School improvement booklet (english)

SCHOOL
IMPROVEMENT
BOOKLET
A MANUAL FOR COMMUNITIES,
TEACHERS AND EDUCATIONISTS


Government of Pakistan, WFP and UNESCO gratefully acknowledge the support of
USAID Pakistan and consent of UNICEF in reproducing this School Improvement Booklet.


Ensuring high quality education and
addressing the educational and overall development needs of children is
essential for the development of Pakistan. The task is wide ranging and
complex, and needs to build upon
established good practices and understandings, both from Pakistan and
abroad. One of the key contributors to
success has been shown to be the
active participation of communities in
the school improvement process,
working together with government and
teachers to address educational and
overall development needs of children.
Community participation in school
affairs occurs mainly through Parent
Teacher Councils (PTCs), Parent
Teacher Associations (PTAs), or School Management Committees (SMCs),
which have been formed throughout
Pakistan. The members of the PTCs,
PTAs and SMCs parents, teachers
and local community members are

required to develop strategies for
school development and contribute
their time and resources to implementing school improvement plans in an
effort to improve the quality of education received by the children.
This school improvement booklet has
been developed to assist communities
and teachers by providing a practical
and illustrated guide to improvement

of the school environment through
development of strong school community linkages. It has been designed
to assist them to improve the physical
and educational learning environment
in schools, and to make them richer,
healthier and more inclusive places
for effective learning. It has been developed as a supplement to official
school policies and guidelines through
a joint effort by students, teachers,
education authorities.
I would like to congratulate all those
who contributed in preparing this valuable booklet. I have great pleasure in
presenting this selfhelp manual to all
partners who are involved in improving education in Pakistan. I hope that
this booklet will be used to ensure
effective community participation in
school development and improvement
in the achievement of quality education.

JEHANGIR BASHAR
Federal Secretary Education

FOREWORD

FOREWORD


PREFACE

PREFACE – 29 IDEAS TO MAKE OUR
SCHOOL A SUCCESS

This booklet is a collection of ideas and suggestions for the community to improve the
school environment and thus the education of its children. It was originally written in
collaboration between UNICEF and Pro Loka and is then reprinted by UNESCO with
necessary modifications. UNESCO gratefully acknowledges the consent of UNICEF in
reproducing this booklet.

It primarily addresses the SMC/PTA/PTC.
The SMC/PTA/PTC is a group of people
from the community who are elected by
the village to take the responsibility of
managing the school’s affairs. It also
addresses teachers, students and other
community members on the importance of
the school and its environment.
There are many different types of what we
call a ‘school’. There are Primary Schools
for young children, where basic subjects
are taught and where school life for children starts. Therefore, it is especially important to care about the quality of education
at this stage.

In Middle and High Schools, it is essential
to provide sufficient means of education
for a variety of subjects and a big number
of students.
Since many schools have still not been
rebuilt after the earthquake, there are also
big differences in classrooms. Some
classes are taught in tents, some in semipermanent structures and some in permanent buildings.
In every type of school, these ideas apply,
as there is always some way to make a
school safer and more comfortable.
Different areas in a school, where improvement is possible, are discussed. The
booklet is therefore split up in six parts,
which are separated by a colour code.


OVERVIEW

Suggestions for the School Ground

Taking Care of a School Building

These ideas are for all schools. They aim at
the improvement of the school compound
and its buildings.

These ideas are addressed to schools
where some or all classes are taught in
buildings.

Suggestions for the Classroom

Making Teaching Successful

These ideas are for all schools. They aim at
the improvement of the classroom and its
teaching and learning atmosphere.

These ideas are addressed especially to
teachers. They include suggestions for
teaching and activities during school time.

Taking Care of a School Tent

Appendix

These ideas are addressed to schools
where some or all classes are taught in
tents.

The appendix includes helpful material for
school improvement.

Comments by the authors
The book is written in British English.
All non-specified persons mentioned in this book, such as ‘teachers’, ‘SMC PTA/PTC
members’ or ‘students’ are used in a gender-neutral form. Both genders are addressed in all
cases.

