Page 1 of 6
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 02 Issue 5
May 2016
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 49
An Assessment of Toilet Facilities in Selected Secondary
Schools in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria.
Temola Olayemi Thomas1 & Afolayan Taiwo Samuel2
1
Department of Urban and Regional Planning Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, P.M.B.1019, Owo, Ondo State
2Department of Surveying and Geoinformatics Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, P.M.B.1019, Owo, On do State,
Nigeria
Olayemi.Temola@Gmail.Com
Abstract
Toilet facilities among many other facilities oug
ht to be present in schools to promote hygiene a
nd meet the physical and emotional needs of me
mbers of staff and students. This research theref
ore assess the toilet facilities in public secondar
y schools in Nigeria. Case study of Owo, Ondo S
tate. Data obtained and analysed shows that 60
% of toilet facilities in the schools are not good
and substandard.This in view of the risks associ
ated with poor sanitary conditions necessitate th
e call on the government and private individuals
to do more to safeguard the health and overall
wellbeing of staff and students
Introduction
Sanitary facilities for academic activities need t
o be put in place to provide an optimal sanitary e
nvironment which is safe and conducive for lear
ning as well as physical, mental and emotional w
ell-being of the student in order to achieve maxi
mum benefits from educational programmes. (Jo
shua 2004 and Vernon 2003). Human excreta w
hich form an important cause of environmental p
ollution need to be properly disposed through m
odern methods that are socially and culturally ac
ceptable to the people. (UNICEF 2009, Dworsky
2007).Apart from availability, the facilities shou
ld proportionally meet the demand of the populat
ion of both students and members of staff in suc
h institutions.
A visit to most schools, especially publi
c school, would reveal serious concern about the
school environment where students learn, some
of which lack or are characterized by inadequate
toilet facilities (Weidner 2009, Weiler etal 2003
, UN-water decade programme 2007). Provision
of toilet facilities is considered a privilege rather
than a necessity by most school authorities, whi
ch may affect school programmes failing in their
roles to address health issues of the students but
rather concentrating on the academic pursuits of
these students. Inadequate or lack of toilet facili
ties has its health implications, some of these ma
y be bacteria, viral and parasitic in origin such as
typhoid and paratyphoid fever, dysenteries, diar
rhea, cholera, hookworm, viral hepatitis, schistos
omiasis, guinea worm diseases, genito-urinary tr
act infections and a host of other intestinal and p
arasitic infections. The financial burden of disea
ses due to poor toilet facilities may be large for t
he individual, parents and the nation as a whole i
n terms of cost of ill health, investigations and tr
eatment.
Statement of Problem
The space to learn is one of the basic elements n
ecessary to ensure access to education; in our so
ciety today, most of our school facilities are dete
riorating and are not conducive for learning Olan
iyonu (2006). Since school environment is one o
f the basic and important elements in the process
of learning, the intention is to look at the proble
m encountered by schools in making effective ut
ilization of various components of toilet facilitie
s in public secondary schools.
literature review
This research is about toilet facilities in public se
condary schools in Owo, Ondo State, South Wes
t Nigeria and it will be conducted in the twelve (
12) secondary schools in Owo. A public toilet (a
Page 2 of 6
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 02 Issue 5
May 2016
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 50
lso called rest room, bathroom, latrine, comfort r
oom, powder room, wash room, public lavatory,
convenience) is a room or small building contain
ing one or more toilet and possibly also urinal w
hich is available for use by the general public, or
in broader meaning of “public”, by customers o
r other services. Public toilets are commonly sep
arated by gender into male and female facilities,
although some can be unisex, particularly the sm
aller and single occupancy types. Increasingly, p
ublic toilet incorporate accessible toilet and feat
ures to cater for people with disabilities. Public t
oilets may be unattended or be staffed by a janit
or (possibly with a separate room), or attendant,
provided by the local authority or the owner of t
he large building. In many cultures, it is customa
ry to tip the attendant, while other public toilet
may charge a small fee for entrance, sometimes t
hrough the use of a coin operated turnstile.
Types of Toilet and Sewage Facilities
The following are types of toilet facilities;
1. Toilets flushed with water and connected to a
public sewer
2. Toilets flushed with water and connected with
a septic tank and leaching syste
m.
