The way the ministry of health inspected and closed some of the hotels and restaurants which were not up to good hygienic standards; it is the same way they should with boarding schools. While some schools are doing well sanitation and hygienically wise, others are doing badly.

If one visited some of the boarding schools around Kigali city and it’s out skirts, he or she will discover how silently children are suffering. Yes, your children. The effect of poor sanitation and hygiene is terrible on the health of the students.

Most are the disease and health problems students adopt from poor hygiene, ventilation, bedding, water shortages and feeding to mention a few.  

Some of the common diseases students get as an outcome of poor hygiene and sanitation are mainly scabies, tuberculosis, skin rushes, coughing to mention a few.

Basing on the first hand facts about TB in schools, research has shown that TB cases are prevailing in some schools around Kigali city.

TB is an air born disease; it has the powers to visit at least each and every student without leaving their teachers, mentors or patrons and everyone within the compound.

Sincerely speaking, TB is not a disease which we should handle as a simple matter. The fact that anyone can be a victim; ideally it has to be fought collectively.

The other issue I would like to bring forth is the aspect of water. There are a number of schools where water is still a big problem. When it comes to the general cleanness or hygiene of the students, water shortage becomes a huge challenge.

Without clean water, students cannot have good health; unclean water has a big effect it plays on the lives and health of the students.

A student, who is unable to access water, finds it too difficult to do his or her general cleaning.  However, a girl child finds it more challenging when she cannot access water.

There are days when a girl child would love to bath at least twice a day. Such days include the time she is on her menstruation. Imagine such a life without water…!

A student who has spent days without bathing, will be infected with disease like scabies, lice, ring worms and others that come as a result of poor hygiene.         

The reason why students get infected or affected with colds and coughs is because they do not get access to clean boiled water.

The health of the student also has something to do with how he or she sleeps. It is absurd the way our children sleep. Many times when parents visit their children during a visiting day, they are not allowed to enter dormitories (places or rooms where children in a boarding school stay).

This is not because of anything else; sometimes it is because the matrons or patrons do not want parents to see the miserable sleeping conditions their children are subjected to.

If students are not sharing beds, then the beds are parked like sacks of potatoes waiting to be sold. Some even sleep on the floor.

Now when we go to the environment, among the most important things around the school compounds students would like to access are the toilets or latrines.

Due to the many candidates using the latrines, they get easily filled up. Some schools do not repair or construct new toilets so children keep on using them even when they are filled to the brim.  

These filled latrines also have an immense role they play in carrying certain diseases from one student to another. Diarrhoea is a common disease in such conditions.

In the protection of our children, the ministry of education in partnership with the Ministry of health should do something about the health of students in boarding schools.

It is not a story that is being told but a reality on the ground.  If health in schools is re-examined, I strongly believe that our students will be able to improve even more in their academic world.

The ill health is a big hindrance to the joy and performance of the students in some boarding schools. This is because most times students fall sick which might necessitate their going back home for days, weeks or even months. If I may propose, this battle of promoting good health and hygiene in schools is not for head teachers only.

Since some of the schools are owned by parents, it should be everyone’s effort to see that a Rwandan child gets quality education from a good environment.

Poor hygiene, sanitation mention all, are issues which can be solved. So the way forward is to gather our efforts and help our children study or stay in a free and clean environment. 

I hope it won’t be necessary for me to write another article mentioning some of the worst culprits…I mean schools.

Ends