Jharkhand’s cleanest schools will be recognised with stars, thanks to the Mukhyamantri Swachh Vidyalaya Awards launched in the state capital on Tuesday.

Launched at Project Building with technical support from Unicef, the CM awards will rate government schools on 39 cleanliness management indicators under WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) facilities, giving them five, four and three stars. The government may also allow private schools to apply for these awards, soon.

All participating schools will be rated on the Jharkhand Swachh Vidyalaya app, to be developed by the school education and literacy department and Unicef. Schools can file nominations on this app from April 15 to June 15. Winners will be announced on October 15, Global Handwashing Day.

State education minister Neera Yadav, Unicef (Jharkhand) chief Madhulika Jonathan, department of school education and literacy principal secretary A.P. Singh, NITI Aayog joint-director Poonam Srivastava, director of primary education Binod Kumar and district superintendents of education and district education officers from across the state attended the launch.

Every year, the award will be given to 119 government schools in various categories based on 39 indicators such as availability of handwash units, clean drinking water, midday meal shed, soak pit, rainwater harvesting facility and dustbins in schools. Some behavioural indicators include action taken by trained teachers and members of the Bal Sansad (child cabinet).

The award is important as children spend a lot of time at school where WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) services can impact their learning, health and dignity. Girls often drop out of school if WASH facilities are inadequate.

Minister Yadav said in 2018, about 2,200 schools in Jharkhand received four or five stars according to national standards of Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar. This fiscal, the department of school education and literacy has set a target of bringing 5,000 schools to this level, she said.

School education and literacy principal secretary Singh said the department had prepared a standard operating procedure for WASH-friendly schools with support from Unicef that schools could find useful. He added, “The government may allow private schools to apply for these awards soon. Five best private schools will be selected based on 39 indicators.”

Unicef (Jharkhand) chief Jonathan said in the next three years, Unicef would focus on one-star or no-rank schools to bring them to the three-star category. “Unicef will support the state department in capacity building, planning and monitoring to enhance WASH facilities in schools,” she said.

A digest of success stories on WASH best practices in state schools was released. Also, three Jharkhand schoolchildren who won INSPIRE awards, Ankita Singh (Jharia), Kiran Kumari (Lohardaga) and Hemant Kumar Paswan (Ramgarh), were felicitated.