West Bengal : A change in School

Group of girls in West Bengal now have a school bathroom and they are proud to use that. They designed the bathroom so that now they don’t need to cross the teacher’s room each time which was so embarrassing they also installed mirrors to adjust their cloth before returning to class.

Local government enthusiastically helps in financing and maintenance of school. Parents also contribute and a children-led WASH committee is in charge of hygiene education and ensuring other children use the facilities appropriately. This child-friendly approach toward water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in schools is now being replicated by other district governments and promoted in national school development plans endorsed at the ministry level.

So this model suggests that development initiatives can succeed when organizations innovate and work together with local stakeholders. Organizations across the WASH sector are rethinking their role in catalyzing the delivery of water and sanitation services. The water and sanitation crisis is still enormous and much more work is required. Efforts to ensure lasting and affordable water and sanitation service delivery must progress and innovate to meet the extent of this challenge.