SALEM: Health and hygiene of students of the Fort Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Salem city are at risk due to poor upkeep of toilets.

The school, located next to the Salem District Collectorate, has been functioning without regular sanitation staff for nearly two years. Teachers say that the absence of sweepers and scavengers has left toilets and classrooms poorly maintained, forcing them to pool money from their own pockets to hire temporary workers.

The 151-year-old government institution has a strength of 1,629 students from Classes 6 to 12 and around 50 toilets on its campus. According to teachers, only one scavenger currently visits the school - once in three days - while there is no regular sweeper either. "For a girls' higher secondary school with over 1,500 students, hygiene has become a major concern," said a teacher, requesting anonymity.

"Without regular cleaning, there's a risk of urinary tract infections (UTIs) among students. Earlier, we had two scavengers and three sweepers, but now only one person comes occasionally."

Teachers said they had to approach workers themselves and pay them using money collected from among the staff or from Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) funds as the government had not appointed staff. "Since the payment depends on our contributions, the work is irregular," the teacher said.

They added that the school has also been functioning without a regular watchman, raising safety concerns.

A senior school official said the sanitation issue is part of a wider problem. "Many government schools face the same challenge - funds are delayed, and posts remain vacant," the official said. She also added, the management has written several times to both the Salem City Municipal Corporation and the Education Department, but there has been no response or action from either.

Teachers also said the condition of the campus is now affecting admissions. "The school's strength is already declining, and some parents cite unclean toilets and poor maintenance as reasons when applying for transfer certificates," said one of them.

When contacted, Chief Educational Officer M Kabir said the responsibility for appointing sanitation staff in schools within city limits lies with the corporation. "It is the Corporation that has to allocate funds and appoint sanitation workers," he said.

However, the City Health Officer of the Corporation, P R Murali Shankar, said the appointment of sanitation staff and the allocation of related funds fall under the Education Department. "We do not appoint sweepers or scavengers for government schools," the officer said.

With no department taking responsibility, officials continue to point fingers at each other, leaving the problem unresolved on the ground. It is the girl students who have to put up with toilets that go uncleaned for days, thus compromising their health and hygiene.

The story is reported by Sneha Sivashanmugam for The New Indian Express