Provision of sustainable school WASH facilities is critical for the health and well-being of school children in Ghana. The guide provides the key stakeholders at all levels and the roles and their responsibilities from the planning stage, through selection of feasible WASH options, design, construction as well as the operation and maintenance of the facilities provided to ensure long term sustainability. This falls in line with the School Health Education Programme (SHEP) of the Ghana Education Service (GES).

Well-designed WASH facilities do not necessarily guarantee that the facilities will be actually used or if they would be used properly. It does not also guarantee that the facilities will be well maintained in a hygienic and sustainable manner so that it will last up to its design life and the health and social well-being of school children will be achieved. In an assessment carried out in public schools in Ghana as part of the preparation of this guide, over 70% of schools with toilets visited, problems were identified in the management and the operation and maintenance of the facilities.

The purpose of this guide is to identify stakeholders and define their responsibilities to ensure the sustainable and healthy use of school WASH facilities for the benefit of school children in Ghana.