11 facts about water, sanitation and hygiene in schools
When schools have access to safe water, toilets and soap, children have a better environment to study, learn and realize their potential.
21 June 2022
When schools have safe water, toilets and soap for handwashing, children have a healthy learning environment, and girls are more likely to attend when they are on their period.
Children who learn about safe water, sanitation and hygiene habits at school can reinforce positive life-long behaviours in their homes and their communities.
However, millions of children go to school every day in unsafe learning environments, with no drinking water, no proper toilets, and no soap for washing their hands.
Drinking water
- Globally 29 per cent of schools do not have basic drinking water service, impacting 546 million schoolchildren.*
- 1 in 3 primary schools and 1 in 4 secondary schools have no basic drinking water service.
- One third of children without basic drinking water services in their schools live in the least developed countries and over half live in fragile contexts.
Toilets
- Globally only 70 per cent of schools have a basic sanitation service.**
- 1 in 3 primary schools and 1 in 4 secondary schools have no basic sanitation service.
- In sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania, less than half of schools have basic sanitation services.
- Globally, 539 million children do not have a basic sanitation service at school.
Handwashing
- 802 million children worldwide lack a basic hygiene service at their school.**
- 42 per cent of primary schools and 40 per cent of secondary schools have no basic hygiene service.
- One third of children without basic hygiene services live in the least developed countries and over half live in fragile contexts.
- UNICEF has water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in school programmes in nearly 90 countries and reaches an average of 3 million children a year.
* Basic drinking water services means water from an improved source (piped water, boreholes or tubewells, protected dug wells, protected springs and packaged or delivered water).
** Basic sanitation service means improved sanitation (flush/pour flush to piped sewer systems, septic tanks or pit latrines; ventilated improved pit latrines, composting toilets or pit latrines with slabs), at the school that are single-sex and usable (available, functional, private).
***Basic hygiene service means handwashing facilities with water and soap.
The key facts listed above are based on national, regional and global estimates from the recent report, Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Schools: 2000-2021 Data Update produced by the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) – the custodian of global data on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
For the latest data, visit: Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene in schools: 2000-2021 update.