Now, why should we leave the school?

What if a school going girl entering into her puberty would ignore going to schools? Put yourself into a situation when due to lack of proper sanitation facility at school where you shall have no other choice rather than to use the toilet in disgust? Would it be fare enough to compromise on education and dignity only because of lack of proper sanitation facility in schools?

Above are only few of the questions that pose challenges to sanitation at schools and directly hinders the deliberation of going to schools. The case is worse for the girls who have entered into their puberty. Owing to lack of proper sanitation facilities (that may also be used as private area) in school, girls during their menstruation have no choice other than to ask for a leave. This phenomenon at one hand deprives the school going girls from their rights of access to education and at other makes them feel vulnerable. This is an issue that is required to be addressed for inclusive education rights and to ensure education for all.

Shree Adarsha Balika Secondary School of Biratnagar-10: an education avenue for 700 girls of poor and marginalized groups residing at Biratnagar Sub Metropolitan City had a similar context. The issue of this school came in light from a research conducted by Citizen's Action Forum of Biratnagar, on situation of school sanitation at public schools of Biratnagar Sub Metropolitan City. It was found from the report that the lack of proper sanitation facility with a provision to dispose sanitary pads resulted in reluctance of students to attend the school. This was evident by decreasing rate of attendance of girls and increasing number of requests for leave during school. The school administration owing to technical and financial constraints was not able to take control of this situation.

What  happened to address this problem, for Adarsha Balika Secondary School, was a great relief for the school as well as to the students of this school. The story is a remarkable deed of achievement for the school and for Lumanti Support Group for Shelter that piloted the installation of "Incinerator" in the school latrine. Lumanti, working in WASH sector in Biratnagar Sub Metropolitan City since last three years, invested in rehabilitating the existng school latrine- making it more spacious with private space for girls and installing an incinerator for management of sanitary pads.

So, what exactly is an incinerator installed in school latrine? When asked this question, Mr Nielsh Shrestha, Technical Supervisor of Lumanti, who designed this school latrine with incinerator, described about the structure, “This particular incinerator, in this school latrine is a system that protrudes from the latrine. The incinerator has two sections; upper and lower separated by an iron-gauge. The interior of the latrine has a small opening from where the sanitary pads is disposed into the upper section of the incinerator. The lower section of the incinerator acts as a fire chamber."  Mr Nilesh adds, "When this incinerator installed latrine in the school comes in use, fire is lighted once in a week in the lower section to burn the sanitary pads in the upper section. The ash collected in the lower section is collected and would be disposed in the nearby fields."

"The structure itself would not itself solve the problem but can be solved from the regular use of this new asset and it proper management. The school shall see the system would effectively function and would benefit the students of the school", Mr Hari Narayan Yadav, Principal of the school remarked. He added, " We are more than proud to have such system in our school, I would like to appeal that such systems be installed in other schools too so that the school going girls would not have to be deprived of education mere because of their physiological problems."

Everyone in the school had a happy gesture seeing the new structure of their school. What had the students of the school say? All of them had the same happiness, same joy and same voice, "Our happiness has no limits now. Now, why should we leave the school?"

We want everyone to share this happiness and same joy. Now why should girls leave the school?