In the wake of a distressing incident where students were compelled to manually clean toilets and excrement pits at Morarji Desai Residential School in Karnataka's Kolar district, a parallel episode unfolded at a government school situated in the Andrahalli region of Bengaluru, sparking widespread outrage among parents as a video capturing the incident went viral.
The distressing footage depicted two primary-level students, barefooted, undertaking the task of cleaning toilets using a broom and other cleaning materials. This occurrence follows closely on the heels of the aforementioned incident in Kolar, where the principal and two staff members of the Morarji Desai Residential School faced suspension due to similar actions.
In response to the Andrahalli government school incident, parents of the affected students organized a protest outside the school premises, demanding accountability from the administration and the teacher responsible for assigning the cleaning task to the students. Subsequently, the education department took action by suspending the headmistress of the school, as reported by the news agency PTI.
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar promptly convened a meeting to investigate the matter and pledged to enforce stringent measures. He asserted that legal action had already been initiated in connection with the Kolar incident. Shivakumar emphasized that while arrangements exist for toilet cleaning in schools, there is unequivocally no authorization to involve children in such tasks.
Expressing concern over the misuse of children, Shivakumar referenced past practices such as the National Service Scheme (NSS) and Seva Dal camps, which provided training for children in activities like gardening and planting saplings. However, he underscored that no permission has been granted to engage children in cleaning toilets.
Further condemnation of the incident came from Karnataka's Primary and Secondary Education Minister, Madhu Bangarappa, who characterized the events as "shocking" and "deplorable." The collective response from authorities and parents underscores the gravity of the situation, prompting a broader discourse on the treatment of students and the need for more stringent safeguards within the educational system.
