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Teachers, students united by a toilet

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Published on Thursday, 31 July 2008 17:29

Until recently, students at a mixed school in Kisii were forced to share a pit latrine with their teachers in an unusual arrangement. To avoid embarrassment, they had a unique plan that relied on timing.

The teachers of Eronge Secondary School in North Mugirango constituency were only allowed to use the facility during daytime. On the other hand, the more than 500 students were only allowed to use the lavatory at night.

The thatched toilet at Eronge Secondary School shared alternately by teachers and students . 

However, what could not be established immediately was how the students managed to respond to calls of nature before nightfall. This situation was further compounded by the fact that the area has no bushes or any other vegetation that could provide a cover while answering a call of nature.

And to express their dissatisfaction with this dehumanising state of affairs, the students recently went on the rampage and burnt a perimeter fence around the compound. They also pulled down the pit latrine and a kitchen.

Eyesore

The principal, Gideon Sereti Ongeri, could not be reached for comment. An education officer who visited the institution recently was taken to a neighbouring primary school to relieve himself.

"It is very embarrassing to share a toilet with our teachers. Worse still they expect both girls and boys to use the only pit latrine in the school," complained a student who asked not to be named.

It is not only the latrine that is an eyesore in this institution. Students are forced to bathe at night and in the open due to lack of bathrooms.

A teacher who spoke on condition of anonymity told Crazy Monday that initially students used to seek permission to use decent pit latrines at the neighbouring Eronge Primary School but relations between the two schools deteriorated because the visiting toilet users were considered a bother.

"We have raised this issue with the school management repeatedly but nothing has been done to rectify the situation," adds the teacher.