COIMBATORE: Parents of children studying in the Government High School in Kandhe Gounden Chavadi (KG Chavadi) complain that the school does not have enough toilets which forces students to control the urge to urinate, often resulting in urinary tract infections.
On Monday a group of parents reached the collectorate demanding an immediate solution to the issue. The parents threatened to stop sending children to the school if the situation was not addressed. According to sources, the school has 382 students, including 208 girls, but only has two toilets--one each for boys and girls. Students have to stand in queues to use the facility, which allegedly does not have a latch either.
Due to this, female students refrain from using them. Sources further said that the toilets are unclean most of the time. R Chitra, mother of a Class 10 student, said, “My daughter leaves home around 8 am and does not use the toilet till she reaches home in the evening. She says the school toilet is not clean and she does not want to use it.”
Chitra, who works as a labourer for a daily wage of Rs 335 said she can’t send both her daughters to private school and urged the district administration to intervene in the issue.
P Sagayaselvarani, another parent, said “My daughter frequently falls sick with UTI as she controls the urge to urinate during school hours. Whenever she wants to use the toilet, she needs to take a friend with her, since the toilet does not have a lock. Also, the place lacks cleanliness. Though I complained multiple times to the HM, no action was taken.” B Shanthoshini said she shifted her Class 8 son to Pichanur government school, which is 5 km away from KG Chavadi due to the toilet problem.
“There is one toilet for all boys in the school and due to lack of hygiene, he suffered UTI. So we transferred him to Pichanur. However, we are forced to send our daughter, who is studying in Class 6, to the government school in KG Chavadi due to the distance.”
S Shajitha Banu, head of parents, teachers association said, “Whenever we raise the issue, we are told that the school has only 1875 Sq.ft of space and it is not enough to build extra toilets. It was in 2017, that the school was upgraded to high school but with limited space. Ettimadai Town Panchayat passed a resolution to allocate 50 cents of adjacent land for the school in 2016. We said it remained on paper.”
When contacted, Zahirun Nisha Begam, HM of the school admitted there is not enough land to build an extra toilet. The town panchayat passed a resolution giving 50 cents but it is yet to be handed over.
Geetha Anandhakumar, chairman of Ettimadai Town panchayat said, “The resolution was an error as the land comes under the revenue department, not under the town panchayat. We have no role in the issue.”She refuted the allegation of unclean toilets in the school and said that it is cleaned regularly.”
Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati said, “We are reviewing the grievance. It will be sorted out soon.”