In the times when the world is going through a global crisis, Ankit Pandey, the Founder of We, included. and a Gandhi Fellow at the Piramal School of Leadership in the Piramal Foundation is fighting CoVID-19 with WaSh and his team of students from the Government Senior Secondary School in the village Bhimsarof Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan!
Nalanda University graduate and a 24-year old Engineer turned Development Professional, Ankit has started a movement of reimagining leadership, together!
“An estimated 1.9 billion school days could be gained if the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) related to safe water supply and sanitation are achieved and the incidence of CoVID-19 cases is reduced,” says Ankit.
He believes that 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 behaviors for life. This strategic approach is known as Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Education (WaSH) in Schools. The strategy helps fulfill children’s rights to health, education, and participation, and has been widely recognized for its significant contributions to achieving the MDGs – particularly those related to providing access to primary education, reducing child mortality, improving water and sanitation, and promoting gender equality.
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.
Purpose and Scope
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.
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.
Ankit and his team of students are now on a mission to spread awareness about the CoVID-19 virus and possible solutions to prevent it from spreading in the community.
Through several modes of conveying the message about the precautions, best practices and the crucial importance of community collaboration during this phase of the health crisis, Ankit organised a classroom session on the issue which followed by the discussion around the solutions and possible responsibilities about same. He also showed the students a video by the UNICEF India on WaSH in Schools case study in the context of the rural community.
Ankit has made a WaSH Club in his schools including representatives from students and faculty, headed by the Principals who are also the Panchyat Elementary Education Officers (PEEOs) of that region. The Club will specifically be focusing on the
- Education: Teachers trained to teach hand washing, begin taking daily attendance, and supervise daily group handwashing at mealtimes.
- Facilities: Establish low-cost, improved water supply, hand washing facilities, and gender-segregated toilets.
- Behavior Change: Daily supervised handwashing before school meals and at group toilet times.
- Management: Plans created for operational maintenance and menstrual hygiene management.
Students together are going to play a very vital role in preventing this crisis and being the agents of change and awareness in their community.
How can children pass on their hygiene knowledge to peers, family and community?
- Spread the knowledge they have learned in school by talking with friends and parents about their hygiene lessons.
- Teach by example, washing their hands with soap at critical times.
- Work together to spread ideas and take action in the community, for example organizing clean-up days.
Ankit’s vision is to set at-least the minimum standards for WASH in Schools by adopting national, regional, and local standards for WaSH in Schools, based on UNICEF-WHO guidelines. The final objective will be to involve multiple stakeholders to support WaSH in Schools programs. Community members, civil society advocates, members of the media, students, school staff, local and regional authorities, non-governmental organizations, faith-based groups, public-private partnerships, and ministries of education, water, health, and finance, as well as donors, can all support planning and action for WaSH in Schools.
With his project of WaSH in Schools under We, included. initiative, Ankit will be impacting more than 500 students’ lives in 3 different communities in Rajasthan.
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