India accounted for nearly one-fifth of the children worldwide who lacked access to sanitation services in schools in 2025, recording the largest share among countries, according to the latest report from the WHO-UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme.
The report, titled Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Schools 2015-2025, estimated that about 5 crore Indian children were among the 24.4 crore children globally who had no sanitation service at their schools in 2025, according to IndiaToday.
Nigeria ranked next, with approximately 3.4 crore children lacking school sanitation services. It was followed by Ethiopia, with 2.6 crore children, the Democratic Republic of the Congo with 1.1 crore, and Indonesia with around 80 lakh children without access to sanitation services at school.
Despite the scale of the challenge, India recorded a 14 per cent decline in the number of schools without any sanitation service over the period covered by the assessment. The report, however, pointed out that considerable deficiencies continue to affect the availability of sanitation and hygiene facilities in Indian schools.
For the purpose of tracking progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the JMP considers a school to have a basic sanitation service when it has improved sanitation facilities that are single-sex and available for use.
The report also sets out specific criteria for measuring access to other essential WASH services. A basic drinking-water service requires a school to have a functioning improved water source. For basic hygiene, schools must have handwashing facilities where both soap and water are available when the survey is conducted.
Hygiene access remained a significant concern in India. The report estimated that roughly 2 crore children did not have access to a hygiene service at school. However, the JMP said it was unable to produce hygiene coverage estimates for India and the Central and Southern Asia region beyond 2024 because of a lack of sufficient recent data.
India’s position was relatively stronger in school drinking-water access. About 1.2 crore Indian children were estimated to be without drinking-water services at school in 2025, representing approximately one in every 20 children globally who lacked such services.
“India is among 28 of 62 countries considered on track to achieve universal basic drinking-water coverage in schools by 2030,” the report said.
According to the report, India’s coverage of basic drinking-water services improved by more than 4 per cent each year during the period assessed, placing the country among those making measurable progress towards the 2030 target.
At the global level, however, the pace of improvement remains insufficient to meet the Sustainable Development Goal targets. The WHO-UNICEF assessment found that the world is not currently on course to provide universal access to basic drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in schools by 2030, with only five years left in the SDG timeframe.
“Achieving universal coverage will require a fourfold increase in the current rate of progress on basic drinking water, a fivefold increase in progress on basic sanitation, and a fourfold increase in progress on basic hygiene,” it said.
If existing trends continue, the report projects that 84 per cent of schools worldwide will have basic drinking-water services by 2030. Basic sanitation coverage is projected to reach 81 per cent, while basic hygiene coverage is expected to stand at 79 per cent.
The projections also indicate that significant numbers of schools could remain without essential services when the current SDG period ends. The report estimates that 10 per cent of schools would still have no water service, 7 per cent would lack sanitation services and 12 per cent would have no hygiene service by 2030.
The WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme compiles internationally comparable data on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene and uses the information to monitor progress towards global Sustainable Development Goal targets covering these essential services.
The 2030 Agenda incorporates targets related to both education and water and sanitation. SDG 4 calls for inclusive and quality education and promotes child-, disability- and gender-sensitive educational facilities that provide safe and effective learning environments, including access to basic WASH services. SDG 6 focuses on ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, including universal access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene.
