Effects of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities on academic performance of basic school pupils in the Ketu North Municipality

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities on academic performance of Basic School Pupils at Dzodze in the Ketu North Municipality of the Volta Region. Through cross sectional survey, a total of 100 basic school pupils and 20 Teachers were sampled through simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. The findings of the study revealed that majority of the respondents 96 (96%) of the pupils stated that they had water and sanitation facilities in their schools. Most of the respondents 55 (55%) of the pupil stated they had pipe water as common sources of water in the school and as such most respondents 47 (47%) stated that, the state of water was good in the school. Most of the respondents 66 (66%) used KVIP toilet facility in their schools, 51 (51%) of them said their toilet facilities were in a good state, 98 (98%) have access to hand washing facilities in their schools, Veronica buckets 82 (82%) were predominantly used as the hand washing facilities in their schools. The presence of WASH facilities helped them to participate in academic activities 98 (98%) and teaching and learning activities 47 (47%). About 28 (28%) said they performed better in the end of term exams than previously whiles 27 (27%) stated they have become more active in class which is promising. Copying strategies include buying water from vendors 47 (47%), 49 (49%) used public sanitation facilities. There should be renovation of WASH facilities to get the facilities back to shape to make them more user friendly for the pupils.