Findings on schools, teachers and parents .1 General condition of schools

From six different schools observations were made and teachers were questioned on a variety of indicators in order to assess the general condition of the school environments and facilities available to students.

Type of health facility Number Staff numbers per

facility*

Equipment* No. of

Patients annual District Hospital 1 NA Primary care supplies 11,959 Primary Healthcare

Centre 2 NA Primary care supplies 24,020

Illaka health post 11 4 weight scales, general medications, vaccines,

first aid kit

42,380

Sub-health post 65 3 As above 99,114

PHC / Outreach Clinic 264 1 - 2 General medicines,

first aid kit 30,020

Ayurvedic centers 5 NA NA NA

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10 The general school environments were found to inadequate with no library facilities in any of the schools, walls surrounded only one school, health posters were displayed in only two although four out of six schools had a playground. Conditions inside classrooms were more often favorable with all six schools having clean classrooms with roofs, windows and doors. Only one school had a dust bin and none of the schools had electric lighting. Toilet facilities were poor. One of the schools had no toilet facilities at all while toilet were clean in only 2 schools and 3 had bad odour.

Alarmingly, soap was not available in any toilets. Further, only one schools had separate toilet facilities for boys and girls and in 2 of the facilities toilet locks were out of childrens' reach. Drinking water was only available in 4 schools and one of these the taps were unreachable.

Table 6: General conditions in 3 different schools

A. Toilet * Yes No

Are the toilets clean? 2 3

Do the toilets smell? 3 2

Are there doors in the toilets? 5 0

Is soap available? 0 5

Are there different toilets for boys and girls? 1 4

Are there locks in the toilets? 4 1

Can the students reach the locks? 3 2

B. Drinking water ** Yes No

Are the taps reachable by the students? 3 1

C. Classroom Yes No

Are there enough benches for all the students? 6 0

Do the classrooms have roofs? 6 0

Is the roof made of tin? 6 0

Do the classrooms have doors? 6 0

Do the classrooms have windows? 6 0

Are the classrooms clean? 6 0

Do the classrooms have proper air circulation? 6 0

Does the school have dustbins? 1 5

Is there enough light in the classroom? 6 0 Do the classrooms have electric lights? 0 6 Is the blackboard kept at the right place? 5 1

D. School environment Yes No

Do walls surround the school compound? 1 5 Does the school have a playground? 4 2

Does the school have a library? 0 6

Are health related posters displayed? 2 4

* One school with no toilet at all, ** Two schools with no drinking water taps at all.

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11 In the 6 schools surveyed, 5 (83%) of the teachers noted that the health and nutrition subject is taught to students covering topics such as nutrition and food, houseflies, safe drinking water, and ways to become healthy and energetic. However, in 4 of the schools there was a shortage of teachers and only 2 (33%) of them have actually undertaken training in nutrition information and none have been trained in health and sanitation subjects. All teachers believed that through health and nutrition classes students change their behaviors. They further thought that student health would improve with teacher training in health and nutrition, improved school facilities including soaps, kitchen gardens and sanitation upgrades, supply of and training with first aid kits as well as through an increase in public awareness.

In 5 (80%) of the schools health activities were conducted however the expenses were rarely covered by the VDC or district facilities, instead it was necessary for schools to rally for funding or rely on I/NGO support. In short, while health and nutrition information was often expressed to school children actual health support at schools is minimal; health services were not provided at any of the schools. In the past 6 months none of the children received general health check-ups or stool tests.

Table 7: Drop-outs and Enrollment in sampled schools, Sindhupalchowk

Enrollment (N) Drop-out

Boys Girls Total School

Boys Girls Total N % N % N % Shree Bag Bhairab, Tauthali Lower

secondary 87 86 173 4 4.6 9 10.5 13 7.5

Shree Dhaule Showari, Thakani Primary 76 78 154 5 6.5 13 16.5 18 11.5 Shree Krishna, Chautara Primary No data available No data available

Shree Prathamik School, Chautara Primary 68 78 146 1 1.4 1 1.3 2 1.4

Shree Setidevi, Tauthali Primary 47 43 90 4 8.5 6 14 10 11

Shree Than Bhanjyang, Thakani Primary 70 51 121 2 3 3 6 5 4

Total 348 336 684 16 32 48

Teachers noted that the primary reason, 80% of cases, for a student to drop out of school was poor economic status of families and a necessity for the child to join the workforce. Some children also dropped out because the school was too far from their home or parents don't allow them to attend. Overwhelmingly, the drop-out rate for girls is double that of boys, the reason for this was cited by PTA members and teachers to be the need as well as tradition of girls working in the home as they increase in age.

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12 4.2.2 Findings from Teachers

Table 8: Information on Teachers

Teachers training and methods Yes No

Do you teach health and nutrition subjects in your

school? 5 1

Teachers received training for health and nutrition

subject? 2 4

Does the school conduct health and nutrition related

activities? 4 1

Do you teach from books according to the government

syllabus? 5 0

Is there a sufficient number of teachers in the school? 2 4

Upon interviewing 6 teachers at 6 schools it was revealed that all except for one school provided health and nutrition classes for the students for between 2 – 6 hours per week. The school which did not teach this subject cited lack of a lack of government allocated teachers and also no health and nutrition related materials or syllabus available at the school. In other schools, the health and nutrition classes covered topics of nutrition and food, houseflies, safe drinking water, means for becoming healthy and energetic and primarily used the book

"mero sero phero" for teaching and taught. Only 2 out of 6 teachers had received health, nutrition related training, and of these the only topic covered was nutrition education. No training was undertaken regarding life skills, health and sanitation, and diseases such as diarrhea and parasites. Further, the majority of schools, 4 out of 6, noted an insufficient number of teachers for student numbers and must often utilize students to teach other students.

4.2.3 Findings from PTAs and SMCs

Focus groups discussions were held with six various Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and School Management Committees (SMCs). When Child Clubs (CCs) were established in the past they did not co-ordinate with them and rarely discuss health and nutrition at their meetings. All members reported a lack of facilities at the schools, with the greatest focus placed on the insufficient supply of water. All schools are without access to clean drinking water, which is often sourced from wells or ponds in the area. Toilets are without running water and children commonly do bathroom duties in the bushes or surrounding areas. Parents and teachers often reported that school conditions had been improved in the past due to NGO interventions however after program

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“The water source is 2km far from the school.”

PTA/SMC Tauthali

“They go for toilet...in the bushes”

PTA/SMC Tauthali

cessation the situation returned to an unacceptable level. A First Aid Kit exists in only one school, however it is not stocked with supplies. All schools were without libraries, and no health checkups have been conducted recently and de-worming tablets are no longer distributed.

For improvements in student health and school conditions parents and teachers called for financial assistance and training regarding health and nutrition. Further, all requested assistance with water supply and certain communities require polio vaccinations and general medications.