Pupils being denied school toilets access to be clarified by Council
‘Right to sanitation is a human right which includes young people throughout their school day’ - Cllr Emma McGinley
Derry City and Strabane District Council is to write to all schools in its area to clarify their policy on allowing pupils to access toilets throughout the day.
The proposal was contained in a fuller motion proposed by Cllr Emma McGinley (Sinn Féin) and seconded by her party colleague, Cllr Pat Murphy on Wednesday afternoon at Council’s April plenary. It was passed unanimously.
Cllr McGinley said she had brought the motion in response to discussions she had with young people at a recent community mapping exercise for the city’s Moor District Electoral Area (DEA).
“Throughout many, if not all of the discussions, young people have raised the issue of access to bathrooms during the school day,” said Cllr McGinley. “It should be noted the right to sanitation is a human right which applies to all regardless of age and that includes young people throughout their school day.
“Within these discussions, it has been highlighted that in some schools toilets can only be accessed during breaks, which can be overcrowded as everyone is only allowed to access them at the same time,” she added.
“Some young people have stated they might not need to go during a break time, but they are restricted to only being allowed out during class when they have a medical note.
“Others have stated that school toilets are sometimes locked between lessons and at times there are only specific toilets that can be accessed during classes which could be at the other end of the school, which can cause people to take longer to get there and back, meaning they miss more of their class than they need to and then have to catch up.
“Imagine being a young girl with a heavy period or a condition like endometriosis that can take ten years to diagnose, and being told you are not allowed out to use the bathroom, or a young fella with a bladder or kidney issue and having to show a medical note and all of your class knows you have a problem.
“I posted in social media yesterday I was bringing this motion forward and since then I have been inundated with messages from pupils, parents and some teachers about their experiences,” said Cllr McGinley, who added the motion was not a criticism of teachers managing classrooms.
She added: “As adults, we are not restricted from accessing the bathroom, regardless of the work environment. So why should the same dignity not be afforded to our young people?
“Overall, I feel it is really important we clarify what the policies are of schools in the district and what they have in relation to allowing pupils to access toilets [and] ensure these policies are in line not only with the right to sanitation but in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
The full text of Cllr McGinley’s motion read:
“Council acknowledges the ongoing positive work of the North West Ministry of Youth and our youth providers in giving the space for young people's voices to be heard as part of decision-making processes, and commends the young people involved for bringing forward the issues that matter to them.
“Council acknowledges that through many of these discussions, young people have repeatedly raised their concerns about school policies restricting their access to school bathrooms throughout the school day.
“Council notes that Article 3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that ‘The best interest of the child must be a top priority in all decisions and actions that affect children’
Council will write to all schools in the Derry City and Strabane Council District to clarify their policy on allowing pupils to access toilets throughout the day.
Council will notify the North West Ministry of Youth that this correspondence is being sent and will share any return correspondence from schools with the group also."