Friday, June 20, 2008 Roperos: CRs in schools By Godofredo M. Roperos Politics Also
WHEN I was a kid in knee pants, going to grade school was not only learning how to read and write but also learning how to wash your face early in the morning or take an early bath. It was also about putting your palms on the top of the desk to show your fingernails to the teacher.
It was a ritual we accepted without resistance because it was a different kind of discipline from the one we got at home.
There was no school uniform, no rubber or leather shoes, only wooden slippers or bakya, but we often went to school on barefoot, and the worms be damned. Poverty has always been a bedfellow of the rural kids.
There was this report the other day on the lament of teachers in Metro Manila about the lack of toilets in public schools. It was the first time I heard or read such a complaint, since I can remember.
I am used to having the school’s comfort room out in the school grounds, but I seldom went there if at all. There were always a lot of gumamela bushes all around the school campus where we could sidle up to anytime when we need relief.
The report said that in Taguig City one school with 2,031 students shared only one toiled bowl. So, the ratio was 1:2031. But a public school official said that, in general, the national toilet bowl ratio is 1:51 in the primary school, and 1:102 in the secondary schools.
He said that the government has an obligation to provide the country’s 19 million public school pupils and students with safe and healthy learning environment. “This includes the obligation to provide adequate toilets and hand-washing facilities.”
I do not know which needs priority, school rooms and school supplies or school CRs.
There was a time in the past decade when there was a flurry to install CRs in the classroom itself. Pupils were asked to contribute cash or materials to build such facility. To me, it was a wonderful innovation. In my time, the outhouse in our town’s elementary school was at the edge of our school garden, and you have to go there even if it rains.
However, I was surprised when some kids in the neighborhood told me they are not allowed to use the toilet in the classroom, even to just wash their hands. They have to walk to another part of the campus for relief.
What could be the reason? The same public official said that “the lack of facilities is often compounded by the lack of adequate water supply.” Our schools are often replete with projects that are put up to comply with orders from superiors but without feasibility studies.
