India – Lack of toilets leads to girls leaving schools

Lack of toilets resulting in girls dropping out of schools in Orissa

Kendrapada : Lack of toilet facility is one of the major factors for the increase in drop-out ratio of girl children from government-run schools in Kendrapada district.

As many as 498 schools in the district do not have toilets in their campuses. Significantly, the drop-out of girls from these schools having no toilets is greater than those schools equipped with either latrines or toilets, according to official sources. A high-level meeting at the district headquarters held Tuesday to review the sanitation scheme threw light on this disturbing trend, they said.

Parents now prefer admitting their girl child in neighbouring schools having the basic sanitation facilities. To deal with the situation, authorities have been directed to ensure construction of toilet facilities in all schools by the end of this month, a senior official said.

Source – http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowDistrictNews.asp?id=14372