School Health Committees (SHCs) in the Adaklu-Anyigbe District, on Wednesday called for the introduction of hygiene as a co-curricular activity in basic schools.
This they explained would facilitate cleanliness among students and sanitation in schools and communities in general.
The suggestion was made at the end of a three-day training workshop organized by the Ghana Education Service to sharpen the skills of the SHC in the District.
The workshop was sponsored by Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).
The Committees expressed worry about poor sanitation in schools in the country and its negative effects on quality teaching and learning.
They observed that many basic schools were either without toilets or with toilets that compromised good sanitation.
The Committees also expressed worry at poor hygiene among food vendors and unhealthy environment in which food was sold to the pupils resulting in frequent outbreak of diseases in the schools and communities.
They, therefore, called on environmental health officers to intensify their monitoring and supervision exercises in schools to ensure good sanitation.
Ms Valeria Akuffo, Adaklu-Anyigbe District School Health Education Programme Coordinator, urged schools that were without toilets to initiate action plans to build latrines and connect water to the schools with the help of their communities.
She said that way the school environments would become safe and conducive to learning.
Ms Akuffo urged participants to ensure the sustainability of school health facilities in their various schools and not to compromise good sanitation in their schools.