Integrating early childhood development (ECD) into mainstream primary school education in Zimbabwe: Implications to water, sanitation and hygiene delivery

Abstract

The study sought to investigate implementation of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) deliverables by rural primary schools in Bikita District. Four school heads and eight early childhood development (ECD) teachers from four schools were interviewed. An observation checklist was used to assess the adequacy and age-appropriateness of WASH facilities. The research analyzed the capacity of WASH policies to influence the vision, and implementation of WASH in ECD. It was found that WASH related recommendations in the Statutory Instrument (SI) 106/2005 were too elicit and irrelevant to rural primary schools in Bikita. The schools did not have age appropriate toilets and rest rooms for the 3 to 5-year children. The schools were dependent heavily on donor subsidies for WASH resources and this subsequently affected the sustainability of hygiene and sanitation activities once the resources were finished, or broken down in the case of water boreholes. The teachers identified large teacher to pupil ratios, teacher attitudes, and the absence of caregivers. This paper concluded that some careful assessment is critical for the production of a research based WASH in school policy that is not only desirable but also feasible in terms of its capacity to address the educational and developmental needs of the 3 to 5-year old children. Key words: School sanitation, hygiene education, early childhood education, school, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), hand washing, sanitation.