Evaluation of water, sanitation and hygiene (wash) programme in junior high schools in the Ningo Prampram district, Greater Accra region

Abstract

The primary intent of the study was to evaluate the status of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme in Junior High Schools of the Ningo-Prampram District, Greater Accra Region. The main objective of the study was to find out the causes of the inefficient WASH programme in Junior High Schools in the Ningo Prampram District. In line with this, four research questions were developed. Descriptive survey design was used. Purposive, stratified, and simple random sampling methods were used to select the schools and respondents; and a sample size of 404 respondents was selected comprising of 154 teachers including headteachers and 250 pupils. The selection of the headteacher and teacher participants for interviews was done by using purposive sampling technique. Eighteen (18) schools were selected out of the fifty-four (54) schools in the District for the study. Structured questionnaire and semi-structured interview guides were used. Frequencies and percentages were used to analyse the questionnaire data while themes were drawn from the interview responses to support findings from the questionnaire. It was gathered that generally all schools did not operate fully under the expectations of the WASH programme. For most schools, there were no toilet facilities, while those who had toilet facilities were almost in bad state to be used by pupils. This situation did not augur well for pupils especially the females as some contracted diseases such as candidiasis and other related diseases. The respondents agreed that one of the major challenges confronting the effective implementation of the WASH programme was lack of funding to procure the necessary items, as well as inadequate supervision and monitoring of the WASH programme. It was concluded that an effective (WASH) programme in Junior High Schools will heavily rely on proper and regular funding as well as supervision and monitoring. It was recommended that GES should improve school supervision and monitoring of WASH programme through engaging personnel who will regularly visit schools to assess the state of water, sanitation and hygiene in the school.