Primary school pupils in Kano State have expressed displeasure over frequent thefts of their properties and the lack of adequate toilet facilities.
The pupils called on the state government to construct more toilet facilities in their school premises to enhance convenience and erect fences to protect their institutions.
The pupils, studying in primary schools across the state, made the request during an interview with newsmen who were on an assessment tour of projects executed by the State Government under its State of Emergency initiative in the education sector.
They, however, commended the government for declaring a State of Emergency in the education sector but emphasized that the provision of more toilet facilities in their schools is essential for the success of the initiative.
The pupils complained that the existing toilets in their respective schools are grossly inadequate, forcing some of them to either use toilets at home or defecate in the open.
One of them, the Headboy of Yelwa Model Primary School in Dala Local Government Area, Saminu Sunusi, lamented that the school has only two toilets, which he said are grossly inadequate.
“Because of the inadequate number of toilets in the school, some of us must queue up to ease ourselves, while others defecate within the vicinity of the toilets,” Sunusi said.
Similarly, the head girl of the school, Hadiza Ahmed Sulaiman, said that apart from their inadequate number, the facilities lack potable water for proper sanitation.
“We need as many as ten toilets with pipe-borne water to enable us to carry out our sanitation properly,” Sulaiman said.
Nura Yusuf of Ungogo Special Primary School in Ungogo Local Government Area also bemoaned the insufficient number of toilets in the school, which compels pupils to adopt desperate measures to relieve themselves.
“When we are pressed, we usually defecate in spaces within the school’s premises or go back home during break to ease ourselves,” Yusuf, the headboy of the school said.
His counterpart, the head girl of the school, Jamila Isa Suleiman, said the situation is particularly inconvenient for female pupils when they are forced to defecate in the open.
All the pupils spoken to appealed to the state government to fast-track efforts to construct more toilet facilities in their respective schools to enable them have proper convenience during school hours.
Kano pupils decry inadequate toilets, frequent thefts in schools