EVALUATION OF THE WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION (AVAILABILITY/ACCESSIBILITY OF SANITATION AND HYGIENE RESOURCES/FACILITIES) IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study evaluated the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme implementation (availability/accessibility of sanitation and hygiene resources/facilities) in secondary schools in Cross River State, Nigeria. The study was necessitated by the lack of available research on the implementation of the WASH programme in secondary schools in the study area. Guided by four research questions, the study adopted an evaluation research design. The study‟s population comprised of all the 4,430 teachers and 16,662 SS2 students across the 274 public secondary schools in Cross River State in the 2021/2022 academic session. The sample was 698 respondents made up of 140 teachers and 558 students drawn using the simple random sampling technique. The instrument used for data collection was the Checklist on Availability/Accessibility of Sanitation and Hygiene Resources/Facilities (CAASDW). The reliability coefficient was .90 using Cronbach Alpha. The collected data were analysed using mean scores. The findings of the study showed that sanitation resources, and facilities in secondary schools are each of available and accessible on a low extent while hygiene resources, and facilities in secondary schools are each of never available and never accessible. Based on the findings and conclusions, it was recommended among others that Government and school administrators should provide adequate sanitation and hygiene facilities and resources for use by students and teachers in secondary schools.