During the COVID-19 pandemic, health and hygiene practices have taken on new significant importance throughout schools in Tanzania. This focus on increased hygienic practices has helped keep students in school - hygiene-related diseases have historically been linked to increased student absenteeism.

As demonstrated by data collected from randomly selected schools in the Temeke district, there is a high need to increase hand-washing facilities, and with the global pandemic impacting the country, the need is even greater:

Therefore, the Tanzanian government, along with GPE’s support, has committed to provide greater access to basic hygiene services in schools in an effort to reducing the transmission of COVID-19 between students.

The GPE COVID-19 Education Response Support Program enables the government to provide potentially life-saving clean water, sanitation and health facilities in primary schools. The GPE COVID-19 grant is funding the construction of over 13,000 toilets, along with environmentally friendly and sustainable rainwater storage tanks in 1,100 primary schools which currently lack a reliable water source.

New wash and sanitation facilities bring several benefits

Students and teachers now have easily accessible resources to ensure their health and well-being while safeguarding the continuation of their studies.

Teachers have noted the importance of students’ good hand hygiene to avoid the spread of contagious diseases including COVID-19. They also commented that the presence of adequate handwashing facilities have enabled children to build good habits, such as washing their hands before entering class.

While water and sanitation facilities, funded by GPE, may have been built due to the COVID-19 pandemic, their use will continue to promote hygiene and establish a strong foundation of healthy habits for a generation of students in Tanzania. This will not only benefit the students themselves, but also their families and their communities.

Distance learning options

In addition to constructing washing and sanitation facilities, the COVID-19 funding provided by GPE also helps the government of Tanzania offer distance learning opportunities to ensure children continue with their education.

More specifically, the GPE program funds the procurement of studio equipment to enable the Tanzania Institute of Education to continue producing and disseminating video and radio lessons based on the national curriculum.

Additionally, textbooks will be distributed to schools in the most vulnerable areas to offer an additional incentive for students to return to school while improving the student-textbook ratio.