Is there anything wrong with children cleaning home and school toilets? Some children detest and hate the idea of cleaning toilets because it is below their dignity to clean toilets. There is a need for an attitude change.
Through primary and secondary schooling, I cleaned my house toilets in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. My parents divided the housework among my four other siblings.
I grew up cleaning toilets, even in the 1980s, while studying in the United States, staying in hostels and apartments. Even now, I do not fuss about cleaning my home toilets when the once-a-week maid does not show up.
Cleaning is seen as a chore by most of us -- it was a task we had to do, so my parents allowed me to play cricket and hockey, and the incentive was also we could go to a movie in the 1960s.
Last week, the education ministry acknowledged that it would implement hygiene education in schools after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim called on students to clean toilets to learn humility. "Getting pupils to take turns to wash school toilets should not be viewed negatively. I said, 'How can we send our children to school if the toilets are in such a state?' They are humans, too," he said in his speech launching the D'Anjung Selera Madani food court in Bandar Tun Razak on Saturday.
Education minister, Fadhlina Sidek, said on Twitter that the move would have a positive, valuable impact on students. "I welcome the prime minister's suggestion that students be involved in hygiene education at school," she tweeted.
Anwar had commented on the poor state of many school toilets, saying that students could benefit from being made to keep them clean.
"Kids must be taught to clean toilets to learn humility and good values. If they do that, they will better appreciate their mother and the toilet cleaners' work. It was practised during my time as the education minister (in 1986). I faced resistance even then when (on one occasion) an upper-class professional family wrote to me in protest.
"At times, the well-to-do have no concern or compassion for the lower-income groups. I do not want the Madani concept to be an empty slogan. The people must know that there is compassion and love through Madani. We should not only look at the material ownership of a person but at their humanity," Anwar added.
India Today's report noted: "Students as young as first graders clean and maintain their classrooms, serve lunch to their classmates, and even clean the toilets! This is not a government mandate, but every school follows this national trend with little variations. In Japan, however, washing one's classroom and school is a part of their education. This practice may be familiar to some in other parts of the world as it is shown in many anime series depicting Japanese school life.
"While this practice might even be considered child abuse by many in the Western world, it is recognised as a holistic practice to be a responsible citizen in the Eastern culture. Japanese students also view keeping their school clean as a part of their life and culture and don't detest the work. "The ultimate goal of Japanese education is to foster the student's ability to become a fully integrated and productive member of Japanese society," a book on Japanese education states in 'Looking into the Lives of Children."
Freelance Writer M.Krishnamoorthy (www.imkrishna.net) is a media coach, associate professor and undercover journalist. M. Krishnamoorthy is a media coach, associate professor, and journalist who worked and freelanced with Bernama, NST, The Star, and Malaysiakini. He also freelances as a fixer/coordinator for CNN, BBC, German and Australian Television networks and the New York Times. As an undercover journalist, he has highlighted society's concerns going undercover as a beggar, security guard, blind man, disabled salesman and Member of Parliament.
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