School toilets are 'disgusting', say pupils

One in four secondary pupils think their school toilets are "disgusting" and 36 per cent believe they are never clean, according to research published yesterday.

A quarter avoid the school toilets if at all possible, blaming poor hygiene, bullies and smokers. Some 38 per cent of secondary school girls admitted to "holding it in" to avoid going to the toilet while 16 per cent of secondary school boys say "bad things" happen in them.

Some 457 children took part in the study conducted by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The group was split into primary school children (aged four to 10) and secondary school pupils (aged 11 to 18). More girls than boys said they always washed their hands after going to the toilet at school (87 per cent compared to 72 per cent).

Primary school children were more likely to always use soap compared to those at secondary school – perhaps because they were reminded more often by teachers. More than a quarter (27 per cent) of secondary school boys said they never use soap at school, putting them at risk of diarrhoea and infections such as swine flu.

Among secondary school children, 42 per cent said soap was available sometimes while 19 per cent said there was never any soap. Handwashing with soap can cut the risk of catching diarrhoea in half, while good handwashing skills has been shown to reduce absenteeism from school.

Dr Val Curtis, who led the study, said: "Our survey has found handwashing in Britain's schools to be less than ideal. It would be easy to blame laziness on the part of the kids for this state of affairs, but clearly the problem lies with inadequate and dirty facilities, particularly in secondary schools.

"There's a strong economic case for investing in good handwashing facilities in our schools. Britain's 12 million cases of norovirus, gastroenteritis, MRSA, E coli and now swine flu infections are mainly down to dirty hands.

"Our children deserve better than to be exposed to avoidable illnesses because we are not doing enough to provide safe, clean toilets in our schools."