3. Privy type, including pit privy trench latrine a
nd bored latrine
Location Of Toilet Facilities
No septic tank, leaching system or privy shall be
located within a horizontal distance of three hun
dred(300) feet of any river, creek, pond, reservoi
r stream, well, spring or body of fresh water or
within a horizontal distance of five(5) feet of the
boundary line of any lot or located in position n
ot easily accessible for emptying or cleaning. No
septic tank or leaching system shall be construct
ed, located or maintained within a horizontal dist
ance of twenty (20) feet of any dwelling, school,
public building or a building used for commerci
al or industrial purposes or as a place of assembl
y.
Nigerian System of Toilet Facilities
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
reported that 33 million Nigerians have no acces
s to decent toilets while more than 45 million def
ecated in the open. Lack of adequate toilet facilit
ies and indiscriminate disposal of faeces pose gr
eat danger to public health; in fact, lack of acces
s to toilet is quite literally killing children, makin
g adult sick and slowing developmental progress
day after day.
A document released by the Federal Minist
ry of Health reveals that between September and
October 2012 there were 2,771 cases of cholera
with 124 deaths recorded and stressed that the is
sues of inadequate toilet facilities needed to be a
ddressed to reduce the disease burden in Nigeria.
Table 1 Showing Information About The Selected Schools.
NAME OF SCHOOL LOCATION POPULATION
Imade college Oke-ogun, owo 2,200
Owo High School Opposite FMC, Owo 2,184
Adeyeri Iyere comp. High school Iyere, Owo 2,168
St. Catherine Girls Grammar School Oke- Ogun, Owo 1,913
St. Louis Girls Grammar school Oke-Ogun, owo 1780
Amunye CAC High School Idashen, Owo 1,780
Ijebu Community Grammar School Ijebu, Owo 1,520
St. John’s unity Secondary school Ijebu, Owo 1,522
Methodist High School Oke-Ogun, Owo 1,350
New Church Grammar School Iselu, Owo 1,161
Ahmadiya Grammar School Iselu, Owo 1,223
Page 3 of 6
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 02 Issue 5
May 2016
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 51
AUD Community High School Otapete, Owo 856
Sample Frame/Size
The population for the study consists of
all the students in the public secondary schools i
n Owo Township which is 19,657 out of which a
sample of 0.5% will be taken. Due to the variati
on in the population of each of the schools, the f
ollowing samples will be taken from each school
: Imade College 11 students, Owo high school 1
1 students, Adeyeri Iyere Comprehensive High S
chool 11 Students, St. Catherine Girls S
chool 10 students, St Louis Girls Grammar scho
ol 9 students, Amunye CAC High School 9 stud
ents, Ijebu Community Grammar school 8 stude
nts, St. John’s Unity Secondary School 8 student
s, Methodist High School 7 students, New Churc
h Grammar School 6 Students, Ahmadiya Gram
mar school 6 students, AUD Community School
4 students.
Table 2: The Assessment of Toilet Facilities in the Study Area.
Name of school Number of t
oilet for fem
ale student
Number of t
oilet for mal
e student
Total numb
er of toilet f
or student
No of to
ilet for
male sta
ff
No of toil
et for fem
ale staff
Total numb
er of toilet f
or staff
Imade college - 6 6 2 4 6
Owo high school 5 5 10 2 2 4
Adeyeri comprehensive h
igh school
4 4 8 2 2 4
St Catherine high school 12 - 12 2 2 4
St Louis girls grammar sc
hool
12 - 12 2 2 4
Amunye C.A.C grammar
school
3 3 6 1 2 3
Ijebu community gramma
r school
2 2 4 2 2 4
St John Unity secondary s
chool
5 5 10 2 2 4
Methodist high school 5 5 10 3 5 8
New church grammar sch
ool
4 6 10 1 2 3
Ahmadia Grammar schoo
l
2 2 4 2 2 4
AUD community high sc
hool
2 2 4 1 1 2
Source: Field survey, 2013.
TABLE 3 SHOWING THE VOLUME OF WATER AVAILABLE IN THE SCHOOLS PER
MONTH
Volume in litres Frequency Percentage
Less than 1000 50 50
1001 – 2000 20 20
2001 – 3000 10 10
More than 3000 20 20
Total 100 100
