OPINION - The toilets at many South African schools are dangerous, dirty and degrading.
Millions of people don’t have access to proper sanitation and
the situation is especially dire in schools.
Thousands of schools lack the infrastructure necessary to provide pupils with the quality education they are legally entitled to receive.
According to an audit by the Department of Education, nearly 4000 schools across the country don’t have access to proper toilets but rather make use of pit toilets, while the more than 3000 schools which do have access to proper sanitation still also have pit toilets that have not yet been demolished.
Adequate and safe school sanitation is not only a prerequisite for the health, safety and dignity
of pupils, but plays a crucial role
in advancing education in South Africa.
One of pupils’ most fundamental needs, which must be met at school, is the need for safe and adequate sanitation facilities
A lack of proper school toilets threatens the health, education and safety of millions of children.
Quality education should be available in all parts of the country, with proper and healthy infrastructure suitable for all pupils.
Mahmoud Rangila Isipingo Hills