Akameku primary school, the model clean school in Goroka
Akameku Primary school in Goroka district, Eastern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea is a clean school.
Akameku Primary school in Goroka district, Eastern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea is a clean school.
But this has not always been the case. It had no ready access to safe water for drinking and handwashing facilities. Its old toilets that used to be shared by both girls and boys, were an eye sore and a health hazard – filled-up with fecal matter and open, the doors having long fallen off from their hinges.
“The toilets were very old and dirty,” says Penina Mark, a grade 8 student at the school. “We did not want to use them and so most of the students used to go to the bush to toilet.”
“Each school day, students faced the risk of getting sick from diseases such as diarrhea and typhoid,” says Kuria Mua, the Deputy Head Teacher who is also in charge of students’ health and hygiene. “And going to the bushes to defecate was also dangerous for students’ safety as they could be attacked by bad people or get bitten by snakes.”
Ms. Mua says that the situation was especially bad for the adolescent girl students. The poor state of sanitation facilities coupled with lack of safe water and soap to support proper menstrual hygiene management made many girls reluctant to come to school during their periods, often leading to low performance in their studies.
Thanks to the Klinpela Komuniti Projek, funded by the European Union and implemented by UNICEF these challenges were addressed through improving access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene in 200 PNG schools of which Akemeku was one.
Now Akemeku school has ample access to safe and clean water as well as new and clean separate toilets for boys and girls. This has resulted in a more child-friendly and happier learning environment for the schools’ 500 students.
The girls’ toilets now have proper menstrual hygiene management facilities, consisting of a changing room with safe water and soap, where girls can confidently wash and change and manage their used menstrual hygiene needs with privacy and dignity. There is also an incinerator for safely disposing used sanitary pads.
The students are proud of their school. They help to keep it clean by taking care of their new sanitation facilities, regularly cleaning their classrooms and school premises as well as planting and taking care of flowers planted around the school.
Through the Klinpela Kommuniti Projek, the school formed a School Hygiene Club that is promoting healthy behaviors, such as regular handwashing and personal hygiene, among students. The School Hygiene Club also uses sports to encourage students’ participation and physical fitness. Through this club’s Girls Talk programme, adolescent girls are learning about and increasing their knowledge of menstrual health and hygiene and other hygiene related issues.
“These efforts have created a happier and healthier learning environment,” says Gloria Dable a Mathematics teacher at the school. “Now we see that all the students – boys and girls, enjoy coming to school, are eager to participate in learning and are doing better in their studies. The teachers and parents are very happy about this,” she adds.
“As regards the water and sanitation facilities, the school is now fine,” according to the school’s Head Teacher, Mark Pokeve.
Mr Pokeve says “We have new latrines, enough water tanks, and functional waterpoints where they are needed, among other things. Sustainability though is what we must now focus on.”
“As you may know, we need to buy supplies such as soap for handwashing, detergents, brooms and brushes for cleaning toilets and the classrooms as well as on-going repairs such as fixing broken door hinges or replacing broken taps,” he adds.
A solution to the challenge of sustainability is to budget for these needs within the National Department of Education’s School Learning Improvement Plan (SLIP). The SLIP is a 3-year budgeted school activities’ plan through which school authorities prioritize school needs and the government funds a portion of it.
The Klinpela Kommuniti Projek has supported Akameku Primary School authorities and parents to include budgeting for WASH needs in the SLIP as part of its sustainability plan.
Even so, according to Pokeve, government funding through the SLIP is often times inadequate. Thus, schools are encouraging parents to contribute to funding the SLIP as well.
At Akameku primary school, the response has been positive. Parents have bought an additional water tank and contribute 20 toea every week for buying supplies such as soap, detergent, and brooms for cleaning the latrines and classrooms.
Through the Klinpela Kommuniti Projek, Akameku Primary School was among 200 schools who benefited from enhanced access to improved WASH services including new appropriate latrines for girls and boys and people living with disabilities, hygiene facilities and training and improved safe water supplies. Over 40,000 students from these 200 schools have benefited from these improved, sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services. Improving school attendance, health and wellbeing of students and teachers and providing guidance for young people on safe hygiene behaviours which will set them on the right course for a healthy future. These 200 schools and 40,000 students were from across four Papua New Guinea project districts of Central Bougainville (Autonomous Region of Bougainville), Goroka (Eastern Highlands Province), Hagen Central (Western Highlands Province) and Nawaeb (Morobe Province).
