'Nothing wrong with students cleaning toilets, Japan does it,' says Chitradurga MP Govind Karjol: Report

The statement has attracted attention from people, with many believing that while it can be a lesson that the children ought to be taught cleanliness, it should not lead to 'caste discrimination' and 'gender stereotyping'.

Chitradurga MP and former Karnataka deputy chief minister, Govind Karjol, who belongs to the BJP, is in the news after a statement he made on the occasion of Teachers' Day.

According to a Times Of India report, Karjol said, "What is wrong if students wash toilets in schools? In Japan, teachers and students clean toilets."

The statement has attracted attention from people, with many believing that while it can be a lesson that the children ought to be taught, it should not lead to 'caste discrimination' and 'gender stereotyping', the publication said.

Further, Karjol added that when he was studying, he used to 'sweep and clean' the hostel.

He also said that when a student is handed a broom by a teacher, it is seen as a crime which makes the student believe that the job of cleaning is inferior.

"We have seen videos where teachers make students wash toilets. Action is being taken against them. Giving broom to students is being seen as a crime, due to which the students feel that the work of cleaning is inferior. Instead, it is necessary to teach children about cleanliness," he said, as reported by the publication.

On Karjol's statement, Seetharamu M S, a former professor of Institute for Social and Economic Change, said as per the report that there is nothing wrong in getting the toilets cleaned by students, however, there should not be any discrimination, and the cleaning work should be done on rotation basis.

"Only class 5 and above students should be involved and toilets should have proper water facility," the professor added.

Adding that the activity should be followed in every school, the professor said that the cleaning should be supplemented every weekend by pourakarmikas with payment.

The publication quoted Niranjanaradhya V P, an educationist saying that "Karjol's statement is astonishing".

"It is easy to say children should clean toilets, but finally, it would fall upon children from the Dalit community," he said as reported by the publication.

Questioning the mechanism of monitoring the activity, he said, the state should provide minimal facilities to schools so that students can do what they are meant to do.