State-wide planning for rural schools – Tamil Nadu If the click
of a mouse could open up an entire range of data on a school in
a remote area of India, planning would become better and funds
would reach the right place. UNICEF has been able to accomplish
this in Tamil Nadu through the use of the a Geographic
Information System supported by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). It
has ensured an efficient distribution of funds to schools that
need toilets and drinking water facilities under the
government’s Total Sanitation Campaign, based on data collected
systematically from the state’s over 31,000 primary schools.
This has helped map details of water, sanitation and hygiene
education in all of the state’s schools. Started in Erode
district, the project was initially expanded to cover three more
districts. Soon the results prompted the state government to
expand the initiative to all of its 30 districts. The plan has
been shared at the national level as a model for all districts
targeted by the Total Sanitation Campa