Government schools in Manvi have fewer toilets overall, and the ones that exist are in such poor shape that they are unusable.
Shattered doors, cracked ceilings, dirty commodes, neither water nor soap—that’s how the toilets in government schools of Manvi look.
Most schools in Manvi taluk of Raichur have no clean or usable toilets. These include the Government High School in Sanghapur, the UGMHPS School, the Government Lower Primary School (GLPS) School (PWD Camp), the Girls High School, and the Government High School in Konapurpet.
Students, especially girls are reluctant to use these toilets.
Kavya, a class 10 studentfrom UGMHPS School in Manvi said that the washrooms are very dirty, and there is no soap. Washrooms are not cleaned very often. The condition of the other washrooms in the area mirrors this.
Ayesha, a student of Class 11 at Girls High School in Manvi said that the washrooms are in a very bad condition and she tries not to use them. She added that there was nobody to clean the toilets.
However, Jayamangala, the Hindi teacher in the same school said that the washrooms are regularly cleaned; if the students don’t use them, it’s up to them, she said.
Government High School, Konapurpet was in the worst condition. There is no water in the school, to clean the premises of the school or even to drink. . Virupaxappa, the Math teacher said there is no water in the school and the water level of the borewell has gone way down. He said, “I arrange for drinking water for the students and staff.” They get water to meet other requirements like cleaning only if it rains he added. He said that no students use the toilets as there is no water. They have to go to their homes in case of emergencies, he added. Another teacher from the school said that girls usually don’t attend school during their periods as the toilet is inaccessible.
Government High School, Sanghapur has five students with physical disability but there are no separate toilets for them. Additionally, toilets are not enough compared to the number of students in the schools and the conditions of those are persistently bad. The school has a total strength of 426 students and there are only seven toilets, three for boys and four for girls. There should at least be 11 toilets for this strength.
The school headmaster, Prabhari, said they don’t have staff and money to maintain these toilets.
The Taluka General Hospital does medical checkups at government schools once in six months under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) scheme. Dr. Radhika, who works under the RBSK scheme said that usually the toilets in government schools are not clean and when they go for checkups, they find girls having urinary tract infections. She said, “Due to this, girls miss classes and, in some cases, they even drop out.”
However, there is no data as to how many girls drop out of school due to this particular reason but the urinary tract infection is most commonly found among girls during the checkup, she said.
According to the Swachh Bharat Swachh Vidyalaya scheme, there should be one toilet for every 40 students. A lot of government schools don’t have the right number of toilets compared to the number of students. Also, there should be water, soap, and dustbins for the disposal of menstrual waste. There should even be space for changing clothes. None of the schools have this.
According to a survey conducted by Bharatiya Gnana Vignana Samiti in 2021, 890 of 1,382 toilets in government schools in Raichur were dysfunctional and a lot of others did not have water facilities and proper infrastructure.
Ms. Mariya, Block Community Mobilizer (BCM) from the Taluk General Hospital said that whenever they go for medical checkups, they tell school authorities about the importance of keeping the surroundings clean.They also tell them that toilets should be kept clean with all basic things like water and soap. She said that it is the responsibility of the school to ensure hygiene in and around the premises of the school.
The education department stated that although they send money to schools to maintain sanitation and hygiene, the schools fail to do so.
Chandrashekhar, Block Education Officer of Manvi taluk said that the department will issue notice to headmasters of all schools to ensure cleanliness in and around the premises and to keep the toilets clean.
Schools, on the other hand, complain about insufficient funding from the education department for the upkeep of toilets.
Hampanna Chandur, headmaster of UGMHPS School said that the school doesn’t receive enough funds to maintain these toilets or to hire someone to clean them regularly.
Dr. Priya T Nandimath from Padmashree School of Public Health said that it’s a challenge to conduct awareness programs about urinating and hygiene in rural areas. She said that there is a way to wash and clean the body after urinating or using the washroom in general and girls in rural areas are usually not aware of it. Efforts should be made on the part of the government to ensure that such awareness programs are conducted in rural areas and in government schools as well.
