Govind Karjol, a Chitradurga MP and former Karnataka deputy chief minister from the BJP, is making headlines for a speech he made on 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."
People have taken notice of the phrase, with many saying that, while it may be a lesson that youngsters should be taught, it should not lead to 'caste prejudice' and 'gender stereotyping', according to the publication.
Karjol also mentioned that when he was studying, he used to sweep and clean' the hostel.
He further stated that when a teacher hands a student a broom, it is considered a crime, leading the student to assume that the work 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 at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, stated in the report that there is nothing wrong with having students clean the toilets; however, there should be no discrimination, and the cleaning work should be done in rotation. "Only class 5 and above students should be involved and toilets should have proper water facility," according to the professor.
The professor further suggested the activity should be implemented in all schools and that the cleaning should be supplemented every weekend by pourakarmikas with payment.
According to the publication, Niranjanaradhya V P, an educationist, claimed that "Karjol's statement is astonishing".
"It is easy to say that children should clean toilets, but it will eventually fall on Dalit children," he remarked, according to the publication.
He questioned the mechanism for monitoring activities and stated that the state should give schools with basic facilities so that students can do what they should be doing.
