Just before leaving home for school in the morning, 13-year-old Sandeep (name changed) dashes back inside for a quick trip to the toilet. With a quick look at the clock, his mother asks him why he cannot use the toilet in the private school he studies in. The boy replies that he would rather not use the toilet in the school to the extent possible.
Another student complains to her mother about the set of toilets opposite her classroom being so smelly that students find it difficult to sit in the class. One 11-year-old girl tries not to drink too much water in school. The reason? She prefers to avoid the balancing act over the European toilets there to prevent coming into contact with them.
Girls keep away
School toilets continue to remain a source of worry for students and parents. In recent years, schools, especially government schools, have improved quite a bit in terms of the number of toilets for students. However, usability of the toilets is still low, with students, especially girls, keeping away from them owing to lack of cleanliness.
In some schools, the toilets are old, giving the appearance of being dirty forever. The number of toilets is often not in proportion to the number of users. The flush does not work, the floor is wet, the toilets are left soiled, or may not be cleaned daily… the list of problems cited by children is long. In one institution, the students have had to take drinking water to the toilet because there was no water inside.
Even in private schools where most children belong to families that can afford to pay the substantial fee charged by them, the situation varies from school to school, and even within schools themselves, with some wings having better facilities than others.
An aided school teacher who did not want to be named says the number of toilets in her school is adequate but their upkeep is poor. With not much in terms of government funding, the management does not bother much about issues such as the condition of toilets and regular cleaning.
At Government Higher Secondary School, Cotton Hill, there are 108 toilets for nearly 4,000 students in the upper primary, high school, and higher secondary sections. Sixty more toilets will come up in a new building. Till recently, water woes plagued the school, preventing regular cleaning, but with that problem addressed recently, the school is breathing a sigh of relief, says Principal Rajasree R. The school also has adequate cleaning staff, and toilets are cleaned twice a day. “We try to keep them neat to the best of our efforts,” she says.
Teachers say bigger schools with more number of students have seen a lot of improvement in terms of toilet infrastructure and upkeep in recent years, courtesy government funding, sponsors, and PTA funding. This though is not the case with smaller schools.
In some schools, the school authorities lock up toilets, leaving only some free for students’ use. The reasoning – children will dirty all of them or destroy doors or taps.
Parents say government schools are usually under the scanner, but the situation in private schools goes unnoticed. Students say they cannot ‘hold it in’ for the entire duration of school and just close their eyes to the toilets’ condition.
Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights member K. Nazeer says that apart from bus transport, the maximum number of complaints received by the panel pertain to toilets. Schools have smart classrooms but not clean toilets, he points out.
Maintenance of toilets is a huge issue, with cleaning falling short either because of inadequate cleaning staff, the work is subcontracted, or there is not enough water. “Unclean toilets are a huge human rights violation,” he says. He stresses the need for proper monitoring of toilets by heads of institutions.
Vandalised
In the higher secondary section at Karthika Thirunal Government Vocational and Higher Secondary School for Girls, Mancaud, a toilet block built using city Corporation funds opened a year ago. Each of the 10 toilets has been entrusted to a higher secondary division. “The toilets are kept locked by the class concerned and it is their responsibility to ensure that these are not dirtied or vandalised,” says Principal Ajith Kumar. This approach is used in a few other schools too.
An official associated with the General Education Department says they often hear of students reporting infections after using dirty toilets. In days to come, e-toilets with self-cleaning facilities, napkin vending machines and incinerators, and restrooms will come up at schools, especially those with girl students. Some schools under the district panchayat have installed such toilets, he points out.
