Circular Education

Circularity in all aspects of human existence was once the staple in our education systems before consumerism eroded those values. Sanitation is no different…

Teaching them Young

WASH circular education is an important part of holistic solutions to school sanitation. It refers to the teaching of school children from an early age about concepts, which integrate environmental and hygiene action in their day-to-day school life, with the aim that they will transfer these learnings and skills to their communities.

WASH circular education plays a key role in informing the school children about the importance of safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and good hygiene for a healthy life. It achieves this through various school-based WASH curricula developed by WASH experts, and designed to help children gain knowledge on the following, inter alia:

  • WASH related topics such as menstrual health and hygiene, safe drinking water and sanitation including types of low-cost water and sanitation technologies that are easy to replicate
  • Environmental related topics such as sustainable use of natural resources e.g. water and land for gardening activities, waste to value techniques, and solid waste management.
  • Practical activities they can undertake to promote WASH and environmental components in schools and at home, e.g. handwashing at key times, water conservation techniques e.g.
    reuse, rainwater harvesting, waste separation, waste to resources techniques e.g. composting, vegetable gardening, etc.

This education is important in complementing the use of the appropriate sanitation solutions to ensure sustainable WASH in schools. In this concept, school children are viewed as ‘change agents’ , possessing an important multiplier function in their communities, and experts therefore recommend that they be enabled to implement the gained knowledge right on the spot to have long lasting learning outcomes.

Additionally, schools are advised to take advantage of the fact that the children are at a learning age to learn about the essential principles of environment and hygiene.