Study on Knowledge and Practices of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene among Secondary School Students

Abstract

Background: Provision of adequate water supply, sanitation, hygiene and waste management in schools has a number of positive effects. The study focuses on children because disease related to water; sanitation and hygiene are the leading cause of mortality and morbidity among children. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study comprised of 220 students. Participants involved were Government school students of grades 9-10 in Sindhupalchowk and Bhaktapur. Data consisted of hygiene and hand washing practices, knowledge about sanitation and personal hygiene characteristics. Results: This study revealed that knowledge regarding water borne disease was high among Urban school students 86.5% but knowledge regarding transmission route seemed inadequate in both urban and rural students (35% and 16% respectively). The practice on hand washing was found high (94.4%).There was significant difference in the knowledge of students regarding WASH in urban and rural settings of the school (P value<0.001). Treated water facility and hand washing facilities with water was found lacking in rural schools. Schools from the urban area had proper hand washing facilities, but there was not any soap available in both the areas. Conclusions: The knowledge and practice of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) among secondary school students is still poor. The knowledge of WASH in secondary school students when compared to the rural areas, urban areas had better on the basis of knowledge score.Keywords: hygiene; knowledge; practice; water; sanitation.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Practice among Students in Secondary School, Ijebu Ode, Nigeria

“…Further analysis indicated that 89.7% of the students knew that preserving water in a container with a tight-fitting cover is necessary to safeguard the water against potential physical or microbial contamination. These results agree with the findings of other studies that documented adequate knowledge by students on the importance of regular cleaning and proper covering of water containers (Shrestha et al, 2018;Vivas et al, 2011). Statistical results on simple treatment of water showed that 93.6% of students had an understanding that germs are killed during the boiling process of water.…”

“…Statistical results on simple treatment of water showed that 93.6% of students had an understanding that germs are killed during the boiling process of water. This result is consistent with Shrestha et al (2018), who reported similar findings (95%) among students, but differs from the results of other research reports (Vivas et al, 2010;Vivas et al, 2011;Javaeed et al, 2018). Additionally, approximately 69% knew that washing hands without soap after visiting the latrine is an unhygienic practice.…”

“…Similarly, Dajaan et al (2018) documented that 100% of Saudi school students understand the need for handwashing with soap and water. The present finding was further corroborated by Shrestha et al (2018) who reported that 84% of the students had good knowledge about the importance of hand-washing after defecation, but the finding was different in comparison to others (Vivas et al, 2010;Shilunga et al, (2018). Moreover, most students 95% recognized that hygienic and clean surroundings are needed for good health and that dirty surroundings contribute to disease spread by 92.8%.…”

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene in Some Selected LGAs in Kaduna State, Northwestern Nigeria

“…The few improved water facilities from boreholes and wells with hand pumps available are largely insufficient; women and children mostly travel far distances to access water, which is energy and time consuming, thus affecting children's education and women's household and economic productivity [ 19 ]. On the other hand, hygiene facilities such as excreta disposal (toilets) have also been inadequate for usage at community households and public places such as schools [ 20 ], markets [ 21 ], and even hospitals [ 22 ], which left people with no alternative but to defecate openly and sometimes in and around water sources [ 23 ] with no use of soap or any cleaning agents for protection [ 24 ]. Moreover, toilet facilities available were poorly maintained and mostly shared among numerous people with no consideration of gender segregation and women integrity [ 21 ].…”

Assessment of the Quantity and Quality of Harvested Rainwater in Igah Communities of Kogi State, North West Nigeria

“…The rainwater samples were collected using plastic bottles. The plastic bottles were labeled accordingly and then transported immediately to Kogi State University, Anyigba where the test was carried out by a competent laboratory scientist using modern state-of-the-art equipment and following standard methods for the examination of water quality (Sazkali, 2007;Sharma, 2001;Shrestha et al, 2018). The rainwater samples collected from the nine communities were subjected to analysis to determine their level of the physico-chemical and microbiological parameters concentration.…”