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RAS launches Happy Toilets @ Preschools Programme (HTPP)
In the presence of about 120 preschool
principals, supervisors and teachers on 3rd
February, the HTPP was
launched by Guest-of-Honour, Ms Low Yen Ling,
Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Social and Family Development.
This new holistic programme for
preschools looks at standards of toilets, training of teachers, staff,
caretakers and cleaning attendants followed by education of preschoolers
and their parents or guardians. Six months prior to
the launch, RAS actively reached out to two preschools namely Generation Kidz @ Limau and PCF
Sparkletots Preschool @ Telok Blangah Blk 44 not
only to seek their consultation and feedback  but
also to garner their support to pilot the HTPP with RAS. The two
preschools not only gave their full support but also displayed their
strong commitment to achieve the highest three thumbs-up accreditation after completing the three phases on Design,
Maintenance and Education.
The HTPP which is renewable annually, aims at encouraging
preschools to achieve the highest accreditation of completing the three
phases on Design, Maintenance and Education within a six-month period. To
encourage and recognise sustained achievement, preschools will be
accredited with the Platinum Award if they achieve the highest
accreditation for three consecutive years. The HTPP adopts a more
holistic approach that replaces the previous Happy Toilet School Education
for Preschools launched in 2007 by former Health Minister Khaw Boon
Wan. It is mandatory for participating preschools to complete the Design
phase to meet the minimum accreditation. This means preschools that have
completed the Maintenance and/or Education phase(s) without completing
the Design phase will not be accredited. The completion of the design
phase is to ensure all preschool toilets meet the minimum standard
equivalent to the three-star rating of the Happy Toilet Programme.
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RAS introduces its first preschool toilet guide
Apart from launching the Happy Toilets @
Preschools Programme (HTPP), the RAS also
introduced a new 81-page Guide
to Better Preschool Toilet Design, Maintenance & Education. The new guide can serve as a reference for preschools to
effectively engage building contractors for new construction or
renovation works. It not only provides handy information for preschools
to equip its cleaning attendants or caretakers with the fundamentals of
toilet maintenance but also provides
preschools with handy information about toilet  fixtures and facilities that are safe and friendly to preschoolers.
As there was no comprehensive information on preschool toilets
available, RAS identified the need to develop a guide on preschool
toilets.
Last year, RAS continued to collaborate with the 10 government,
non-government and private organisations that had worked on a public
toilet guide, which was published in 2013, to develop this preschool
toilet guide. This new guide not only covers codes of the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), National Environment Agency (NEA) and PUB, but also best practices and good examples of preschool
toilet design, maintenance and education. In addition to the 10
organisations which included BCA, NEA and PUB, two preschools namely
Generation Kidz @ Limau and PCF Sparkletots Preschool @ Telok Blangah Blk
44 were approached to seek their comments on this preschool toilet guide.
RAS wishes to express its sincere appreciation to all representatives for
contributing their expertise, time and effort towards the publication of
this preschool toilet guide.
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RAS holds its Happy Toilet Seminar for building owners and
preschool operators
The
RAS organised its second Happy Toilet Seminar on 3rd February at the Environment
Building to provide building owners and preschool operators with first-hand
information about its revised Happy Toilet Programme and new Guide
to Better Preschool Toilet Design, Maintenance & Education
repectively. In the morning session for building
owners, more than 50 participants from the government, food & beverage, tourism, healthcare and
retail sectors attended the session to find out more about the revised
criteria of the four and five-star rating as well as the new six-star
rating criteria. The afternoon session for preschool operators saw about
120 preschool principals,
supervisors and teachers from Carpe Diem, Cherie Hearts, MindChamps, NTUC
First Campus, NurtureStars, PAP Community  Foundation (PCF) and
others attending the session to find out more about the new preschool
toilet guide and the newly-launched Happy Toilets @ Preschools
Programme.
RAS
also invited its partners namely Adsec Global, Adkel Solutions and Infinergy Systems to showcase
and present their innovative solutions to all participants. Adsec Global first
presented its range of ozone water and air products which can effectively
combat bad odour and bacteria while Adkel Solutions shared about its
water-saving bidet system. This was followed by Infinergy Systems on its first
restroom feedback system which is equipped with the RAS restroom inspection checklist.
The first Happy Toilet Seminar was organised in March 2011 solely for
Happy Toilet owners with the Building & Construction Authority (BCA),
National Environment Agency (NEA), PUB, Rentokil Initial and World Toilet
College (WTC) sharing useful information related to the restroom
environment.
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RAS supports Singapore World Water Day
For the 4th consecutive year, RAS supported
the Singapore World Water Day,
which was organised by the PUB, at the Singapore Sports Hub on 21st
March. The event saw 6,000 visitors joining Guest-of-Honour, Deputy
Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean to commemorate this crucial day.
Brochures with information about RAS were distributed to visitors while
our partner Adkel Solutions  provided live demonstrations to visitors
about its water-saving bidet which does not require plumbing and
electrical works. The bidet, which is user-friendly without complicated
buttons, can be installed in 20 minutes.
The World Water Day is
commemorated internationally on 22nd March every year. It is a day to
make a difference for the members of the global population who suffer
from water related issues as well as to better prepare the world on
future water management. This year also marks a jubilee year for
Singapore after 50 years of independence where water security has played
an integral role in nation building. RAS together with other partners
drew water droplets on a curtained SG50 banner before it was fully
unveiled to the visitors. This year also saw more than 400,000 people in
different communities all over Singapore commemorating World Water Day
throughout the month of March.
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Dunman High School
awarded Gold for restroom cleaning
Dunman High School (DHS), a strong supporter of our STAR (Sustaining
Toilets As Restrooms) Awards Programme, has been actively engaging its students in
restroom-related projects since the launch of the school programme in 2011.
This year marks a milestone for DHS under our school programme, as its
students undertake restroom cleaning tasks to better appreciate the efforts
of the cleaning attendants. A training session was conducted on 11th
February for a group of students. The  school
principal Dr Foo, a firm advocate for clean restrooms, took the lead to
roll up his sleeves to perform the correct steps of toilet bowl cleaning
during the training.
The training,
which was conducted by a professional trainer from the school's cleaning
service provider, received positive feedback from the students. After the
training, they could better relate their learning experience to the
professionalism and challenges of restroom cleaning which translated to
better appreciation of the efforts of the cleaning attendants. While not
many schools, especially primary schools, may be able to engage its
students in restroom cleaning, RAS hopes most will consider engaging its
students to undergo just one training session on restroom cleaning to
better experience the tedious work of a cleaning attendant. Schools also
have the option of organising a LOO
(Let's Observe Ourselves) Whiz restroom cleaning competition for its
students.
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St. Hilda's Secondary
Annual Service Learning Symposium
RAS was invited to the 3rd Annual Service
Learning symposium on 27th March which was organised by the St.
Hilda’s Secondary School. RAS provided students from the Secondary 3 cohort
with information about its service learning project namely Happy Toilets @
Shopping Malls, whereby students conduct mystery restroom audits, organise
educational activities and appreciate  cleaning attendants at shopping malls. This
project equips students with event and volunteer management skills as well
as to build up their positive character through appreciating the cleaning
attendants.
The purpose of the symposium was
to encourage students to carry out service learning as part of their character
and citizenship education. Students were expected to complete their
projects by the end of June under the supervision of their form teachers. Character
education is the heart of building and moulding the next generation of
Singapore and St Hilda’s Secondary School is committed to extend character
education beyond the boundaries of its school by providing its students
with the platform to give back to the society.
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