SMC/PTA/PTC
taking part

IDEA 1
IDEA 2
IDEA 3
IDEA 4
IDEA 5
IDEA 6
IDEA 7
IDEA 8
IDEA 9
IDEA 10
IDEA 11
IDEA 12
IDEA 13
IDEA 14
IDEA 15
IDEA 16

IDEA 17
IDEA 18
IDEA 19
IDEA 20
IDEA 21
IDEA 22
IDEA 23
IDEA 24
IDEA 25

IDEA 26
IDEA 27
IDEA 28
IDEA 29
RIGHTS


06
08
10
11
13
14
15
16
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
32

34
35
37
38
40
41
42
44
45
46
47
49
51
52
53
55
56
58

CONTENTS
THE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
TAKING PART
MORNING ASSEMBLY
CURRICULUM AIMS
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE SCHOOL GROUND
REUSE OLD MATERIA L
WALLS AND FENCES
THE PLAYGROUND AND WHAT WE DO THERE
PATHS AND STAIRS
LET’S KEEP OUR SCHOOL CLEAN

GROWING FLOWERS
GROWING TREES
WATER TANK AND DRAINS
IMPROVE SANITATION FACILITIES
STREET SIGN
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE CLASSROOM
MAKING A WRITING BOARD
CHARTS
DISPLAY STUDENTS ’ WORK
FURNITURE
CLASSROOM PARTITION
CLASSROOM NUMBERS
SCHOOL BELL
TAKING CARE OF A SCHOOL TENT
TENT INSTALLATION AND REINFORCEMENT
TENT MAINTENANCE
TENT IMPROVEMENT
TAKING CARE OF A SCHOOL BUILDING
PAINTING A MURAL
WINDOWS
MAKING TEACHING SUCCESSFUL – TAKE CARE OF THE CHILDREN’S NEEDS
SCHOOL AS AN ENJOYABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR CHILDREN
TEN ALTERNATIVES TO CORPORAL PUNISHMENT
LOCAL STORIES
ART CLASSES - CREATIVE TEACHING
DIET & NUTRITION
SCHOOL AS A PLACE OF HELP AND RESPECT
TALKING ABOUT THE EARTH QUAKE
APPENDIX
FILL CHARTS

EXCERPTS FROM THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD


THE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
SMC/PTC/PTA

RELATED IDEA 29

As members of the community, we can take part in the improvement of our school by
becoming a member of the SMC/PTA/PTC. By taking this responsibility we can improve
education through this committee. Depending on need, we can take care of the building
and the school ground as well as teaching materials.
There are some guidelines to be followed to maintain an efficient management.

The objectives of an SMC/PTA/PTC
include educational improvement,
involving the community in school issues,
supporting the teacher in any way, using
the school funds where need is at hand
and arranging activities for and with the
children.

The SMC/PTA/PTC is responsible for the
finances of the school and other material,
like furniture. It has to check the building
frequently and take care of the school
compound. It is therefore also very
important that a craftsman is part of the
SMC/PTA/PTC. He will provide expertise
and know which kind of labour to arrange

if something needs fixing.

The committee will meet at least once
every two months. If there is either an
important topic to discuss or an emergency, spontaneous meetings may be organised. All members of the committee have
to attend. These meetings will always be
held in the school itself. In these meetings
the SMC/PTA/PTC has to discuss all
issues that are raised by different
members, according to importance. The
Committee also has to make sure to
decide on a few realistic tasks rather than
on many that won’t be realised.

The SMC/PTA/PTC has its own bank
account, which can be accessed by the
chairperson and the secretary. It will
collect government funds as well as
donations on the account. Government
funds must only be spent on school
maintenance issues. But generally this
money should cover all expenses related
to school improvement. In case of money
shortage, the community should
contribute with small donations.

Members of the SMC/PTA/PTC
1 Chairperson – elected by the Community
1 Secretary – Headmaster
3 Parents – elected by the Community

1 Area personnel/leader – elected by the Community
1 Craftsman – appointed by the Community
In a Girls school, more than 50% of the SMC/PTA/PTC
members have to be women.

6

Agenda of an SMC/PTA/PTC Meeting
Review of the last meeting
What was achieved? And what was not achieved?
Overall view of the educational environment
Preparation of future programme / ideas
School building – school improvement
Finances


SMC/PTA/PTC

Any investment made has to be noted on
a list that will be with the person responsible for the account (either the chairperson
or the secretary). If you require labour for
work in the school, you have to sign a
simple contract, which includes the salary
and the due date. These expenses will be
listed as well and the receipts kept.

