Toilets impart life lessons at Government LP School, Cotton Hill

Thiruvananthapuram: Government LPS, Cotton Hill, has toilets that are worthy talking about. One of the many things that you would notice about it is the wit, and sometimes sass, in the graffiti scrawled on the toilet doors. Sample this: “Taramtirivu malinya samskaranathilavatte”. It can be roughly translated as “Let there be segregation, but only of waste (and not of people).” “Eriyaruthu, please,” says another. Unlike the sometimes mundane messages that get pasted on walls, these stand out. That was the objective.

The lines were thought up overnight by Head Teacher Celine M, and later tweaked by Rajesh R, the person who painted it. They relied on Suchitwa Mission booklets. The wit, of course, is their own.  The walls and doors have illustrations of popular cartoon characters sharing messages on personal hygiene, healthy habits and waste management. “We wanted it to be attractive to the children,” says Celine. She does not mind cleaning the toilets, as it looks so good, she says.  It is not just the infrastructure. The school’s ‘ministers’ of health and sanitation – students who are part of a mock cabinet at the school – ensure that the messages of hygiene reach many more children.

The maintenance was completed in two years, using funds collected from various sources. Corporation, Department of Public Instruction, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, PTA and MPTA, as well as clubs like Lions’ Club, Rotary Club, Inner Wheel and Y’s Men, contributed. Around Rs 10 lakhs would have been spent, so far, according to the head teacher.   She says, “Had we waited to finish the work using only funds from the government, the work would not have moved forward.” As an afterthought she adds, “Perhaps it is because this is the Cotton Hill school that we had least trouble collecting funds.”