Schools: Survey: School toilets in poor condition

Sometimes there is no soap or toilet paper, other times something is broken or it smells: many students report poor hygiene in school toilets. This finding is now supported by a survey conducted by the German Children’s Fund among 3,218 children and young people. Only 44 percent of the students surveyed consider the condition of the sanitary facilities at their school to be good, according to the children’s rights organization.

But there are differences. In North Rhine-Westphalia, 67 percent of the students surveyed reported poor toilets, in Hamburg 65 percent – but in Saxony, at 32 percent, the figure is significantly lower. According to the children’s welfare organization, municipalities and large cities in particular differ greatly from one another. In large cities, children rate their school toilets significantly worse than in small municipalities.

School infrastructure in “deplorable condition”

The figures for opportunities for play and exercise look a little better. Around three-quarters of the students surveyed say that there is enough space for exercise and play. However, only 48 percent of those surveyed said there was a good place to relax, as the political research institute Verian found for the children’s welfare organization.

Not only the school buildings themselves, but also the schoolyard and the break areas are in a “deplorable state,” Holger Hofmann, managing director of the children’s welfare organization, is quoted as saying in a statement. The focus must be “on the structural condition of our schools, and here also on the schoolyard and break areas.”