Access to WASH Facilities

School or learning space WASH facilities play a significant role among the factors influencing children’s access to learning, physical and emotional well-being and safety. The indicator measures the proportion of targeted schools or learning spaces with gender- and disability-sensitive WASH facilities. Refer to Important Comments below for additional guidance on expanding this indicator to also measure adequacy of facilities.

1) Determine the total number of schools or learning spaces targeted by the action. This data can be gathered from project level documentation.

2) Develop Infrastructure Quality Standards (IQS) criteria for WASH in schools or learning spaces which are relevant to the context of the intervention and reflect the physical, psychosocial, protection and other needs of children, teachers and communities. Criteria should use existing national or local standards if available.  Refer to Important Comments below for additional guidance about standards.

3) Collect data about WASH facilities in schools or learning spaces. Ideally, data should be collected for every school or learning space since a sample of schools or learning spaces will not reflect individual schools or learning spaces needs.

1. If access to the school or learning space is possible, it is recommended to collect information through an observation checklist using the criteria created. One example is PIN’s School and Learning Space Observation Checklist which can be filtered for WASH related questions.
2. If access to the school or learning space is not possible, information can be collected through key informant interviews (KIIs) or surveys with a representative sample of stakeholders (for example, teachers, children, caregivers and/or education authorities). Recommended survey questions for measuring this indicator can be found here.

4) Calculate the number of schools or learning spaces with gender- and disability-sensitive WASH facilities that meet the Infrastructure Quality Standards. To calculate the percentage, divide the total number of schools or learning spaces that meet the IQS for WASH facilities by the total number of targeted schools or learning spaces and multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage.

Disaggregation of the data can be done by the location, type of school or learning space (formal versus non-formal) or by type of WASH facilities (i.e., water sources, latrines, hand washing stations, etc).

1) This is INEE Indicator 2.7.

2) Government or national standards should be used where applicable. In emergency contexts, if these standards do not exist the SPHERE standards and/or the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) Minimum Standards (contextualised where available), especially Access and Learning Environment Standard 10: Facilities and Services, and/or WASH or Education Cluster/Working Group standards, should be used and referred to. These standards are integrated into PIN’s School and Learning Space Observation Checklist.

3) This indicator measures access to WASH facilities (i.e. whether schools or learning spaces have gender- and disability-sensitive facilities). Whilst it does not specifically refer to the adequacy of these facilities, this is an important consideration as (a) there need to be a sufficient number of facilities to accommodate the number of children and educators and (b) available facilities need to meet minimum requirements in order to be safe and useable for all. It is recommended that these aspects are considered whilst measuring this indicator, which is why the School and Learning Space Observation Checklist includes additional considerations such as latrine: child ratios, safety of drinking water, etc.

4) Measuring this indicator also won’t reflect whether or not the WASH facilities are actively being used. To better understand utilisation of the facilities, consult with children and teachers via survey, interviews or focus group discussions.

5) Related indicators:

     Global Education Cluster

        - % of learning spaces/schools with adequate male and female WASH facilities in affected areas

        - % of learning spaces/schools provided with adequate male and or female WASH facilities in affected areas

        - % of affected schools/learning spaces with [select: adequate quantities of safe water for drinking and personal hygiene / adequate hand washing facilities / a functioning solid waste management system]

        - % of affected schools/learning spaces provided with [select: adequate quantities of safe water for drinking and personal hygiene / adequate hand washing facilities / a functioning solid waste management system]

    Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

        - 4.a.1 Proportion of schools offering basic services, by type of service

    UNRWA

        - % of UNRWA schools with adequate male and female WASH facilities

    Child Protection Minimum Standards (CPMS)

       - 26.2.5 % of schools, play areas, health centres etc that include child appropriate WASH facilities

       - 26.2.6 % of accessible WASH facilities (for children with disabilities, adolescent girls)

    IndiKit

       - WASH Indicators