HOW DOES THE SANITARY CONDITION OF SCHOOLS AFFECT THE WELL-BEING OF STUDENTS?

Education is an element of a child’s improvement, providing him with a brighter destiny and greater understanding. School is one of the first steps to a higher lifestyle. This is why children need to go to school. However, not all schools have excellent sanitary conditions. This is one of the few pressing problems that determine the general well-being of faculty students. Clean and safe school toilets mean teenagers no longer have to choose between being in class - distracted and uncomfortable - or skipping classes and college altogether. About eighty percent of faculty teachers and school nurses recognized a hyperlink between reluctance to use poor toilets and students' poor physical fitness (Domestos, n.d.). Almost a fifth (18%) of children report feeling "sick" and more than 1 in 10 (12%) have trouble concentrating on grandeur because they can "restrain themselves" from using dirty and poorly maintained faculty facilities (Unilever , 2021). Every 12 months, more than two million children in this sector die from diarrhea, all because safe water sources are provided in schools (Amoran OE, 2017). As we will see, this problem affects the physical and mental health of young people.

The situation is similar all over the world. Millions of schoolchildren around the world face this every school day, because every third school in the world still does not have a proper toilet. This is 620 million children who do not have access to the most basic needs (Domestos, n.d.). This problem arises due to the uneven distribution of the state budget. For example, funds for the work of NIS partially come from the republican budget: 12.4 billion tenge were allocated in 2022. At the same time, expenses for 7,550 secondary schools amounted to 1.2 trillion tenge. Although the total amount of funds allocated to regular schools appears to be more significant, the situation changes when converted to a single school. In Kazakhstan, according to the Bureau of National Statistics for the 2021/2022 academic year, there are 7,550 schools, and NIS - only 21 (Baktiyaruly, 2022). Therefore, this problem does not exist in NIS schools.

The purpose of this observation is to investigate the impact of sanitation in public faculties on student well-being and to identify opportunities for improvement. Previous research supports the importance of a clean and safe school environment for student health and academic success (Smith, 2018). For example, poor hygiene can cause the spread of infections and diseases that can affect large numbers of people, thereby making the problem global. To conduct an in-depth study, it is very important to obtain feedback from teachers, students and management of the NIS, since they may be the main organization of the population affected by sanitation problems. Mixed methods of collecting information, such as quantitative and qualitative statistics, began to be used to observe behavior. I chose interviews and statements as my number one source. Interviews were conducted with college students, teachers and school principals, and comments helped to see the sanitary situation in the faculty premises. The interviews were conducted using standardized questions about the perception of sanitation in the faculty and its impact on the well-being of students, answering the question “How does unsanitary school toilets affect the overall well-being of students?”, the students’ answers clearly showed that this problem exists, it is relevant and it needs to be solved . Almost a fifth (18%) of children report “discomfort” and more than 1 in 10 (12%) have difficulty concentrating in class as they “restrain themselves” from using dirty and poorly maintained school facilities (Unilever, 2021) . Our results are similar to these results. 25% of respondents thought the same.

In this way, the current scenario in schools can be significantly advanced. 7/8 respondents warned against such development strategies. They also proposed increasing investment in the area. Maintaining cleanliness and hygiene in school toilets is not just a measure to preserve the health of students, but also an investment in their education and destiny. Addressing the problem of unsanitary bathrooms should be a priority for college administrators, parents, government agencies, and the general public.