With no funds for cleanliness workers, sanitation takes a back seat in Coimbatore govt schools

Teachers say they pooled money to hire workers to clean toilets twice a week

COIMBATORE: Heads of education associations have requested the School Education Department to ensure hygiene at government schools.

S Krishnaveni, a teacher at a panchayat union primary school at Mogappair in Chennai, said, "At least 240 students study here. The school has to search for cleanliness workers from the corporation to clean the toilets twice or thrice a week. Payment for the workers is pooled from the teachers. Children hesitate to use toilets if they are not clean. Toilets need to be cleaned at least two times a day as nearly 200 students use them daily. Like this school, as many as 40 other primary schools in the block face the same issue. The government should find a better solution to this," she said.

A postgraduate teacher, K Sudha, in Erode district, said, "Many students do not drink water in school to avoid using toilets. Girls have been suffering from urinary tract infection."

"Political parties, teachers associations and educationists do not talk about the ground reality of toilets or appointing cleanliness workers in government schools," she worried.

Tiruppur-based Kalvi Mempattu Kootamaipu (KMK) has sent recommendations to maintain hygiene at schools to the School Education Department.

KMK coordinator Su Moorthy said, "The State government has not prioritised cleanliness at schools and lakhs of students are suffering. Two cleanliness workers should be appointed in all government schools under the consolidated pay to clean the campus and toilets. Workers who clean the campus and classes can be appointed part-time, while others need to be full time. They should be given safety gear and a salary of at least Rs 12,000 for full-time workers and Rs 7,000 for part-time workers," he recommended.

Palli Kalvi Paathukappu Iyakkam district coordinator P Chandrasekar said, "The committee has given a set of hygiene guidelines to all schools. The schools are expected to provide clean water, clean toilets, sanitary napkin disposal machines and purified drinking water. But a majority of the schools have not adhered to these guidelines."

Repeated attempts to reach School Education Secretary Kakarla Usha went in vain.