An investigation of the driving factors affecting children’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) behaviours in East New Delhi primary schools

Abstract

Sustainable Development Goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) addresses gaps that persist in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) access worldwide, particularly affecting poor communities’ opportunity to live healthy, hygienic lives. According to the ‘Capability, Opportunity, Motivation Behaviour Model’, these three domains must be addressed for WASH interventions to achieve sustained adoption of targeted behaviours. Numerous factors pertaining to these three domains enable or obstruct East New Delhi primary school children’s WASH behaviours and therefore progress towards SDG 6. This thesis investigates these driving factors, analysing mixed methods data gathered in three government schools and one low-fee private (LFP) school, as well as in the communities surrounding them. The main findings indicate that: - Children attending the LFP school practise positive WASH behaviours more frequently than government school children and have access to superior school WASH provision. Children at schools with higher-quality WASH facilities are more likely to practise positive WASH behaviours. - School principals face challenges in providing adequate school WASH facilities and ensuring that children have the capability, opportunity and motivation to practise positive WASH behaviours. These include insufficient funding, teachers’ obligatory non-school commitments, unexplained teacher absenteeism and a high turnover of students. Schools-based WASH interventions can mitigate these, particularly by motivating school staff. - Socio-economic status affects children’s opportunity to adopt positive WASH behaviours. Children from lower-income backgrounds practise positive WASH behaviours less often. Schools-based WASH interventions could mitigate this through outreach to parents and children transferring learning into the household. These findings reveal the driving factors affecting children’s capability, opportunity and motivation to practise positive WASH behaviours in East New Delhi primary schools. Secondly, they highlight action which could be taken to support children’s sustained adoption of these behaviours, securing progress towards SDG 6 for the next generation