Chil AI Lab pairs AI chatbot with school drama to teach hygiene

An unusual pairing of technology and tradition is reshaping how Ugandan schoolchildren learn about hygiene: an artificial intelligence chatbot on one side, and music, dance and drama on the other.

The approach was on full display as the Dettol Hygiene Quest Festival concluded its first edition, with Burugo Primary School from Jinja District crowned national champion. The school topped a field of 159 schools nationwide, 25 of which reached the grand finale with performances promoting sanitation, handwashing and disease prevention.

The festival is the creative arm of a wider health-technology programme run by Reckitt, the global consumer goods company behind the Dettol and Jik brands, in partnership with Chil AI Lab, a Ugandan health-technology company.

While pupils rehearse songs and skits about germs and handwashing, the programme’s digital layer works in the background. Its Keti AI chatbot helps teachers track student attendance and monitor hygiene practices, while a district-level assessment system rolled out this year gives local government leaders real-time data on students’ hygiene knowledge through termly digital assessments and performance dashboards.

Dr Shamim Nabuuma Kaliisa, founder and chief executive of Chil AI Lab and focal person for the Dettol Hygiene Quest in Uganda, said the combination was intentional: technology to measure, the arts to persuade.

“By using music, dance and drama, we have seen students move beyond rote learning to internalise hygiene as part of their cultural identity,” she said. “The creativity displayed by Burugo Primary School and all our finalists proves that when we engage children through the arts, the message of health resonates deeply and effectively.”

The stakes are practical. Poor hygiene, particularly a lack of handwashing before meals, contributes to the spread of diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid among schoolchildren, driving absenteeism and hurting academic performance. Organisers say the blend of creative platforms, digital tools and infrastructure is designed to cut those absences.

The programme has scaled quickly. Its first phase reached 750 schools and more than 450,000 students and educators in high-need areas, and built 1,500 handwashing stations — one for boys and one for girls at each participating school. A second phase, launched on Global Handwashing Day in October 2025 with government backing, is extending the initiative to more schools, targeting children aged five to 11 along with their teachers and families.

The winning school’s home district is already betting on the model’s staying power. In January, Jinja District Local Government signed a memorandum of understanding to embed hygiene education permanently into the local school curriculum, moving the initiative from donor-funded support towards sustainable local ownership — with the AI tools provided free to educators.

Kaliisa said the festival would return next year “bigger and bolder”, adding that its success proved children are the best ambassadors for change.