Toilets Making the Grade in Pakistan

In 2022, the second round of the Toilets Making the Grade (TMG) school competition took place in Pakistan. 60 schools in two provinces participated in TMG: In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the patronage of Ayesha Bano, Member of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly and Parliamentary Secretary for Higher Education, and in Balochistan under the patronage of Sakeela Navid Quazi, Member of Balochistan Provincial Assembly.

In Pakistan, the implementation of TMG was largely driven by partner organisations supporting the selected schools throughout the process. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Sabawon organisation selected 30 schools to participate in the competition. They submitted proposals on how they could improve the sanitation and hygiene situation in their schools with the resources available to them. A jury evaluated the proposals and finally visited the schools to assess the implementation of the measures developed. After the school visits, this year's TMG model schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were selected at an award ceremony.
In Balochistan province, schools were invited to participate in TMG by the NGO Balochistan Rural Support Programme (BRSP). The schools' concepts were also evaluated by a jury and finally honoured in a grand award ceremony.

For the TMG competitions, GTO, in cooperation with GIZ, has created a web portal for each Competition. In Pakistan, there is one for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one for Balochistan, through which schools can register and submit their proposals. All relevant documents, a detailed timeline and answers to the most frequently asked questions can also be found here. Some of the schools have good access to the internet to do the process on their own, while others are supported by the NGOs to register and upload their entries.

The first round of TMG in Pakistan had taken place in the 2018-2019 school year in Balochistan province only. At that time, 18 government girls' and boys' schools participated, which had been supported by BRSP and had innovative ideas to overcome the challenges existing in their schools. These included rental income from a small shop, which financed the operation and maintenance of water and sanitation facilities.

The competition is supported by the GIZ programme "Sanitation for Millions". The GTO provides the competition methodology and supports GIZ and the local partners in adapting TMG to the local context and in implementing the competition.