Learning institutions in Isiolo County have inadequate toilet facilities and education stake holders are calling for immediate intervention.
The education stakeholders decried the acute shortage of pit latrines in public schools saying that the ratio of pupils to the number of latrines was discouraging with over 100 pupils sharing a single latrine.
They said that girls in particular, ended up wasting a lot of time lining up during break time where some may need privacy when in their menses as they change sanitary pads.
Isiolo governor’s wife, Mrs. Wato Kuti, expressed concern that if the situation was not urgently addressed, pupils will end up wasting more learning time as the risk of contracting diseases in schools increase.
She made the remarks when she visited Ramadhan Primary school in Isiolo town after it emerged during the open defecation free (ODF) day on Monday, that it was one of the institutions in dire need of toilet facilities.
She lauded the efforts being made by the various development partners to complement what the county government does adding that the same spirit needs to be upheld to ensure that the number of latrines especially in public schools were increased significantly.
Kuti said there was also need to provide clean water close to latrines in public schools, to enable pupils observe proper hygiene to prevent spread of water borne diseases.
County director of public health Guracha Sarite said the department had made tremendous progress in ensuring that the County attains an open defecation free status by March 2019.
He said according to a survey conducted by the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, the county was one of the top three in terms of compliance with the WHO standards, as 78 percent of households had latrines.
Sarite added that campaigns to have the remaining 22 percent also dig their own latrines have been intensified, with a view to have the County declared an open defecation free zone by March 2019.
He said that public health officers had reached 263 villages with 78 percent of them attaining the ODF status.
Guracha noted that only 154 villages were remaining, expressing optimism that his team will have reached out to them by March 2019.
By David Nduro
