Nasratu Kargbo
Abu Bakarr Kamara from the Budget Advocacy Network says three thousand three hundred and seventy seven schools are without proper toilet facilities in the country. He said this on the 29th October 2021 during the 2nd government and civil society dialogue series in Port Loko.
According to Kamara, out of the seven thousand eight hundred and three (7,803) schools that have toilets, five thousand and sixty (5,060) are in a deplorable condition .He pointed out that when schools that do not have any toilet facility in tandem with those that have but are in a deplorable state are calculated, they make up 75% of the school population in the country which houses approximately two million children. “This means that two million pupils are exposed to diseases that are related to WASH”.
The Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh explained that he has met with the Minister of Water Resources, as well as officials from Guma and SALWACO, and that they have had a WASH Task Force reignited. The Minister admitted it is true that schools don’t have much safe drinking water especially in pre-primary. He also stated that less than 25% of schools have access to clean and safe drinking water which made them to partner with SALWACO,saying the institution has done a study and found out that to have a pipe line in each of the thousands of school would cost a total of 60 million dollars.
He encouraged CSOs, NGOs and the community to join the government and invest in WASH facilities noting that the kids are Sierra Leoneans. He explained that Sierra Leone is one of the only countries which expanded its educational budget during COVID, to 22%.
Copyright © Politico Online 03/11/21
