Sanitation, Sanitation, Sanitation
Campaign for school loos in India will boost attendance
School Children in Hyderabad, India
On a recent trip to India with CfBT Education Trust , Dai Jones, 2006 Guardian Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School in London, became acutely aware that poor sanitation is one of the most pressing concerns for women around the world.
The simple absence of safe toilets for girls at school has a hugely damaging impact on their education; their attendance depends on it.
It's something Dai, a teacher at Villiers High School in the London borough of Ealing, wants to put right through a campaign called Loos Women. In India fewer than half of all girls attend secondary school and many parents withdraw their daughters from school at puberty, out of concerns for modesty. Girls may feel threatened if they have to relieve themselves away from school premises, or run the risk of infections if they avoid using a toilet all day.
Actress Sophie Thomson has joined Dai in setting up a charity to tackle the issue. Their first target is to raise £1000 to install toilets and a well for fresh water at a school in Warangal, Hyderabad. Supporters can use the website www.ciniuk.org to make donations and learn more.
'As it happens November 19 is World Toilet Day,' says Dai. 'It's a very serious subject that we can really do something about. If other schools would raise money for Loos we would be delighted.'
