About 1,000 female students of Government Junior Secondary School (GJSS), Independence Way, in Kaduna North Local Government Area lack toilet facilities in the school, Arewa Trust Weekly has gathered.
The all girls’ school formally known as Women Teachers College (WTC) has no toilet facilities for students, thereby forcing them to use nearby bushes which exposes them to danger, including sexual exploitation.
According to the School Based Management Committee (SBMC), there is an urgent need for government at all levels, as well as UNICEF and other groups to come to the aid of the girls by building a block of toilets to save them from exposure to reptiles and other unhygienic practices in the bushes.
The Chairman of SBMC, Malam Musa Haruna, told Project Watch procurement monitors during a monitoring visit of: “Procurement of Students and Teachers Furniture in 25 JSSs”, that a block of toilets would save the girls from indecent exposure.
He said, “Our major challenge in the school is lack of toilet facilities. The girls are exposed daily to lots of dangers when they are pressed. At times when they can no longer hold it, they enter nearby bushes to answer the call of nature thereby being exposed to snakes and other reptiles.”
Malam Haruna who is also the Village Head of Ja’afaru Estate said the lack of toilet facilities also created room for unhygienic practices and therefore appealed to government agencies and international donors to come to their aid.
