78 Blue Schools in Banteay Meanchey Province

In Banteay Meanchey, the rural population lives in very basic conditions. With compulsory education for nine years for all Cambodians, most children attend classes at the primary school level, albeit sometimes irregularly. However, Cambodia’s education system is still suffering from the consequences of the terror regime of the Khmer Rouge that ended over 40 years ago. Schools are often in a desolate condition and 40 percent of primary schools in Banteay Meanchey only achieve up to one star in the government’s Three Star Approach, which ranks schools from 0 stars (no WASH facilities) to 5 stars (comprehensive WASH facilities). Therefore, a large number of schools lack appropriate sanitation and handwashing facilities, as well as safe drinking water. Children often have to go behind dilapidated lavatory structures to relieve themselves. There is a lack of hygiene, which exposes children to the risk of diseases like diarrhea, respiratory tract disease, and worm infestation, while many children are also affected by malnutrition. As a result, students are unable to use their capacities to realize their full potential. The lack of hygiene and prevalence of open defecation has serious consequences for many children as well as the environment. Therefore, Caritas Switzerland is committed to supporting the nationally set goal of making all primary schools 100 percent open-defecation-free and thus aims to facilitate WASH-enabling environments in schools.

To make Blue Schools a nationally recognized approach through linking it with the governments minimum standards and making the Blue Schools Kit available nationwide through promotion of Blue Schools e-learning and national level advocacy. By doing so, primary school children get access to well maintained WASH facilities and clean water and learn about ecologically responsible action and good hygiene practices through play which they can replicate in their communities.

To ensure sustainability, this project aligns with national goals, policies and mechanisms and intends to transform primary schools that rank very low in the Three Star Approach to Blue Schools that achieve at least 2 stars.

Caritas Switzerland has been implementing the Blue School approach in Cambodia since 2018, supported by the Swiss Water and Sanitation Consortium. In Blue Schools, the children learn about the connections between climate, ecology, and health. The rollout can be divided into hard and soft components and is facilitated by the Blue Schools Kit which is a compilation of inspirational support materials tailored to the Cambodian context that guides schools in their pathway to improve WASH-enabling environments. First, the infrastructure is established in the form of child-friendly, gender-separated, and easyto-clean toilets, whenever possible, with eco soakaway beds. The toilets are supplemented with a rainwater catchment system, water tank, and handwashing stations. For the supply of drinking water, filters are installed. Although access to WASH infrastructure is the starting point, a Blue School goes beyond this and includes soft components such as hygiene training, school garden activities, menstrual hygiene management, solid waste management, and environment-friendly activities. The adoption of healthy habits at an early age is a crucial step that contributes to children’s healthy development and will influence the norm in society when these children become adults.

Through awareness raising and broadcast on national media, it has become an aspiration for schools well beyond the target province of Banteay Meanchey to transform into Blue Schools. To further support the spread throughout Cambodia, an e-learning platform was developed that makes the Blue School Kit, training videos, quizzes, games and student blogs available to educational professionals and primary school students across the country. The growing adoption and use of mobile applications have the potential to provide any school with innovative ways to adopt green approaches and healthy learning environments. The envisaged 50 new e-learning Blue Schools already have the necessary WASH infrastructure and good school management, making the rollout through only remote support via mobile app and Telegram chat possible. Caritas Switzerland has long expertise in the field of school hygiene and has developed its own training tool for this purpose: CHAST (Children Health and Sanitation Training). It consists of age-appropriate modules that teach children about the impact of hygiene on health and the environment. The program involves teachers, parents, and snack sellers to foster a holistic understanding of hygiene and ecology.