Boys and girls forced to share toilet in this school

Y Maheswara Reddy | NT

The meaning of co-education is the learning of both male and female students in the same classroom and the same school or college. Girl students, though, have a provision to sit in a separate place in the classroom. However, for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Education department, co-education means boys and girls not only sharing the same classroom but also the same toilets!

Yes, it is true. Boys have no option but to use the girls’ toilet at BBMP High School situated in Murphy Town near Halasuru in East Bengaluru. There is no problem of space to conduct classes for boys and girls here, but there are no separate toilets for boys to attend nature’s calls. The hapless boys have to use the girls’ toilets or use the open space behind the school building to relieve themselves.

The BBMP High School for Girls was constructed in 1961. With a drop in the number of girl students, the BBMP facilitated coeducation by opening up the school for boys too in 2018, but the authorities concerned never bothered to either inspect the existing amenities or to construct toilets for boys.

“As of now, boys have to wait till the girls come out of the toilets. It has become a nuisance and nauseating for boys as well as girls. We have already reported to the higher authorities about the lack of toilets for boys here,’’ said a teacher on the condition of anonymity.

According to the teacher, there are 44 boys and 36 girls studying at the high school. “I am worried that girl students will prefer other schools rather than continuing their education here due to the lack of toilets,’’ said another teacher.

Coming down heavily on the lack of separate toilets for boys at the BBMP High School, Sujatha Narasimharaju, a member of RTE Task Force, has questioned the logic behind the BBMP organising a Swachh Survekshan Survey in Bengaluru when it could not construct toilets at its schools. “Many girl students may not continue their education at this school in future if the BBMP authorities continue to neglect their needs. It is unfair and highly condemnable to compel the boys and girls to use the same toilets. It is quite disgusting and disappointing to know that some schools in a city like Bengaluru do not have separate toilets for girls and boys,’’ she said.

She appreciated the BBMP authorities for facilitating co-education to avoid closure of the school due to the lack of sufficient number of students. “Coeducation avoids discrimination, but it is necessary to ensure basic amenities at schools that offer co-education,’’ she said.

Emphasising the need of having exclusive toilets for boys and girls, Nagasimha G Rao, a child rights’ activist, said that the lack of basic amenities at schools is against the right to education. “I am of the opinion that the BBMP authorities should have created basic amenities much before taking the decision to allow co-education at the school. It is not fair not to have separate toilets for boys and girls. I am afraid that some of the girl students may stop attending classes due to the lack of toilets,’’ said Nagasimha G Rao.

Meanwhile, BBMP Senior Education Officer Hanumanthaiah said the BBMP executive engineer had floated a tender for the maintenance of BBMP high schools in East Bengaluru. “I expect the process of selecting the contractor to be completed soon and the construction of toilets for boys to begin within a few weeks,’’ he said.