New Delhi, August 2, 2019: Dettol Banega Swachh India, a flagship programme by Rickett Benckiser and ADRA India today inaugurated their first toilet and handwash unit in Saraswati Shishu Mandir School, Lucknow, under its hygiene education programme for primary schools. The programme witnessed the presence of Hon’ble Minister of State, Independent Charge (Basic Education) – Smt. Anupama Jaiswal, who inspired the kids to drive behaviour change and become the change agent for the society.
Children’s ability to learn is affected by inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene conditions in several ways. Through this partnership, the project aims to implement a hygiene education programme in 3,070 primary schools of Uttar Pradesh to contribute in building behaviour change among students. The proposed locations are districts of Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Noida, Etawah, Kannauj, Varanasi, and Bhagalpur, Bihar.
Ravi Bhatnagar, Director External Affairs & Partnerships, RB Health AMESA, said, “Health is a catalyst that brings social change and is considered one of the most critical areas of empowerment for children. Schools provide an excellent opportunity for children and their parents to broaden their horizon and learn healthy ways to adopt hygienic practices. We are proud of our collaboration with ADRA India that will help drive a meaningful health and sanitation dialogue through our hygiene education programme in thousands of primary schools across Uttar Pradesh.”
Three Primary Objectives of the Project:
- Fostering an enabling environment in schools by empowering teachers as agents of change for imparting WASH knowledge to students
- Households and schools transformed by students’ improved hygiene and sanitation knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and practices
- Communities’ commitment to improved WASH behaviours and practices with their local schools through high visibility on social media
The project will facilitate the school with training, WASH and education material, wall paintings etc. The presence of toilets in schools will help in fostering good hygiene practices among students while making them aware about the use of sanitation facilities.