In every meeting, the SMC/PTA/PTC
members should bring up their concerns
and ideas. This book is a guideline to
carrying out these improvements easily.

Activity: Acquire finances
Take a small paper or metal box to collect
money for the school. Organise collections in
the bazaar or on Friday after the juma prayer by
talking up the school needs and the money
required. Count the money collected and, if it is
not required immediately, deposit it in the bank.

Main Rules for the SMC PTA/PTC
Document your work!
Take responsibility!
Discuss your issues thoroughly!
Make decisions!
Acquire finances!

7


TAKING PART

TAKING PART

Participation of Children
A comfortable and stimulating school
environment helps to create a positive,
child friendly learning environment. Such
an atmosphere will influence children a lot,
as they will enjoy school. This extra motivation will help them to learn.

Creative Methods
• Role-play: Make groups of five and give
them the topic ‘How my school should be’.
They will have one lesson to prepare their
ideas and will then present them in class.
• Drawings: In one lesson the children can
make drawings of their imaginary school
with all the features they would like it to
have. Like, after a role-play you can
discuss their ideas afterwards.

Also, the process of school improvement
can itself be a great experience; finding a
way to realise ideas is a skill children can
learn and apply in their future. Activities
like how to make a decision as a group,
being creative in different ways, creating
artworks with their own hands, and even
working as a gardener are very valuable.

• Songs and poetry: Let them write songs
or poems about their ‘dream school’, and
discuss these texts afterwards.
Workshops
A workshop is a meeting where all the
children can share ideas and state their
opinions on a topic or proposal. They will
separate into small working groups, where
they discuss their ideas within the group;
then they present their ideas to each other

in the big group and then settle on the
best ideas. To decide which ideas are the
most feasible, you have to make a chart
listing all the ideas. Every student can
make a star for their favourite idea and
those ideas, which have the most stars,
will then be followed up.

In this book you will find many ideas, you
can realise these together with the
children, to make your school a nicer
place. The more you include them in the
work, the more the children will feel
that this is their school and they will be
proud. We call that ‘Participation of
Children’. They will be asked for their
ideas and wishes and they can also work
on solutions themselves.
The ideas in this booklet will always
contain suggestions as to what on a
particular topic you could directly do with
the children. These are activities you find
in the boxes on the bottom. For creative
outcomes you should also try creative
methods in finding and realising ideas.
Children have very diverse ways of
expressing their ideas. Some of them can
express themselves by talking about
something, some of them would not know
what to say, but can do great paintings, or

write a story. You can use these skills to
realise an idea. Some of these ideas on
how to involve children will help you:

Questionnaires
A questionnaire is a written list of questions that you hand out to schoolchildren,
which they will answer. In most cases, an
effective questionnaire asks simple yes/no
or multiple choice questions, and takes no
longer than 15 minutes to complete, for
example:
a) Do you like the school and why?
b) How would you like to improve the
school improvement?
c) What is your favourite activity in the
school?

8


inside of the circles. At the end you will
find the feasible ideas in the middle and
can start working on them. Those ideas
that had to stop in some circle can’t be
realised due to some problem and everyone will understand why.
Participation of the Community
To implement these ideas you need
people to help you, people like a carpenter, who have certain skills or people from
the community who are willing to support
you. The SMC/PTA/PTC will always be the

first address for people in the community.
Therefore you should find a way to include
the community into your realization
process. Organise a small celebration at
the beginning of the school year. Parents
can prepare sweets and food for the
celebration and the children can present
the results of their idea-finding process.
During this celebration you can start
talking to the guests about the ideas and
so integrate them in the process. You can
also invite officials like the DEO or others
from the Education Department or from
NGOs to present them your plans.

The Decision Circle
After you have identified good ideas, you
can move to the next step to decide
whether you are able to realise these
ideas yourself. Draw a big circle on the
floor. Inside this one draw another and
another, until you have more than 5
circles. The first circle can be called ‘Who
can do it?’, the second ‘Do we have the
material/ funds?’, the third ‘Do we have
the time and labour to do this?’. Think
about other questions you have to ask
yourself before you can start with a plan
and write them in the other circles.
Take the ideas written down on paper and

put them in the outermost circle. Those
ideas, for which you find a solution to the
question in the first circle, can move to the
second inner circle. The others have to
stay outside. Do likewise for the other
circles, until some ideas have reached the

Ideas to pass the decision
circle are for example
Let’s keep our School clean
Tent maintenance
Build a water tank
Whenever a question can be
answered with YES the idea
passes on to the next circle.
Ideas in the inner circle are ideas
to be implemented. The final
question is to find a responsible
person.
If the answer is NO, then the idea
stays at an outer circle until the
question can be answered with
YES.

