Cleaning toilets should be part of the school curriculum.?
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.
