52% of school children have no toilet facility

While 48% of boys and girls share toilet and urinal

-Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC)

Information indicates that 52% of primary school pupils have no access to toilets and urinals in schools while the 48% that enjoy such facilities are compelled to share as there are, in most cases, no separate facilities for boys and girls. This lack of separate facilities for the pupils, according to the information is the major cause of absenteeism among girls in schools.. This was made known by the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) in a statement to commemorate the African Day of the child, which fell on June 16th 2009.

According to the Coalition, the major factor responsible for discrimination in access to quality basic education in Ghana is the provision of gender sensitive school infrastructure, notably separate toilets and urinals for girls and boys. “Adequate toilet facilities require the provision of separate and decent toilets and urinals for boys and girls in schools, the Coalition observed. The statement noted that in 2008, the Ministry of Education reported that only 48% out of the total number of 13,247 primary schools have access to toilet facilities in Ghana with the highest proportion of primary schools with toilets (90%) in Tema and the Lowest (10%) in Kintampo South District. While at the Junior High School Level, only 52% of public schools had toilets with the highest (93%) in the Dangbe West District in the Greater Accra Region and the lowest (9%) in the Juabeso District of the Western Region.

The Coalition stressed that the absence of toilets for girls does not only affect school attendance but also contributes to the denial of their right to dignity and quality education. The national completion rate for boys at the primary level, according to the Coalition is 91% whereas that of girls is 79%, which suggests that boys have 10% additional chances of completing primary school than girls. 'This is the reason why the gender parity ratio is 1:0.96 as against the target of 1:1 that was missed as far back as 2005,” the statement declared.

According to the statement, GNECC traces the fundamental underpin to absence of adequate and separate toilets for girls, changing rooms and urinals in schools to the absence of a comprehensive and operational infrastructural policy of the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service. Toilets and urinals, it stated are not integrated in most school building plans.

GNECC urged the Ministry of Education to take immediate steps to make the inclusion of separate toilets and urinals a non negotiable element in school building plans and to fully enforce the implementation of the policy on school infrastructure at the district levels to ensure that all schools have separate toilets and urinals for boys and girls.

 By Osumanu Al-Hassan