official opening of the 12 087th school toilet since April 2004 in
KwaZulu-Natal
16 October 2007
A group of grade sevens (both boys and girls) were asked to photograph "safe
places" and "not so safe places" at their school near Swaziland. This was part
of a recent study by the University of KwaZulu-Natal to tap into the voices of
young people on sexual violence and safety in their school. It came as no
surprise that both boys and girls identified the toilets as danger zones. The
unsanitary condition of many of the toilets was confirmed by the photographs
taken.
Some toilets had no doors so that there was a sense of no privacy and that
they were not safe for girls: "You can be raped in the toilets," wrote one of
the girls. Decent toilets are part of human dignity and this department has
pulled out all stops to provide clean, safe private places. For children and
young people to stay healthy they need to drink water regularly throughout the
day. They also have to use the toilets when they need to. Our children and
teachers spend at least half their waking hours at school. Avoiding using
school toilets because of inadequate facilities can lead to long and short term
health problems.
It also affects a child's ability to concentrate in class and therefore his
or her ability to learn. The lack of proper sanitation makes schools unsafe
places where diseases are transmitted easily. This impairs children's growth
and development, limits school attendance and negatively affects students'
ability to concentrate and learn. According to a 2005 United Nations Children's
Fund (UNICEF) report about 40% of the world's 400 million school age children
are infested with intestinal worms. About one in 10 school-age African girls do
not attend school during menstruation or drop out at puberty because of the
lack of clean and private sanitation facilities in schools.
The sanitation situation at our schools in KwaZulu-Natal was shocking: A
report in 2003 found more than 300 schools without any toilets not even a hole
in the ground. This legacy of the past proved to be even worse than the 2003
report indicated many existing toilets have reached their expiry dates and have
to be replaced. I am pleased to say that we have made a huge difference in the
lives of our children and teachers in this regard.
Since 2004 the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education has provided more
toilets at schools than ever before. Today, on 16 October 2007, I will
officially open 12 087 toilet that has been delivered since April 2004 at the
oldest primary school in the Edendale area. The school was established in 1934
by the Catholic Church before it became a public school in the early 1980's.
The school started with smelly pit latrines, which filled up quickly before new
ones had to be dug. The situation improved in the early 90s with the
introduction of a septic tank system and the building of nine toilets.
However, nine toilets for 927 learners and 25 educators were totally
inadequate.
In addition the low walls, which had only been half built, did not offer any
privacy. One can just imagine how embarrassing this was for our learners and
our educators, who had to share these facilities with the learners. The odours
coming from the toilets at times reportedly distracted teaching and learning.
In November 2006 educators and learners were as understandably very excited
when the building of decent, clean and private toilets started at their
school.
Two new toilet blocks were built one for educators (housing three toilets
for women and one plus a urinal for men) and another for the boys (five toilets
and a urinal), while the old block with its nine toilets was renovated and
improved to accommodate only the girls. For the first time the school has
sufficient and private sanitation. There is also a toilet for physically
disabled people.
According to the ward manager the toilets are now always clean as learners are
taught about health promoting skills. The water and sanitation programme has a
holistic approach whereby issues, such as health and hygiene education, food
gardens and operation and maintenance issues are all taken into
consideration.
I am very pleased to have learnt that Henryville Primary participated in the
recent Garden Show, while they have also been actively involved in the Collect
a Can Competition, in which they have already won three prizes this year (R500
in May and R1 000 in July and August respectively).
Henryville has the privilege of having access to piped water. In many of our
schools in the rural areas water is a scarce commodity. Therefore our water and
sanitation programme also includes the provision of water tanks. The actual
provision of water to the water tanks is the responsibility of the district
municipalities. Some of them do not have water tankers and schools have to
harvest rainwater as a result. This can obviously only be done when it
rains!
The issue of why we do not provide "flush toilets" at all our schools is
often raised. The reason is quite simple without piped water, which is provided
by the municipalities, it becomes an impossible exercise. However, the new
ventilated improved pit latrines are a great improvement on the old pit
latrines, which could not be cleared out.
Should piped water come to the area, these toilets can also be converted to
waterborne toilets. Vandalism and theft remains a challenge especially when we
talk toilets. For instance, I am still most concerned by reports of huge
numbers of tap heads that we lose at our schools. Effective school management,
as well as community mobilisation, seem to be the answer to this problem, as
proven at some of our schools. Several implementing agents have been
instrumental in the building of the toilets.
Besides the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Works, the Independent Development
Trust, Ithala Development Finance Corporation and Umgeni Water, the Department
of Education has trained and used emerging contractors mostly women to fast
track the building of toilets and other infrastructure in the province. In
addition it has also been training former combatants to build school toilets in
a joint venture with the Office of the Premier. The first group of these former
soldiers has now been appointed as contractors and is building toilets at
schools in Msinga.
Issued by: Department of Education, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial
Government
16 October 2007
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government (http://www.kwazulunatal.gov.za/)
