Parents have been advised to make Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities their first point of call in schools before seeking admission for their children.

Mr Kofi Nyiaye, the Proprietor of Bloomfield Academy, who gave the advice, said this must be very high on parents’ agenda for the safety of children to prevent them from infectious diseases as far as open defecation was concerned.

Mr Nyiaye was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at an event organised by the World Vision Ghana to award pupils of the Cartoon Competition on open defecation.

The competition aims to change the mindset of the young ones and educate them on the dangers of open defecation.

He said parents most often thought that beautiful school edifices with high school fees guaranteed good sanitation but that was often not the case and urged them to rather inspect the toilet facilities of the school before enrolling their children.

Mr Attah Arhin, the WASH Technical Coordinator of World Vision, commended the pupils for participating in the competition.

He said children were agents of change, hence bringing them on board to assist in solving the sanitation challenge was an important step.

He said government must put in stringent measures to address open defecation to enhance Ghana’s chances of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals on sanitation.

The competition awarded 36 children across the country with cash prizes, branded exercise books and notepads, water and sanitation guide, and pens.