Schools sans toilets hit girls’ education

The absence of toilet facilities in government hospitals is pushing up the dropout rate among girl students

The lack of sanitary facilities in government schools is proving to be a big dampener for girls’ education in the city.

Particularly, the absence of toilets or their insufficient number is pushing up the drop-out rate. In most school buildings constructed by the Rajiv Vidya Mission (RVM), there is no provision for toilets, which results in a lot of inconvenience to both teachers and the taught.

The problem has arisen due to budget crunch and the issue of administrative sanction separately for the construction of school buildings and toilets. On account of poor SSR rates, contractors do not evince interest in building toilets, with the result that school buildings are coming up sans toilets.

The Government High School, Goshamahal, situated at Bazar Guard is a case in point. Though a new building was constructed for the co-ed school six months ago, there are no toilets there. Similar is the case with the Government Girls High School at Khadaribagh in Amberpet. A new building is ready on Road No. 6, but due to the absence of toilets the school authorities have not shifted yet. However, the staff of the school at Bazar Guard have pooled money and built a makeshift toilet.

No water supply

“How do you expect girls to come when there are no toilets in the school?” asks a teacher. Even where toilets exist, their maintenance leaves a lot to be desired.

The Government High School, Umdabazar, situated at Chandulal Baradari, has toilets but no water supply. Children have to collect water from a public tap to use the loo.

“All that is required is an overhead tank, but the RVM is not arranging this,” rues a teacher.

During 2012-13, RVM approved as many as 636 toilets, but so far it could construct just 30. The rest are still at a tender stage. It also sanctioned 240 toilets for girls but did not construct even a single one. Same is the case with toilets for children with special needs. Of the 53 approved, not a single one is ready yet.

“Nearly 65 per cent of girls schools have no toilets. This shows how serious the government is in promoting girls’ education,” says Hyderabad MP, Asaduddin Owaisi.

The Right to Education (RTE) Act mandates provision of basic amenities in schools.

But the State Project Director, RVM, Usha Rani, has asked the executive engineers not to start the additional classrooms work for which administrative sanction is given. This is to avoid financial problems during the course of construction, it is said.