The Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Clement Apaak, has expressed concern over the poor sanitary conditions in most public basic schools across the country.
The situation, he explained, if not checked, could have serious health implications on the pupils, hence, all the necessary steps would be taken to address the anomaly.
According to Dr Apaak, all school structures were expected to come with the requested sanitary facilities, including accommodation for teachers, especially in rural areas where rent is difficult to come by.
However, he noted that those requirements were not added to the facilities and assured that these anomalies would be addressed in the shortest possible time.
The Minister made these remarks when answering questions before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament yesterday on the lack of WASH facilities in some public schools across the country.
“Addressing these gaps would be for our collective good, particularly for the girl child in the wake of our free sanitary pad programme; therefore, all washrooms would have to come with changing rooms in order to achieve these policy directives,” he said.
On abandoned school structures, he indicated that an audit would be conducted on the facilities, especially those funded by donor partners, in order to quickly complete them for use by the beneficiary schools.
Dr Apaak indicated that the structures, when completed, would be equipped with mechanised boreholes to ensure adequate supply of water to the schools and avoid the spread of infectious diseases among pupils.
Furthermore, he said that the Ministry of Education (MoE) would collaborate with the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Religious Affairs, through the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs), to help address water and sanitation issues in public basic schools across the country.
Additionally, Dr Apaak stated that his Ministry would work together with the MMDAs towards the renovation and reconstruction of Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) projects, explaining that adequate resources would be made available to complete those projects on time.
Touching on the issue of maintenance and cleaning of WASH facilities in public basic schools, Dr Apaak noted that it was important for the government to employ individuals who would be mandated to perform that task.
“The government should be able to employ people who will be able to handle this specific issue of maintaining and cleaning WASH facilities in our basic schools, and not let the pupils do that job. For example, how do you expect somebody who is below the age of four to be able to clean him or herself, let alone clean the WASH facility in his school?” Dr Apaak argued.
BY LAWRENCE VOMAFA-AKPALU & BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY
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