Implementing wash in school program for clean, safe, and child friendly school environment towards wins three star approach

By Wilma Z. De Villa

Teacher 2, Cabungan Elementary School

The DepEd WinS Program is designed to achieve learning and health outcomes of Filipino students through a comprehensive, sustainable, and scalable school-based WASH program pursuant to the State’s mandate to defend the right of children to dignity, assistance, and protection from conditions that would hamper their development.

The current situation of our school that are needs to address are; shortage of funds for: (a) the installation of toilet and handwashing facilities, (b) the provision of adequate water supply, and hygiene items for schools, and (c) the implementation of school-based solid waste management. Other compounding factors include the lack of mechanisms for operation and maintenance to ensure facilities’ cleanliness and suitability for continued use, and the scarce funding for the security and safekeeping of school property, which is especially urgent in the most highly in our school. But everyone should be involved... students, faculty, parents, guardian, and community... everyone! towards WASH in schools three stars approach.

WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) programs significantly impact student performance, both directly and indirectly. Improved health and hygiene are central to this effect. WASH programs play a vital role in improving student performance. Their impact extends beyond simply reducing illness; they contribute to a more supportive and conducive learning environment, leading to better attendance, concentration, cognitive function, and overall academic achievement. The positive effects are far-reaching and contribute significantly to a student’s holistic development. While specific studies directly linking WASH to standardized test scores may be limited, the strong correlation between health, hygiene, and academic success is well-established. This I can say that attaining our goal was not difficult because of the presence and help of our dear stakeholders. Parents and children are not the only ones who benefit from good school. Everyone in a community gains from school. It increases the property value and improves the quality of life for all members of the community. Cabungan Elementary School is an integral part of the fabric of its community and filled with volunteer that can provide a vast array of services and benefits to the school A school can also be an invaluable resource to its community. Stakeholders did their best to share their skills and finances just to make sure that they lend their helping hands to make school conducive to learning. Involved parents in setting a good example for their children. They demonstrated the value of hardwork. Tapping into each parent’s talents and abilities is giving a chance for them to work hard. Parent-teacher relationships are more than optional classroom benefit. They are key for helping students on a personal and classroom benefit. Our school now is known as clean, safe, and child friendly school environment. This activity was not just complying from memoranda, advisories and orders from higher up but it was an activity and celebration that the learners had a very important role in everyone’s life either. Furthermore, it enhanced teachers and students awareness, promote human rights and they would become an advocate of social progress and world peace, enables them to develop into worthy individual and productive citizen in the future.The study found that proper execution of school-based management approach had a great impact in the implementation of the WASH in Schools (WINS) program. The parents and community played a vital role in the successful implementation of the program, hence the schools should strengthen their partnership with these stakeholders in order to collaboratively develop and improve the program which is beneficial in ensuring that learners are safe and healthy especially in the new normal. One way of achieving this is by providing schools with safe drinking water, improved sanitation facilities and hygiene education that encourages the development of healthy behaviours for life. WASH in Schools not only promotes hygiene and increases access to quality education but also supports national and local interventions to establish equitable, sustainable access to safe water and basic sanitation services in schools. Poor sanitation, water scarcity, inferior water quality and inappropriate hygiene behaviour are disastrous for infants and young children and are a major cause of mortality for children. Those conditions are also detrimental to the health of school-aged children, who spend long hours in schools. The physical environment and cleanliness of a school facility can significantly affect the health and well-being of children. Disease spreads quickly in cramped spaces with limited ventilation, where hand-washing facilities or soap are not available, and where toilets are in disrepair. WASH in Schools aims to improve the health and learning performance of school-aged children –and, by extension, that of their families – by reducing the incidence of water and sanitation-related diseases. Every child friendly school requires appropriate WASH initiatives that keep the school environment clean and free of smells and inhibit the transmission of harmful bacteria, viruses and parasites. The project further aims to improve sanitation and hygiene not just with its water dispensing qualities but also with the aim to less pollution caused by misplaced, used water containers. This project will encourage the residents of Cabungan, Balatan, Camarines Sur to be creative with the use of materials that can be used in other creative ways. The expected outputs were a testament to the cooperation and unity of the school and its stakeholders. WASH in Schools also focuses on the development of life skills and the mobilization and involvement of parents, communities, governments and institutions to work together to improve hygiene, water and sanitation conditions. Involving families and communities in WASH in Schools interventions promotes a sense of ownership, which is a necessary prerequisite for sustainability. Involvement can take the shape of school management committees, parent-teacher associations or committees specifically set up for WASH in Schools. These groups are particularly important if health and education departments or local authorities are not prepared to provide such services. Community mobilization and motivation will extend the impact of life skills development beyond schools to the whole community.