Each school in Moldova should be outfitted with indoor toilet facilities as this not a whim, but a right of the children and a pressing need, say representatives of a number of NGOs who filed a petition signed by about 4,000 people to the Government on February 28, IPN reports.

The Government is asked to create optimal personal hygiene conditions inside schools for all the students. There should be separate toilet facilities for girls and boys and also for children with special needs.

Olga Bîtcă, of the Resource Center for Human Rights, said more than half of the educational institutions of Moldova do not have sanitary facilities and the students cannot frequently wash the hands to avoid infection, as doctors recommend.

“The children ask and we support them. This is not a whim, but a right of theirs,” said Irina Guşan, coordinator of the Child Rights Information and Documentation Center. “Two times a week, we go to different schools and I want to tell you that the WC is in front of the school. The children have the right to health, but the authorities every time invoke the same excuse: “It is important, but we do not have money,” stated the activist.

A survey carried out by the Children’s Platform shows that only 29% of the children who study at rural schools said they have indoor toilet facilities, as opposed to 71% of the children who study in towns. Some 60% of the respondents consider the hygiene and sanitarian conditions in schools are not safe for health.