Online training programme on Safe Water, Sanitation and Health for all during and post COVID-19

School of Water and Waste launched its first online course on ‘Safe Water, Sanitation and Health for all during and post COVID-19' from 28^th October to 30^th November, 2020.  

This online course aimed to create change-agents who will have basic understanding about the concepts and principles of various tools and approaches such as Water Safety Planning, Sanitation Safety Planning, Shit Flow Diagram, Citywide Sanitation etc. in order to ensure safe water and efficient management of sanitation services. This one month long course required 24 total study hours which is 6 hours per week of commitment.

This course was attended by 65+ participants mainly from India, South Africa, Bangladesh, Kenya and France hailing from reputed government, non-government, private organizations such as WaterAid Bangladesh, Rural Water Supply Departments, PHED, TERI SAS, TISS, KPMG, NMCG, SUDA, Jamia Milia Islamia etc.

This online course was divided in 4 modules spread over four weeks. Material was uploaded weekly on the online course platform for the participants. Methodology of the course included active learning of 14 hours and essential reading of 10 hours. It comprised presentations, quizzes and short assessments, case studies and exercises, photo essays, seminars and webinars, documentaries, online discussions on the forum and online interactions with experts at CSE.  

In the first week the participants were exposed to the linkage between water, sanitation and health: current and future challenges focusing on understanding the current water, sanitation and hygiene scenario, sustainable development goals and the public health linkages with water and sanitation.

In the second week participants were introduced to Tools and approaches for better water and sanitation planning and progress. This module acquainted them to the various tools and approaches which help in planning for a better water and sanitation services supported by successfully implemented case examples. This module provided an exposure to various tools such as Shit Flow Diagram, Water Safety Plan, Sanitation Safety Plan, SaniPath and approaches such as Citywide Sanitation (CWIS) and City Sanitation Plan (CSP).  

Third week of the course started with the understanding of Water and sanitation safety planning which is a risk based approach to protect public health. In this module participants had an understanding about the Sanitation safety planning, Water safety planning, their salient features and comparison, their integration as WSSP, its application in urban/rural context and various steps to prepare a WSSP.

In the last module the enabling environment for improved water and sanitation for all was discussed to understand the factors and the context in which service delivery takes place from national down to household level. These included Policy and legislation, financing, monitoring & review, institutions, planning, regulation and accountability and learning and adaptation.

The course assessment was done through the assessments after each module and a final assignment at the end of the course. The course participants were very enthusiastic and actively participating through discussion forum on the online platform. This course was successfully completed with the positive feedbacks from the participants.