Swacch Vidyalaya Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

M.S Dhebarbardi is one of the school in Jhabua block which has been covered under Co-Ed toilet construction project funded by GAIL India under its CSR initiatives through “Swacch Vidyalaya Swachh Bharat Abhiyan”. Like many other schools of the block this school was also lacking accessible/usable toilet facility before inception of the project, which was resulting in open urination and defecation by the school children and become difficult situation for girls due to absence of clean and usable toilet in the school. Another major worry observed was that girl students are dropping out of schools due to lack of toilet facility. In addition to this their parents think that there is always a risk of developing health issue with their children due to which they don’t force their children to attend the school. Poor people cannot afford the fees at a private school where situation is relatively better while the situation in government schools was not that good before construction of the Co-Ed toilet, often forcing girls to skip classes or drop out.

After implementation of the project, selected school premises now have a newly built Co-Ed toilet blocks for school children having two well-furnished separate sections, one is for girls and another is for boys. Apart from this, since inception of usage of this toilet, significant improvement in the attendance especially girl children have been noticed. Though impact on attendance due to illness caused by improper hygiene and sanitation practice is not measured but it is definitely going to reduce the rate of illness among the students. Students, who do not have toilet at their house, started insisting their parents for toilet construction and its benefits. GVT was highly appreciated for quality execution of construction, maintenance and up keeping work of the toilet.