9

TAKING PART

Discovering tours
The children explore the school area in

groups of two to four pupils and look for
places they like most, places they think
are dangerous, places they think they
could have made more beautiful, and so
on. They can then write down their
observations and discuss them in class.


TAKING PART

MORNING ASSEMBLY

In the name of Allah
Most merciful, Most Beneficent

Steps for Morning Assembly
Duration: 25 minutes

With God’s help the schools begin with
morning assembly every day. Thank God
we are Muslims and hence we should lead
our life according to the teachings of
Islam.

1. The meanings of the Aayaits and
teachings of religious people will be
narrated to the children in a simple
language so that they can understand
them better.

In the initial years of its life the child is
under the supervision of its parents and in
a safe environment. If God forbids this is
not the case than the child not only loses
the loving and caring environment of his
home but is also deprived of any initial
education. However, in such cases it is
then our responsibility to make the child
familiar with religious education so that the
child does not fall prey to evil influences.
Children should also know the basic five
principles of Islam, which are Kalamah
Tayyaba, Namaz, Roza, Zakat and Haj.
It is therefore very important to start all our
activities in the school with the morning
assembly. The day should begin with the
morning assembly, when children of all
age groups get religious education to
become familiar with the teachings of
Islam and our Prophet PBUH and lead a
life in the light of Quran and Hadiths.

2.Teachers and children should observe
good hygiene.
3. Under the supervision of the teachers
and the headmaster, the children will
attend morning assembly and they will be
given light exercises.
4. Teachers and the entire staff will attend
the morning assembly.

5. Children should stand class wise.
6. If more space is available the children
will be divided into two groups from class
one to five and class six to ten.
7. The morning assembly will start with the
recitation of the Holy Quran.
8. For the recitation of the Holy Quran,
there is no age limit for teachers or
children.

The Government has suggested special
activities and topics for morning assembly,
which you will find on the following pages.
We hope to improve these further with
your support.

9. After the recitation, there will be Naat.
Urdu, Persian and Arabic language for the
Naat are preferred. After the Naat, teachings from the lives of the Holy Prophet and
humanitarian values will be highlighted so
that children learn from them.

10


CURRICULUM AIMS
AIMS

10. The Pakistani flag will be hoisted and
then all will sing the National Anthem with

respect.

CURRICULUM AIMS

11. The entire proceedings of the morning
assembly will be carried out with utmost
respect.

• Seekers of truth and knowledge, who
can apply both for the progress of
society:

12. The teachers will be placed according
to the space available so that they can
supervise and keep an eye on every child.

• Creative, constructive, communicative
and reflective individuals;

To educate Pakistanis to be:

• Disciplined, productive, moderate and
enlightened citizens;

13. There will be special awards for
cleanliness of classes and there will be
competition among the classes on special
days.

• Capable of effectively participating in the

highly competitive global, knowledge
based economy and the information age;
citizens committed to creating a just civil
society that respects diversity of views,
beliefs and faiths.

14. At the end of the assembly slogans will
be raised.

11


12


SUGGESTIONS FOR THE SCHOOL GROUND

Every school, whether it is in a tent or
in a building, whether it is a Primary,
Middle or High School, has an outdoor
area around its classrooms. This area
includes the garden and the
playground.
These are the parts the teachers, the
students and the visitors who come to
the school see first: they form the first
impression of the school. The
community has to put some effort into
making the ground safe and beautiful.
A nice school ground will be

stimulating and everyone
will be proud of the school.
The following pages are full of ideas for
the outside areas of the school.

13


REUSE OLD MATERIAL
RELATED IDEAS 2, 4, 14, 25

IDEA 1

On most school sites there are remnants of the old, collapsed building, like stones, old
concrete, wood and metal pieces. As we want our new school to look beautiful, we will
have to do something about it. Together we can have a look at the rubble to decide if or
how we can reuse it in the future.

Some of this material can be reused in the
new school. Old wood can either be used
in the structure of the school building or a
local carpenter can make new furniture
out of it. You can easily repair broken
furniture. Use the old stones lying around
to make walls, stairs or a pit.

