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About two months ago, our Education Minister brought up the
subject of school toilets. He suggested that cleaning these toilets
should be part of the school curriculum. The public reaction to this
issue was so strong that people have been flooding the mass media with
opinions for and against his suggestion.
One of the reasons the Education Minister gave for his proposal
was that cleaning toilets will teach students humility and respect for
others. Firstly, the students will be able to understand the humility of
the school workers when they have to clear up other people's messes
in the toilets. This job is looked down upon and considered one of the
lowest. "They will also be able to respect the cleaners because he is able
to do the necessary job, regardless of the low status it accords him.
Another advantage of this proposal is that the students will try to keep
the toilets cleaner as their friends will be the ones forced to clean up
any mess they create.
On the other hand, there are countless reasons for me to be
apprehensive about this proposal for making toilet cleaning part of the
school curriculum. Firstly, which student in his right mind would be
happy about having to clean a toilet? Most school toilets are dark, dirty
and smelly. Cleaning them will be most unpleasant.
Furthermore, a spell of cleaning toilets will certainly be a blow to their
ego. Of course, in a wholly girls' or boys' school it would not be so
humiliating. However, if it were a co-ed school, the male ego would certainly
suffer a lot of pain. Imagine girls laughing and teasing a guy who is forced
to clean toilets. Some egoistic guy will create havoc in retaliation!
Then, there is the consideration that most students are playful, anyway.
Imagine them expressing their playful nature in the toilets. Other than
the fact that excessive water is sure to be splashed all over the place,
the students may slip and fall in their merriment. More ill-behaved ones
may even purposely push each other into the toilet bowls.
One other possibility that cannot be excluded is that students may
be so turned off at the thought of toilet cleaning that they may decide
to skip school on the days that it is their turn to learn this skill. Thus,
the teachers of other subjects may find it hard to complete the syllabus,
due to the rise in absenteeism.
In conclusion, I feel that the Ministry of Education should really
ponder on this issue carefully. Frankly, I do not agree at all that cleaning
toilets should be part of the school curriculum. Actually, jobs like toilet
cleaning make one think of prison camps, where the inmates are forced
to do humiliating chores. School is supposed to be a place where young
people can imbibe knowledge and good values in a pleasant, enjoyable atmosphere. It is important that young people actually like to come to school. |
