To reduce lack of potable water in schools in Epe local government area, Lagos state, a Non Governmental Organisation, Hope Voice Suisse Association, has pledged its commitment to source fund to facilitate the provision of water.
Speaking with journalists over the weekend, the contact person, Mr Oyewole Michael said the need for prompt execution of the project is to avoid outbreak of waterborne diseases among pupils in the affected local government area.
According to him, only forty seven (47) out of seventy four (74) schools in the local government have water supply in their schools while the remaining twenty-seven (27) schools rely on unhygienic sources to scoop water to meet their demand for potable water.
His words, “Children fetch water from home to school in semi urban and urban schools while children in riverine schools fetch water from the stream and brooks for use in school are having negative impact in their learning as a result of children (fatigue) and waste of precious learning time. Pupils punctuality and regularity in schools is also negatively affected.”
He stressed that rural area and semi-urban schools, pupils make use of pit lavatory without running water adding that some have to trek long distances to fetch water from stream/brook in rural schools.
“Consequent upon the non-availability of portable water supply in these aforementioned twenty-seven (27) public primary schools, the HOPEVOICE SUISSE (NGO) plan to solicit for funding to mitigate the water challenge in these schools to complement the efforts of Lagos state government in meeting the minimum standard required of inclusive schools.
“These twenty-seven (27) schools that need water intervention cut across the length and breath of the LGA namely: Riverine schools, Schools that are located across the Lagos lagoon, accessible by boat as means of transportation, Rural schools located in upland but in the rural interior, accessible by road and Upland located in semi urban area accessible by road.”
The NGO noted that the objective of the project is to provide potable water supply to the schools to implore clean school sanitation, enable school pupils at the elementary level have the basic knowledge of water sanitation and discourage pupils trekking long distances in fetching water either form their homes, streams and brooks, so as to increase pupils enrollment in schools.
“Our vision is to restore hope and belief in the people of Africa and subsequently see more citizens thinking more selflessly for better continents,” Oyewole posited.