Some of this material is dangerous; you
have to remove it (make sure only adults
remove the dangerous material). Old
metal and glass pieces have to be cleared

and any holes must be filled.
Some of this material is of no further use.
You can bury this debris. Look for an
appropriate area close to the school. With
the help of people from the community,
you can dig holes and dump the old
material into them. Afterwards, you can
cover the holes with soil again.

Activity for the community
Think about ways to make the school compound
more beautiful and safer as well. Use the stones
from the old building to build paths that are
linking the classrooms and are leading to the
school ground. To mark the school ground, use
the stones to erect a wall or take the old wood for
a fence. Together with a trained carpenter you
can also use the old wood, save money and
make new furniture from it.

Activity for children
After the dangerous rubble is removed, the
school children can look through the old material
and find ways to reuse it again. Buy some paint
from the bazaar and paint old stones and wood.
These artworks can be displayed in the school
ground.

14

IDEA 2

WALLS AND FENCES
RELATED IDEAS 1, 3, 4, 25
We can improve our school compound by building walls and erecting fences. Walls and
fences are very important when the area around the compound is not safe for children. We
can erect small walls to determine the borders of the school compound and to make it
more beautiful.

You have to make sure that dangerous
areas around the school are made safe.
Depending on the material available, you
should make a wall or a fence. Use the
stones from the old building or from
around the school to erect a wall. Make
sure that it is stable and can’t fall over
when children sit on it. To make it more
solid you could also make a stone wall
with concrete. You can use old wooden
planks lying around on the school site to

make a fence. If there is no material left
from the old school building, people from
the community will donate material. With
money from the SMC/PTA/PTC account
you can purchase some paint from the
bazaar and paint the walls and fences in a
colourful way.

Activity
The community should sit together and decide who will
provide the necessary material and who will provide
the skilled labour. This way you will be able to make
the walls yourself very quickly. Take some paint and
brushes from the bazaar and colour the stones
together with the students. Always stay with the
children while they are painting, as the colour is often
toxic and must not be inflamed or swallowed.

15

Material
For this idea you can mainly use old material from
the school site, or, if that is not available, from
the community. Stones and wood, you will find
anywhere. Get paint and brushes from the bazaar
to make your school ground beautiful.


THE PLAYGROUND
AND WHAT
WE DO THERE
RELATED IDEAS 24, 25

IDEA 3

The school ground needs basic facilities
like walls, pathways, a water supply and
garbage bins. They guarantee that the

ground is safe and provide a good environment for the school and the children who
come here every day.
After these basic needs are met and the
most necessary facilities are provided, we
can work on the playground. It is very
necessary for the children’s health to
spend time outside and get exercise.

When you start working on a playground,
you should remember that the most
important thing for the children will be the
free space. The children will invent the
best games themselves and often they do
not need more than the school compound.

While providing school ground equipment,
sports and recreational material, you have
to consider the age of the children as well
as safety issues. For a Primary School, you
can build a seesaw and hang a swing on a
tree or a metal frame. From polished
wooden boards or metal sheets, you can
also build a slide. If the children are a little
older you can provide them with exercise
bars. This is a structure of a couple of wood
or metal bars, which the children can climb.

Tournaments
The children can establish teams for different
sports and together you can organise local

tournaments with neighbouring schools. This will
give everybody motivation to train better and
will also connect different schools and their
children.

Game Periods
Give appropriate space in the time table to game
periods. The children need this time to be
concentrated again in other lessons and moving
around is very essential for their health. On the
other side you shouldn’t give too much free
time. They also have to learn to be disciplined.

16


IDEA 3

Somewhere, in the shade of a tree, there
should be an area where the children can
sit down, chat, eat their lunch or do some
studying. It should be an area where those
who do not want to run around can relax.
Some benches and a table can be enough
space, depending on the size of the
school.

games. There are many local games,
which they should be able to pass on as
the national heritage. During the free time

you can also teach gardening to interested
students.
For older students there can be an area
where they will place their wickets and
play cricket or football. If they like volleyball and there is enough space around the
school, you may also put up a net and
make a court for them.

