Loo-natic problems

A few months back, S. Ramakrishnan , in his article in Ananda Vikatan , had written about how school girls in villages suffer due to lack of proper sanitary facilities. Especially during their monthly cycles, these girls not only travel a long distances, but also endure the long days at school without using the toilet, since majority of the schools in villages either do not have one or even if they do, they seem to lack proper water supply.

Come to think of it, the plight of women in cities and towns is no better. How many of us, as parents, check if schools have proper toilet facilities? We are keen about the quality of the education, fees, donations and extra curricular activities in the school, but we don't even bother to check if it has decent sanitary facilities. Even some of the best known schools fall short in this aspect. Our children naturally fall into the habit of not drinking enough water for fear of using the loo in the school, which leads to multiple problems later on in life. As parents, we must insist on having a look at the school and its facilities at the time of admission. However, it is easier said than done in a country like ours. We are so pressed to get an admission in the first place, that sanitary facilities are not even on our list of priorities. But what bothers me is that we try to ignore the complaints of the children and ask them to adjust. In parent- teachers' meetings issues like exam scores, tests and tuitions are discussed exhaustively, but never the lack of toilet facilities. We feel that it's taboo to talk about this subject.

I wonder why parents don't come together to insist on good sanitation or why NGOs and government don't get involved in such a serious issue. There are so many unanswered questions and I feel troubled whenever I think of the plight of the school-going children in this regard. I feel that this is one area in which the country has made absolutely no progress, since the problem exists from the days of our grandparents.