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Nearly half the world's schools do not have access to soap and water to fight Covid-19, study finds

Students wearing facemasks wash their hands before attending a class at a governement-run high school in Secunderabad, the twin city of Hyderabad, India - NOAH SEELAM /  AFP
Students wearing facemasks wash their hands before attending a class at a governement-run high school in Secunderabad, the twin city of Hyderabad, India - NOAH SEELAM / AFP

Molly is 14 and as of next month will be returning to face-to-face lessons for the first time in six months.

She is not worried about Covid-19. Her school, in the north west of England, has already emailed parents to say that hand sanitizer will be provided on every corridor, the toilets will be regularly disinfected between lessons, and that students will be sent school face masks in due course.

But she is one of the lucky ones. In thousands of schools around the world, access to soap and water, the most basic defence against Covid-19, will be out of reach for millions of students and their teachers when they return to full-time education.

New data published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Unicef today has found that 43 per cent of schools around the world lacked access to basic handwashing with soap and water in 2019 and provision hasn’t improved since the coronavirus outbreak began.

According to the data more than 818 million children do not have access to these basic hygiene facilities and as a result are at an increased risk of catching Covid-19 and other transmittable diseases.

In the 60 countries at highest risk of health and humanitarian crises due to Covid-19, the report found that three in four children lacked basic handwashing services at their school.

While Unicef and the WHO further highlighted that one in three schools worldwide had either limited drinking water service or none at all.

Of the children hit the hardest, more than one third (295 million) are from sub-Saharan Africa, where 56 per cent of schools do not have a basic water service and 53 per cent of schools do not have a decent toilet.

Back to school: How does the UK compare with other countries?
Back to school: How does the UK compare with other countries?

Aside from the disease risk posed by poor sanitation, a lack of access to toilets and running water can have a knock on effect on children’s education, especially girls’, says WaterAid.

For young people without clean water, decent toilets and handwashing facilities in their schools, it’s normal for them to miss their lessons to walk long distances to collect water or use bushes on the school ground to go to the loo in the open, the charity says.

Jean-Bosco Twizeyiman understands this problem first hand. He is a student at the Group Scholaire Kibungo in Bugesera in Eastern Rwanda. While the school has a very basic water harvesting system, it’s not enough to meet the needs of all the pupils, he said.

“There's no water to wash hands after using the toilet, so we don't wash them before coming out of class. At home, we don't wash our hands, the problem is we don't have the water,” he said.

The burden of not having access to hygiene facilities disproportionately affects women and girls. Girls often miss school days or drop out of education entirely because they have no safe, private and hygienic facilities to manage their periods, the charity says.

School may look a little different when children return in Septebmer - Getty Images/Lauren DeCicca
School may look a little different when children return in Septebmer - Getty Images/Lauren DeCicca

The link between access to basic hygiene facilities and further education cannot be underestimated, says Ada OkoWilliams, senior water, sanitation and hygiene manager for WaterAid.

“Education is essential for escaping poverty, but schools without water, toilets and hygiene threaten the health and learning opportunities for millions of children, especially girls,” she says. “Pupils should not have to choose between staying healthy and getting an education.”

Globally, 31 per cent of schools lack clean water on site and 37 per cent of schools do not have a basic toilet for their pupils to use.

Addressing this sanitation gap this will be essential in the fight against Covid-19, says Henrietta Fore, Unicef executive director.

“Global school closures since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic have presented an unprecedented challenge to children’s education and wellbeing,” Ms Fore said.

“We must prioritize children’s learning. This means making sure that schools are safe to reopen – including with access to hand hygiene, clean drinking water and safe sanitation.”

The report stresses that governments seeking to control the spread of Covid-19 must balance the need for implementation of public health measures versus the associated social and economic impacts of lockdown measures.

“Access to water, sanitation and hygiene services is essential for effective infection prevention and control in all settings, including schools," agreed Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO chief, while commenting on the latest findings.

"It must be a major focus of government strategies for the safe reopening and operation of schools during the ongoing Covid-19 global pandemic,” he said.

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