Tamil Nadu: School authorities asked girls to clean toilets in Tiruvallur, finds inquiry
The janitor had reportedly not come for work for some days.
Students at a government school for girls in Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu, were asked by a teacher to clean toilets last week, an investigation by education authorities found on Tuesday. Some local television channels had telecast videos of the incident, which happened on Friday.
School authorities asked students at RM Jain Government Girls Higher Secondary School to clean toilets as the janitor had not come for work for some days, The Hindu reported. The girls were not given any gloves, and videos show a student in school uniform scrubbing the toilet floor with cloth. She appeared to be weeping, and could be heard asking another girl to fetch some water.
After an inquiry, T Rajendran, the chief education officer of Tiruvallur, submitted a report about the incident to the directorate of school education.
The school has about 1,000 girls studying from Class 6 to Class 12.
“The girls resisted, but the principal threatened them with punishment if they did not do as told,” a relative of one of the girls told The Hindu. “The girls finally cleaned the toilets using towels and sponge.”