Sit together with the children in the school
ground and talk with them about traditional

Build a seesaw and a swing
For the swing you need an old tyre, which you can get
for free from the bazaar, and a rope. Fix the rope on
the tyre and to a strong branch of a tree.
For the seesaw, ask a local carpenter to help you
prepare the long wooden board and joint in the
middle. Make sure that the equipment is safe!

Build a slide
Take a polished wooden board or metal sheets and
put them on a slope so that children can easily
access the top and slide down. Fix the board well
and ensure to have enough free space at the
bottom of the board, so you do not hurt yourself
when you land.

17

IDEA 4

PATHS AND STAIRS
RELATED IDEAS 2,

8, 25

During the monsoons and in winter it is often very difficult to access the school ground.
School buildings away from the road and on mountain slopes are especially hard to reach.
With little material, we can make proper paths to the schools and between the school
buildings. Paths leading to the schools have to be safe but they also make the environment more beautiful.

The community should decide where to
build paths and how to make them safe for
the children. You can align the path by
using stones from the area. To make sure
that the paths are not always washed
away, you should build water drains. Using
a pick and a shovel you can make small

trenches that will collect the rainwater and
it won’t do any damage. With some fine
crush you can cover the paths in the end.
You can use long and flat stones as steps.
With a shovel you prepare the ground to
fix the stones well.

Activity
Paint the stones colourful, using normal paint from a
bigger bazaar. You can also do this with students but

teachers or people from the community should
always accompany them as the paint should not go
on the skin and is mostly inflammable.

Material
Stones and crush from the area or the old school
buildings Shovel and other tools Paint and brushes
from the bazaar

18


IDEA 5

LET’S KEEP OUR SCHOOL CLEAN
RELATED IDEAS 8, 9
With the help of everyone we can make sure that our school will be tidy and beautiful for a
very long time. It will take only a little bit of time and motivation to improve the learning
atmosphere of the students and also our environment. Teaching our children how to care
of their environment and how to keep it clean will raise their awareness and will later make
a big difference to their areas and its people.
Take small bins (you can make them
yourself!) and put them up in the school
compound and the classrooms. Take care
that the outside bins are fixed, otherwise
they will get washed away in rains. Make
the children understand that it is very
important to put all the waste in these
bins. Not only will then the school be clean
but it will make a big difference to hygiene.

A little bit away from the compound you
can dig holes (check with the owner of the
land) and collect the waste. Always cover
these holes properly with wooden or
plastic materials so animals can‘t get in

and the smell doesn‘t affect the surrounding area. When the garbage bins are full,
you can dispose of the waste in these
pits.When the pit is full you can burn the
waste and cover the remnants with soil
properly.
Make sure that the school is cleaned
regularly (dusting and sweeping). Decide
within the community who will care for that
and how this person will be rewarded for
the work.

Activity
Appoint different students to empty the garbage bins
into the pit. You can also make cleaning days where
everyone is engaged in cleaning the classrooms and the
outside area. As soon as the pit is full, someone from
the community should burn the garbage in a controlled
way and cover it up afterwards.

19

Awareness
We have to learn to take care for our environment.
A first step is to identify garbage. Keep your eyes

open in the bazaar and on the streets and look for
plastic bags, bottles, etc. lying around. Then raise
awareness amongst your friends and the
community and explain them where to put garbage
and especially where not!


IDEA 6

GROWING FLOWERS
RELATED IDEAS 2, 7, 8, 26
During school hours, the children spend a lot of time outside their classrooms: in the
morning, during breaks and at lunchtime. The school ground is used for games as well as
for sitting outside and studying. If we make the ground more beautiful, studying outside
will be even more exciting.
Dedicate two lessons every week to
making the school ground more beautiful,
and soon you will have a much more
comfortable school environment.
Sit together in the village community and
decide how the school ground should look
in the future, by making paintings and
small sketches. Quickly, you will have a
good plan and you can decide who will do
which part of the work.

close to the school wall, where it is warm,
they will grow faster. Teachers or the
parents should explain the characters of
different plants, and when it is best to

plant the different vegetables. If there is
space in the school ground you can also
arrange a small kitchen garden with a
variety of flowers and vegetables.

One idea is to plant flowers and vegetables. With old oil cans from the bazaar you
can make flowerpots. They are filled with
soil where you put the seeds. If you put
the cans with vegetables (tomatoes, etc.)

