‘Maaaaam, may I go home’

TOILET SHORTAGE IN SCHOOLS

MANILA, Philippines—It’s not uncommon to hear pupils say “May I go home Ma’am” in public schools, especially in Metro Manila.

Good thing their homes are just a walking distance away.

Whenever nature calls, students of Bagong Barrio National High School in Caloocan City, for instance, would have to leave class and rush home to get relief.

Such is school life at the public high school, where at least 2,000 students have to share two toilets—one each for girls and boys.

“We don’t have proper toilet facilities. So whenever students have to use a toilet, especially when it’s an emergency, they go home,” said Analyn Cui, a values education teacher at Bagong Barrio National High School. “We’re lucky that our students live nearby.”

Many more public schools across the country experience this shortage in toilets—facilities critical in the drive to prevent contagious diseases in crammed government schools.

Biggest shortage

Among the regions, Metro Manila has the biggest shortage of sanitation facilities. Its public schools need 26,736 toilets: 12,796 urinals for males and some 13,940 bowls for females. Southern Tagalog is a far second with a requirement for 15,753 toilets, almost as many as the need of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao for 15,030 toilets.

Central Luzon and Central Visayas each needs at least 10,000 of such facilities more to ease restroom crowding.

By the next school year, the shortfall is projected to rise to 151,084 toilets.

Ideal ratio

The Department of Education (DepEd) is seeking an ideal ratio of one toilet for every 50 students.

The DepEd’s Physical Facilities and Schools Engineering Division did not release data on the current ratio.

Toilet facilities are critical in promoting proper hygiene among students and in protecting them from diseases, said Loida Ramos, assistant chief of the DepEd’s Health and Nutrition Center.

“If there are inadequate sanitation facilities, [hygiene] is affected because that means there are inadequate hand-washing facilities. Students should be taught to regularly wash their hands,” Ramos said.

Communicable diseases are often transmitted through unclean hands, she said.

Ramos said poorly maintained toilets may also serve as breeding areas for mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus, which have killed 117 students. Dengue fever has downed almost 12,000 students since January.

The DepEd’s engineering office said the shortage is being addressed.

P200 million

More restrooms are being built and repaired annually, with some P200 million allotted this year.

“There’s really a focus on the construction of new toilets. We are releasing P50 million for the project to schools in NCR (National Capital Region) this year,” said Oliver Hernandez, head of the DepEd’s Physical Facilities and Schools Engineering Division.

Hernandez said some P200 million was used for the construction of new toilet facilities last year.

A standard school restroom, complete with bowls, urinals and hand-washing facilities, costs around P300,000, he said. –Tarra Quismundo, Philippine Daily Inquirer