UNSAFE, UNHYGIENIC Washrooms in Schools Cause Absenteeism

Rithu Dravid | NT

Most people probably take their bathroom privileges for granted. But at schools, children don’t always have that luxury. Children spend around onethird of their waking hours in school where they can be exposed to a variety of physical and psychological harm.

Are school toilets clean and safe for our children? “Children certainly don’t feel safe using the school washrooms and often avoid using them”, exclaims a representative of a parent – teacher committee of a renowned school in the city.

The importance of maintaining clean toilets can curb absenteeism as children are healthy enough to attend school. Poorly maintained washrooms could become a breeding ground for germs and disease. This is a cause of serious concern and many worried parents have, time and again approached the school managements seeking redressal of such issues but in vain.

One such parent, Kavyasree feels improving toilet facilities at schools is the need of the hour and is often taken for granted. “More importance on improvement of toilet facilities in schools should be the top priority. This will increase the overall health and productivity of students”, she adds.

Parents say regular checks of school toilets by the management should be made mandatory and should be kept as clean as possible. Good health plans and student toilet ratio will help reduce mental stress and other ailments. Schools must have one toilet for every 10 students, a ratio that would ensure stress-free use for the students. But rarely do the schools have such comfortable ratio.

Many Government schools in the city lack basic water facilities apart from broken bathroom doors. Children from such schools suffer from agony and anxiety. Many of them have to curb their physical urge till they return home.

“I leave home at 7 am every morning and reach school at 8 am. I wish to visit the toilet as soon as I reach my school. But the toilets are pitch dark with no lights and water. I am scared of such unsafe and unhygienic toilets. I try to hold on as much as I can till the school gets filled with students and take my friend along with a bottle of drinking water”, exclaims Alamelu (name changed), a student studying at a government school at Shivajinagar.

Several angry parents have decided to take this issue seriously and question the concerned authorities. “I find my daughter unable to concentrate in class as she refuses to visit the restroom during school hours. This is a dangerous situation because she avoids drinking water and this has taken a toll on her health and often becomes dehydrated and pale”, says Jhanavi, a worried parent of a reputed private school in the city.

Ironically, children who find no access to safe and clean washrooms at schools are often told about maintaining hygiene at home and ways to use the toilets and washrooms by the teachers.