Material
Shovels and garden tools
Flower seeds
Vegetable seeds
Oil cans

You can use the plants you grow in the
garden for your science lessons as well.
Take a close look at leaves and flowers or
at vegetables and fruits and you will find
out how they grow.

Activity
Colour the flowerpots and give them names. Appoint one
student for each pot to water the plant and take care of it.
Do not forget to water the plants regularly with rainwater,
especially in the dry season. To make sure that the goats
or cows do not eat your plants you can make a fence or
small wall around them.

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IDEA 7

GROWING TREES
RELATED IDEAS 2, 4, 6, 8, 26

Trees provide shade to protect us from the hot summer sun. Trees produce oxygen to
improve the quality of the air we breathe. Additionally, they guarantee a stable soil to
protect us from landslides. Some trees even provide us with delicious fruits. Trees
therefore stand for a healthy and safe environment. We can identify trees in our school
environment and together with the teacher discuss their names and properties. Then we
can decide where to plant new ones for shade, soil and good air.
To plant trees, you first have to find tree
seedlings. Ask your teacher which sorts of
trees are suitable and then go to the
bazaar and get the seedlings. You can
either get them for free for your school or
you can ask members of the School
Management Committee (SMC/PTA/PTC)
to help you.

Ask within the community for the
necessary shovels and garden tools to dig
holes. Find a good place in or around the
school compound where a tree can grow,
is protected and provides good shade. Dig
a small hole and plant the seedling. You
should appoint a patron for each tree

planted, who is responsible for caring for
the tree, to water and protect it.

Material
Tree seedlings
Shovels
Garden tools
Bricks or wooden sticks

Activity
You can build a protection wall with wooden sticks,
branches or with bricks around the tree. This way, the
small trees are protected from being run over
accidentally by animals or other students.

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IDEA 8

WATER TANK AND DRAINS
RELATED IDEAS 5, 6, 7, 9
We can use the rainwater for many different purposes. We can water the plants in the
schoolyard, clean the school ground and use water for the washrooms. By installing water
drains on the roofs of the school building, we can even collect a big amount of water and
don’t have to carry it from somewhere else.
Skilled labour in the community will be
able to make U-shaped drains from metal
sheets, which you can fix on the roof.
Each drain has to be solid enough to

withstand the snow and heavy loads of
water. The pipe should end at a tank
where the water is collected. Cover the
tank with a strong layer of plastic. Fix it

tightly on the tank and make small holes
with a needle into it. This will be enough to
keep the water clean for the use in the
washroom and for plants. For drinking
water, you need to have a spring
somewhere close to the school or install
small water tanks, which you refill each
day.

Activity
Make water drains around the school buildings
and along the compound together with the
children during gardening lessons. If there are
heavy rains, the school compound won’t be
flooded. Take a shovel and a pick and dig small
trenches. If there is a river close by you can lead
the water there.

Awareness
As a teacher you have to teach the children about
hygiene. Tell them about the importance of washing
their hands with soap and about the transmission of
diseases caused by not taking care of hygiene.

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IDEA 9

IMPROVE SANITATION FACILITIES
RELATED IDEAS 8

Every school needs washrooms according to the number of students. For less than 50
students there should be one washroom, for less than 100 there should be two and for
150 there should be three. For High Schools, there should be at least four washrooms.
Inside or close to the washrooms there has to be a water pipe.

The most important part of the washroom
is the pit. It has to be constructed to clean
the sewage and preserve the soil from
contamination. The most effective way is
to build a dry-stonemasonry, which only
needs a big hole, stones, sand, crush, iron
rods and cement. The circular hole has to
be eight to ten feet deep with a diameter
of three feet. Inside the hole there will be a

stonewall erected from the bottom to the
very top. The bottom of the hole has to be
covered with a little bit of crush, this will be
the filter. The top two feet of the wall will
be covered with plaster. The pit will be
covered with a concrete slab that is
strengthened with iron rods. Training and
material for school sanitation and hygiene

education can be requested from UNICEF
/ UNESCO.

Activity
To build the pit you should ask a stone mason or
experienced people from the community to help. It will
take several days to dig the hole, make the stonewall
and the washroom cabins. There are different ways to
do it – discuss with the stone mason which one is the
most suitable in your case.

Activity
Someone should take care that the toilets are clean
all the time. Make sure that there is always water
available for the washrooms. If there is no water
pipe close by you can use rainwater from a tank
with a simple filter on top.

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