 11 9
12 25 12
Total 74 47
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10. FINDINGS
Sanitation Issues at CSS and MGSS
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Dirty or blocked toilets
Unclean water
Bin rarely emptied
Unclean domitories
Unsanitary conditions resulting in fungal infections
Pit Latrines almost full
Lack of cleaning materials
Percentage of respondents
Sanitation
issues
affecting
pupils
Mukamambo Girls secondary Chongwe Secondary
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11. Sanitation issues in dormitories
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Dirty toilets
No disinfectants
Dirty ablutions
Limited bed spaces
Keeping dirty water in buckets after bathing
Dirty domitories
Overcrowding
Dirty dishes under bankers
Lack of cleaning materials
Potholes in domitories
Dirty water in the pond
Percentage of respondents
Sanitation
issues
affecting
pupils
in
dormitories
Mukamambo Girls secondary Chongwe Secondary
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12. Percentage of pupils affected by unsanitary conditions at CSS and MGSS
Sanitation issue Percentage responses
CSS MGSS
Psychological fear of contracting diseases such as cholera from dirty toilets 61 92
Increased incidences of pupils defecating in classrooms 11 -
Since only borders have access to good toilets, there is increased incidences
of urinating around walls by day scholars
5 -
Fear of disease outbreaks due to lack of water in toilets 34 21
Increased incidences of vaginal infections due to dirty toilets 24 46
Dirty toilets resulting in diseases such as Urinary Tract Infections, rashes,
sores and itchiness on the vagina
7 12
Unsanitary ablutions makes bathing undesirable 38 -
Fear of full pit latrines acting as a disease trap 15 23
Dirty toilets, latrines and ablutions produce a repulsive smell 44 52
Sharing of single beds exposes pupils to communicable diseases 16 19
Littered surroundings are unsightly 10 13
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13. Why toilets at boarding schools are unsanitary
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Careless use of toilets
Few toilets, too many users
No toilets for dayscholars
No toilet paper provided
Pit latrines are full
Bad odour from toilets
Water leakages in toilets
No disinfectants provided for toilets
Percentage of respondents
Issues
with
toilets
in
dormitories
Mukamambo Girls Secondary Chongwe Secondary
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14. Pupils’ rating of sanitation at CSS and MGSS
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15. DISCUSSION
• The lack of pupil satisfaction as regards the provided sanitation
facilities could be a factor in pupils adopting unhygienic practices,
decreased class attendance and low academic performance.
• The reported careless use of toilets by some pupils is as a result of
the free-riding problem in CPRs where some pupils did not want to
take responsibility for dirt left in the toilets. (Adams et al., 2003).
• Psychological fear that came with the knowledge that they could
contract cholera through unsanitary conditions related to toilets,
made it difficult for learners to freely use the toilets.
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16. CONCLUSION
• Pupils could explain what is involved in both terminologies and what they
were expected to do in order to keep their schools, toilets and dormitories
in a sanitary manner.
• Overcrowding in public boarding schools (Chongwe) is a major contributor
of unsanitary school environments (Ratio of 14 pupils to 1 toilet at CSS
while 21:1 at MGSS which represents overcrowding). High number of
pupils had suffered from conditions that could have been due to
unsanitary conditions e.g. vaginal infections
• The study reviewed poor personal hygiene practices among pupils at both
CSS and MGSS e.g. defecation in classrooms, throwing of litter
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17. RECOMMENDATIONS
• There is need for regular inspections of sanitation facilities by
the teachers-on-duty, health environment personnel and
officers-in-charge of standards in institutions of learning.
• Both practical and theoretical information should be
embedded within the students’ learning processes. Teachers
need to educate pupils on good hygiene practices.
• Methods aimed at helping students to master hygienic skills
needed to be participatory in nature.
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18. RECOMMENDATIONS cont’d
• Stringent supervisory roles should be allocated to persons
directly responsible for sanitation around toilets and the
school.
• Enforce regulations governing penalties on offenders as it
could improve students’ attitudes towards use of the shared
school resources.
• Incentivizing ‘sanitation champions’ in schools could
motivate behavioral change among learners.
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19. REFERENCES
Adams M. W., Brockington, D., Dyson, J., Vira, B. (2003). Managing Tragedies:
Understanding of common pool resources. Science, 302 (5652): 1915-
1916.
MOGE (2018). Chongwe District Education Statistical Data: District Board
Secretary Office.
Njuguma, V., Karanja, B., Thuranira, M., Shordt, k., Snel, M., and Cairncross, S.
(2008). The Sustainability and Impact of School Sanitation, Water and Hygiene
in Kenya.
UNICEF (2010). Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Annual Report 2010. United
Nations International Children Education Fund, New York.
WHO (2004). The Sanitation Challenge: Turning Commitment into Reality.
Switzerland
World Vision (2009). Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. World Vision, Washington -
Zambia 1995, Laws of Zambia, Vol. 17 (www.parliament.gov.zm)
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20. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING
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