Poor access to water and sanitation: Consequences for girls at a rural school

Inadequate access to water continues to be a serious problem at many South African schools. This Briefing reports the findings of a qualitative study at a rural primary school in KwaZulu-Natal which has no on-site water connections. Methods of data collection included observation, interviews with educators and focus group discussions with grade 7 learners. In addition, learners used an activity clock to plot the different water related activities they were involved in. The Briefing firstly provides an environmental depiction of the school and then explores the consequential water and sanitation related challenges faced by girl learners. Key findings relate to the heavy physical burden of carrying water imposed on girls and not boys, and gender stereotyping resulting from inculcation at a very early age that there are forms of labour appropriate only for females. Further challenges for learners, revealed by the study, related to the needs of girls during menstruation. We conclude that the data derived from the study shows clearly that inadequate access to water is not gender neutral in its consequences. In particular, the data reveals that inadequate access to water and sanitation significantly diminished learning opportunities for girls at the school.