August 2019 – Academy for Health Development

As a follow-up to the assessment of school facilities, the organization held a Project Intervention Discussion with the principals and leaders of the state education board to discuss the intervention plans for the school. The most recurrent issues among the schools were Water and
Sanitation Hygiene, Bullying and Violence and issues surrounding Gender.

Based on these findings, the AHEAD team developed a body of interventions that were divided into 3 classes:

Physical Interventions which include provision of sanitary facilities like hand-wash basins and Information Education Communication (IEC) materials.
Policy which covers the setting up of laws and rules to ensure adherence and compliance with the interventions.

Training curricula which would be taught to the teachers who would then teach the students to ensure mind-shifts and improve acceptance of the interventions.

The curricula developed were divided into the 3 thematic areas of WASH, Gender, Bullying & Violence as identified to be addressed in the project. These curricula will be delivered to the teachers in a series of trainings and they in turn will deliver it to the students through the agreed delivery methods.

The curriculum will be delivered by the schools during the periods assigned for extracurricular activities, holding fortnightly, after which, clubs would be formed to encourage and advocate for good practices of what would have been taught. Teaching aids such as video, charts and materials would be employed for the demonstration of specific topics like hand washing and menstrual hygiene

PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MEETING

Following the Community Dialogue program, the Academy for Health Development in conjunction with the Osun State Education Board and other stakeholders have begun the implementation stage of the Starting Right at School (StaRS) project.

The first step was to carry out a Water and Sanitation NEEDS assessment of the three schools where intervention is to be carried out. This NEEDS assessment was done to examine the state of the water and sanitation hygiene facilities in the schools and to propose the most cost-effective sustainable interventions as allowed by the grant of $1000 for each school. The three schools assessed were Anglican Government Central Middle School, St Stephen’s Middle School and Oranmiyan Middle School, Osun state, Nigeria.

Some of the WASH challenges found in the schools included: a lack of proper waste management, faulty plumbing systems, improperly combined male and female toilet facilities, and faulty toilet facilities.

The interventions to be put in place to tackle these WASH challenges would be: provision of an incinerator to facilitate proper waste disposal system; repair/replacement of leaking pipes and toilet facilities as the case may be; training of school staff on the importance separating staff toilets from students’ and distinguishing male and female toilet facilities as a way of promoting healthy social and reproductive health and hygiene.