File photo: Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa.
The Federal Government is reviewing the National School Health Policy, developed in 2006, to address emerging health challenges and improve the well-being of learners across the country.
The Deputy Director and Head of the Sports and Health Education Division, Federal Ministry of Education, Njideka Dorothy, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at the 33rd LAPO annual development forum.
The forum had the theme, “Safe Water, Healthy Learning: Advancing WASH in Nigerian Schools.”
Dorothy said the review was necessary to accommodate emerging health concerns and strengthen the integration of health and well-being into the education system.
“A key milestone in our achievements includes the ongoing review of the National School Health Policy. The National School Health Policy was developed in 2006, and since then, we have been running with that policy,” she said.
She added that new and emerging health issues had made a comprehensive review necessary.
“Sometimes we get updates, but recently, we said there are a lot of issues coming up. In 2020 and 2021, we were all wearing masks because of COVID—I’m hearing something like that again—and then all of these emerging issues needed to be taken into consideration,” she said.
Dorothy said the ministry was committed to ensuring that schools provided safe and healthy environments that supported learners’ health, dignity, attendance and academic performance.
She noted that access to safe water, adequate sanitation and proper hygiene was essential to quality education, stressing that water, sanitation and hygiene interventions must translate into behavioural changes among pupils.
“When a learner becomes very conscious of the fact that a dirty hand attracts disease, then the learner is quick to wash his or her hands and ensure that the environment is neat,” she said.
The ministry representative, however, identified inadequate water supply, insufficient sanitation and handwashing facilities, limited funding and poor maintenance as persistent challenges affecting school health.
She called for stronger integration of water, sanitation and hygiene into education planning, budgeting, school supervision and accountability mechanisms.
“Success must be measured not simply by facilities that are constructed, but by schools where learners consistently access safe water, adequate sanitation, and proper hygiene services,” she said.
Dorothy urged development partners, the private sector, civil society organisations and relevant government institutions to strengthen collaboration with the ministry through strategic investments, technical support, school WASH assessments, hygiene education and sustainable maintenance systems.
She also called for improved coordination among the education, water, sanitation, health and environment sectors to ensure that interventions produced measurable improvements in schools.
The President of the Lift Above Poverty Organisation, Faith Osasuawa-Ojo, decried poor access to water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in Nigerian schools, saying only 37 per cent of schools have access to basic water supply services.
She also said only 35 per cent of schools had access to basic sanitation services, while 30 per cent provided basic hygiene services, including handwashing facilities, soap and water.
Citing the 2021 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene National Outcome Routine Mapping report, published in June 2022, she said only about 15 per cent of schools had budgeted funds for the maintenance of their water, sanitation and hygiene facilities.
“These are far more than statistics. They represent the daily reality and struggles of millions of Nigerian children,” she said.