MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) names the Schools Division of Navotas City and six more awardees as the best in the country in terms of ensuring a clean and sanitary learning environment for students.
The announcement was made during the first-ever Eskwelang Unstoppable Awards, a joint initiative of DepEd and Unilever Domex, in close collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), to celebrate the World Toilet Day.
Schools nationwide were assessed based on their Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Schools (WinS) monitoring, scores which adhere to the national standards that DepEd has set.
Here are the schools that received flying colors when it comes to cleanliness and sanitation:
- Best School Division Office Award - Schools Division Office of Navotas City
- Most Improved School - Schools Division Office of Bislig City
- Best SDO Model schools with the highest scores
- Bangkulasi Elementary School
- Dagat-dagatan Elementary School
- Navotas Elementary School
- Filemon T. Lizan Senior High School
- Bangkulasi Senior High School
The event was held last November 15 at the DepEd Central Office in Pasig City to recognize the collective efforts of teachers, parents and students in improving school sanitation and establishing infection prevention and control measures in learning facilities.
Winning the county’s WinS program
Aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, the WinS program is DepEd’s comprehensive action plan in keeping its commitment that no school in the country will be left behind on water, sanitation and hygiene, deworming and health education.
It was in 2016 when the DepEd institutionalized the WinS program to guide schools in making safe-drinking water, usable gender-segregated toilets and proper hygiene accessible for all learners.
According to Education Undersecretary Gerardo Chan, the country has made significant progress towards reaching Sustainable Development Goals Basic Service levels on hygiene and sanitation from baseline to 2022.
“In the last five years, schools in the Philippines have improved from 39% reaching basic service levels to 73% of schools,” Chan said. “This has been acknowledged globally, and we will work together that all our schools will achieve this level by 2030.”
DepEd uses a Three Star Approach (TSA) to monitor schools’ progress. The WinS status of a school is reflected in 17 criteria where they can reach zero to three stars in each aspect.
Based on DepEd’s WinS 2020-2021 report, there has been a steady increase in the overall star levels of schools nationwide, while the percentage of schools that did not reach any star level is also steadily declining.
Clean and safe schools to return to
As learners are poised to return to full face-to-face classes soon, the Department of Education is more eager to ensure that there will be clean toilets and facilities that await students.
Along with teachers and staff, Domex and GIZ play key roles in making this goal happen. The two have constantly worked with DepEd in rolling out programs and activities nationwide that aim to improve toilet sanitation conditions in schools, such as the Brigada Eskwela.
“As a cleaning brand, it is important for us to help all of you to maintain safety as a top priority as we help students experience schools again. Our belief is that cleaner toilets can lead to a brighter future for our students,” said Regina Ocampo, Unilever Domex brand manager, during the awarding ceremony.
“When they are healthy, when they know that they have access to a clean toilet, mas nakakafocus sila sa klase and mas makakakinig to their teachers better. Hindi nila iniisip ‘Paano ako magc-CR mamaya’, and that allows them to focus on their lessons.”
According to Ocampo, the Eskwelang Unstoppable Awards is only the beginning of what they see as a meaningful partnership with DepEd.
“This is only the first Eskwelang Unstoppable Awards at tuluy-tuloy lang tayo sa pag-recognize natin ng schools and schools divisions. We look forward to the sanitation and hygiene activities we can work on with DepEd and GIZ in 2023,” she concluded.
Every November 19, World Toilet Day is observed to raise awareness of the global sanitation crisis that affects billions of people worldwide who are living without access to safe and clean toilets.