Kemendikbudristek: 3.1 Million Students Have Not Enjoyed Clean Water Facilities In Schools

Screenshot of the Director General of Early Childhood Education, Basic Education, and Secondary Education of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Iwan Syahril (DOK ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) stated that as many as 3.1 million students in Indonesia do not yet have clean water sources in their schools. "There are currently 3.1 million Indonesian children who do not have clean water sources in their schools," said Director General of Early Childhood Education, Basic Education, and Secondary Education of the Ministry of Education and Culture Iwan Syahril in launching the 2024-2030 School Sanitation Roadmap in Jakarta, Antara, Monday, February 26. In addition, Iwan said, there are 8.9 million Indonesian children who do not yet have access to adequate sanitation facilities and only three of the four education units at all levels have hand washing facilities with running water and soap. Whereas the health of students both in terms of body and soul will greatly affect the improvement of the quality of Indonesian education. So far, the Ministry of Education and Culture has encouraged educational units to improve the health quality of students through the healthy school movement (GSS) which focuses on five aspects, namely healthy, nutritious, healthy, immunized, physically healthy, mentally healthy, and environmentally healthy. Regarding environmental health, the Ministry of Education and Culture urges educational units to realize changes in clean and healthy living behavior (PHBS) including good sanitation availability. The school's sanitation access includes fulfilling adequate and sufficient clean water, access to basic sanitation in the form of separate latrines in good condition and can be used, as well as hand washing facilities equipped with soap and running water. Several studies at the global level show the availability of adequate school sanitation has an impact on indicators in the health sector, education, gender equality, and economy. To support this effort, the Ministry of Education and Culture provides a Special Allocation Fund (DAK) for Physical Education in the form of making new toilets and rehabilitating toilets. However, Iwan invited local governments (Pemda) to pay attention to school sanitation, including using the regional revenue and expenditure budget (APBD).

Meanwhile, the education unit, namely the principal, is expected to prioritize the budget for school sanitation operations and treatments. “ We are sure that with all of us working together, this hope will be achieved. The cooperation of all parties will be able to create healthy schools in Indonesia, ” said Iwan.