WORLD TOILET DAY: ‘It’s high time pit toilets were eliminated from public schools in SA’ – UP expert

Every 19 November, World Toilet Day, a United Nations observance campaign, encourages governments and the private sector to address the global sanitation crisis. It relates to target 6.2 of the UN's sixth Sustainable Development Goal: 'Safe toilets for all by 2030'. According to the UN, about 3.5 billion individuals do not have access to safe sanitation facilities, with 419 million engaging in open defecation.

This year's theme - 'Toilets: A Place for Peace' - is an apt one when considering the state of toilets in South African public schools. Imagine being a learner who has to make use of one of the more than 3 900 illegal pit toilets still in use, as estimated by Amnesty International South Africa. Think of the young girl who is missing four to six days of school a month - that's an annual loss of about 60 learning days - because of so-called period poverty. In a recent study by Stellenbosch University Hospital, it was revealed that in South Africa, about 30% of teenage girls experience period poverty, mainly because they do not have access to menstrual items and sanitation amenities at school. This grim picture is far removed from a place of peace for learners in South African schools and poses a significant threat to the educational prospects of children in an already unequal society.

The elimination of pit toilets in public schools has been an ongoing battle. In 2013, they were banned from schools, as detailed in the Department of Basic Education's Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure, and were meant to have been removed and replaced by 2016. It is now 2024, and all the deadlines set by the department - in 2016, then 2020 and 2023 - have been missed. The latest promise from the department is that pit toilets will be eradicated by 2025, but their previous lack of action indicates a dearth of political will to attend to this critical issue.

Forming partnerships is a possible solution to ensuring that there is safe water and good sanitation in schools. University of Pretoria (UP) students are involved in various community engagement initiatives at schools as they relate to water and sanitation. Through these projects, UP students are encouraged to be a voice for the marginalised and to work towards bridging the divides faced by learners in schools in South Africa.

A UP social work student's 2020 Blue Drop initiative is one such example. This project was implemented at Sjambok Primary School in Erasmus near Tshwane to provide learners with access to clean water by placing water dispenser containers made of recyclable material in every classroom. In 2023, the Future Africa Research Leader Fellowship (FAR-LeaF) programme at UP contributed to a study that explored community participation in water and sanitation delivery in the Mantsopa Municipality, and included schools.

Another impactful partnership is one forged by public-benefit organisation Breadline with the private sector. Their Flush Challenge campaign aims to change the lives of 120 000 children across 240 schools in South Africa by installing 4 000 toilets. They recently installed 66 eco-friendly, low-flush Envirosan toilet systems, 18 urinals, and handwashing facilities at primary schools in KwaZulu-Natal. Feedback from public school beneficiaries demonstrate that they have experienced improved privacy and dignity, are able to drink water when they are thirsty, have no fear of falling into a pit toilet, and do not have to wait in long queues during break times to access bathroom facilities.

South Africa does not lack policies to address the issue of pit toilets. The National Sanitation Policy (2016) provides guidelines and support to municipalities for sanitation service delivery and to eradicate pit toilets. The Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) initiative directly addresses sanitation challenges in schools. Its main objective is to replace basic pit toilets with appropriate sanitation in accordance with the norms and standards for infrastructure in public schools. Policies do exist - we just need to advocate for their successful implementation and ensure that there are budget provisions for resources in order to realise these existing policies.

School communities in South Africa can't afford yet another child dying an undignified death in a pit toilet. Alarmingly, the UN estimates that "unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene are responsible for the deaths of around 1 000 children under five every day". While there has been a decrease in the number of children dying in pit toilets at schools, the fact that these toilets are still in use does not reduce the danger of more children dying from falling into them.

World Toilet Day is an opportunity to reflect on the need to form more partnerships, generate more funding and improve the management of sanitation in schools to eliminate the scourge of pit toilets, in service of creating a more equitable and peaceful future for children in public schools in South Africa.

Elmien Claassens, a lecturer in the Department of Social Work and Criminology at the University of Pretoria

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Pretoria.