Students’ participation in toilets management and maintenance at the halls of residence: a case of Makerere University

Abstract

Even though a university is a privileged institution of learning where high level of toilet management and maintenance is expected to be observed, Makerere university halls of residence students continue to experience poor toiletry conditions at their halls of residence. This study therefore aimed to assess student’s participation in toilet management and maintenance in halls of residence of Makerere University Kampala, Uganda. Questionnaire method was used to collect data among 96 students who resided in the university’s halls of residence. The data obtained from was analyzed using Stata 15.0 and binary logistic regression model was use to investigate the influence of independent variables on students participation in toilet maintenance and management at the halls of residence. The study found that 63% of the students interviewed participated in toilet maintenance and management at their hall of residence and out of the students interviewed, majorities were female (56%). Furthermore, results showed that most of the student (49), interviewed were in their third and above year of study. According to the results, most students had high income (36%) followed by ones with low income (35%) and (29%) who had middle income The findings shows that student’s gender, student’s year of study and social economic status of the student influenced the students participation in toilet maintenance and management while cultural background of the student did not. The study recommended that poor toilet conditions awareness campaigns and educational sessions should be organized by the environmental health section of the Makerere University Health Services (MUHS) to promote students’ participation in toilet management and maintenance so as to address the poor toilet conditions at the halls of residence.