Comparison of waste management practices of urban and rural basic school students in Ho and Adaklu-Anyigbe district in Ghana

Abstract

Waste management practices of urban and rural basic school students in the study area were compared. Generally, the study focused on the types of refuse generated, refuse management practices, the re-use of refuse as a waste management practice, human faecal disposal practices, the use of environmental related clubs for health education and waste management as well as student-toilet ratio in urban and rural basic schools in the study area. Simple random sampling procedure was used to select 190 respondents made up of 98 urban and 92 rural students drawn from 20 schools. Both student respondents and school authorities responded to structured questionnaire on students' waste management practices. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. It was revealed that only 10% of the urban-based student respondents dispose waste to be carried by non-students while rural-based students do not enjoy the facility. In terms of toilet facilities, 28% of the urban-based respondents as against 14% of the rural-based student respondents have no access to toilet facilities in their respective schools. Finally, only 20% of the urban-based and 30% of the rural-based schools meet Ghana Education Service requirement of 50 students to one toilet seat. Based on the strength of the findings, it was recommended that in the light of the abundance of biodegradable waste materials, basic schools could adopt composting as a waste