The Department of Education (DepEd) Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, is scaling-up a WASH in Schools (WinS) monitoring and accreditation system in Maguindanao. The Office of the Regional Secretary of DepEd ARMM released the Regional Memorandum Number 191 Series 2016 calling all schools in Maguindanao I and II to conduct WinS monitoring alongside with the EBEIS data collection. Based on the Three Star Approach, the new school-based monitoring and accreditation system encourages schools to adopt a stepwise approach in meeting national WASH standards.

Using a mobile application, Open Data Kit (ODK), schools could easily assess their performance by answering a survey and get immediate feedback regarding their Star status. The recommendations will serve as outline for the action plans to be done in order to achieve the national standards for WASH in schools while considering the current resources and conditions in ARMM. By doing so, the schools would be given corresponding recognition and incentives based on their accomplishments.

This monitoring system will not only track the development each school undertakes, but it will also ensure the continuity of activities that have already been started. Furthermore, the cooperation between schools will be strengthened as they learn from the difficulties and successes they experienced in the implementation of handwashing, toothbrushing and deworming.

Find out more about the DepEd ARMM experience on WinS monitoring from this presentation.