Girls in India, particularly in rural India, face extra obstacles that make it not only challenging to go to school, but to stay in school. Rural families, unable to afford the cost of educating all their children, choose to send their sons instead. For those girls that do make it to school, puberty brings with it extra problems. In many schools, toilets are either dysfunctional, inadequate in terms of numbers, lack water, lack privacy, or don't exist at all. In a survey of 80 schools conducted of a district in the state of Andhra Pradesh (north of Tamil Nadu), 52 had no drinking water facilities, 57 had no toilets, and five had toilets but without doors or water. In the latter case, children had to use the open space behind the school, and since that was used by boys, social norms meant that girls did not feel comfortable using the same space. Girls sometimes deliberately dehydrated themselves to avoid relieving themselves at school. For those living in dormitories also without adequate facilities, girls sometimes skip the evening meal hoping to avoid going out in the dark and defecating.
When such basic needs are not being met, how can we expect India's girls to stay in school, particularly for those whose home issues already makes it challenging?
Last year, our elementary school's Roots & Shoots program raised money to build toilet facilities at several schools in Tamil Nadu.
Note: More information from the survey can be found in the Hindu Newspaper, Dec. 12, 2010.
