The only toilet that serves Phin Chai B campus of Van Chai Primary and Secondary Semi-Boarding School for Minority Students in Dong Van District in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang.
Photo by N.A.
Washing basins in Sinh Lung Primary and Secondary School, also in Dong Van, have been damaged, and almost impossible to use.
The school has nearly 400 semi-boarding students and more than 20 teachers, but only two toilets can be used, causing frequent overcrowding.
Thao Thi Hong Duyen, a school teacher, said that during the school year, the children had to wait in line to use the toilets. Teachers take their turn at night.
The toilets often carry foul smell due to lack of water and overload. During hot weather, the bad smell spreads to classrooms and boarding houses, and as far as one km away.
A more properly built toilet at Lung Phin Secondary School in Dong Van, which is rarely used due to a lack of water. It is also often clogged because of the poor quality of the septic system.
Nguyen Thi Huong, a teacher who has worked at the school for 13 years, said dirty toilets affect the students' health and the quality of teaching and learning.
The school built a water tank on the campus to collect rainwater, but it was only a temporary solution for the lack of water.
Students stand near a toilet at a campus of Ta Phin Primary and Secondary School.
"I told my child not to use the toilet at school. If he accidentally falls into it, he might get bitten by a snake and cannot run," said Sung Thin La, a parent of a second-grader at the school.
A toilet at Pho Cao Primary and Secondary School in Dong Van.
The school's teachers said unhygienic toilets are the reason many students have dropped out. On cold and rainy days, almost all students do not go to school because the toilet is far from classrooms.
"There is no septic system here and no place to wash hands, so it's easy for the children to catch and spread diseases to each other," a teacher said.
Queuing to go to the toilet is usual for students at Ma Le Primary and Secondary School.
Cha My Dinh, a school teacher, said that the school's facilities, including the toilets, are of poor quality. The school lacks toilets for semi-boarding students and resident teachers. Some schools and substructures are dilapidated, lack water, and are unsanitary. This has a significant impact on the quality of life and learning of teachers and students.
With the desire to create good study environment for highland children, Hope Foundation, with the companionship of the probiotic brand Enterogermina, has restarted the School Hygiene Project in Dong Van, Ha Giang.
The project aims to build 20 standard toilets, support clean water filtration systems at some schools, and teach good hygiene practices to students. To join hands with the project, click here.
