[health-vn] Toilets in schools: Deficient, dirty and unavailable

[Vern Weitzel]

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/education/2009/04/844651/

Toilets in schools: Deficient, dirty and unavailable
17:17' 28/04/2009 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – Absence of toilets and the poor condition of toilets in 
university facilities, an old problem, is again rearing its ugly head.

The Ministry of Education and Training on an inspection tour of 14 cities and 
provinces found 3,000 schools with no toilets or toilets which are below standard.
1,200 kindergartens, or 32% of the inspected ones, nearly 1,000 secondary 
schools, 36%, and 900 primary schools, 22%, 100 high schools, have problems with 
toilets.
In the central province of Nghe An, 900 of 1,600 schools do not have toilets and 
use clean water. In Thanh Hoa province, 1,200 of 2,100 schools have no toilets 
or below-standard toilets.
(Source: Ministry of Education and Training)
The problem exists chiefly in Hanoi and HCM City because the two cities have 
high densities of students and limited space for schools.

Recent surveys show that over 1,000 of 1,255 surveyed schools in the expanded 
Hanoi area are lacking toilets, a surprisingly high figure. Meanwhile, in the 
old Hanoi area, which is considered to have better material facilities, 600 of 
the 1,000 surveyed schools have been found has having problems with toilets.

The problem exists even at ‘star schools’ in Hanoi. Nam Thanh Cong Primary 
School, for example, has two toilets, 20 sq m each, which serve 2,900 students. 
“The toilets have been… overloaded,” the school’s headmaster admitted.

Similarly, Kim Lien Primary School has over 3,000 students, but has three 
toilets only. As a result, students have to ‘live together’ with pollution.

At Be Van Dan Primary and Secondary School, the toilets are located outside the 
classroom area, but students always have to sniff the smell of urine from the 
toilets which do not have doors. N M, a 7th class student of the school, 
complained that he and his classmates cannot concentrate on studying on hot days

In fact, schools in Hanoi have toilet areas, which were designed based on the 
expected number of students. However, as the number of students has been 
increasing, while material facilities have not been upgraded, the toilets have 
become overloaded.


Chuong Duong Secondary School in Hoan Kiem district initially had three toilets 
for three floors. However, two have become a health care room and library. The 
toilet on the first floor has been upgraded for female students, while male 
students use the toilet next to the fence.

Though most dormitories in HCM City have toilets, they are falling apart. Due to 
limited space, some schools have had to locate toilets to classroom areas. As a 
result, toilets give out a smell in the afternoon perceivable by students 
learning in class.

N, a student of PT Secondary School in district 11, said that all the toilets 
there are in bad condition, some toilets are closed all the time, some others 
are dirty with no toilet paper, soap. “I only go to the toilet at my school when 
I have no other choice.

VietNamNet/TT