BENGALURU: Amid a heated debate on school administrations making students clean toilets, the School Development and Monitoring Committee’s (SDMC) coordination forum suggested that mass sanitation programmes be held across the state. They should involve teachers and students in cleaning washrooms on the premises of their schools.
The forum’s official statement read that it strongly condemns the act of making students from a particular caste or community clean toilets and urinals in schools used by everyone. It also called the act an “unforgivable offence” under the Constitution. However, the committee suggested that existing issues should be addressed and a sanitation campaign should be launched.
“Teachers expecting outsiders or students from lower castes to clean toilets depicts discrimination. It sends a wrong message to students who come to educational institutions to learn,” said the forum. It added that awareness should be created on the fact that cleanliness is an integral part of life and mandatory for all. One should not think that it is a subordinate job.
The committee proposed the idea that students, SDMC, guardians and the local government should come together every Saturday and start a cleanliness drive. “School cleanliness should be made part of the learning process and become an integral part of school management,” said the monitoring forum.
The initiative is led by educationist VP Niranjanaradhya, who added that the government should also increase the school grants to purchase necessary cleaning equipment like brushes, brooms, phenyl and other chemicals. “The authorities should provide two to three support staff under MNREGA for half a day that can help teachers and children in the cleaning drive.” It encourages public figures to become a part of ‘Sanitation Saturdays’ for wider acceptance.