• Sanitation in city schools alarming

The blood-sucking pests, bedbugs are now being reported in increasing numbers of schools around the Kigali city.

A random schools’ sanitation survey conducted by The New Times around the city has established that most schools lack proper hygiene.

The sanitation situation in schools was first revealed by the Vice Mayor of Kigali in charge of social affairs Jeanne d’ Arc Gakuba recently, when she mentioned that many schools lacked what she called basic sanitation facilities that do not need much resources to maintain.

Most schools that were visited during the survey were found to have lavatories that were in a sorry state and the general environment of the schools was found to be wanting.

The hygiene problem was recently confirmed by the participants at the just-concluded Itorero ry’Igihugu who had sought the services of some secondary schools dormitories around the city but spent sleepless nights due to bedbugs.

"We had to always spray disinfectants in the dormitories so that these people get some sleep,” said Gakuba.

Some schools, according to survey, have not sprayed their dormitories for a long time leaving the students at the exposure of pests like bedbugs.

"Some of us fail to sleep due to the bugs and some students have had to get used to them because they have been subjected to this situation for a long time,” said Joseph Muhire a student in one of the schools that were visited.

Gakuba says that unhygienic environments affect the performance of the students in class because at times they fall sick in between the term.

"Head teachers should ensure cleanliness around their schools and also endeavour teaching the students about personal hygiene because we will not tolerate filthy schools in our city that is known for its cleanliness.”

She added that schools should put in place mechanisms that will ensure that dormitories are disinfected from time to time and to ensure general cleanliness, be in classes or school buildings which have to be regularly painted.

Speaking to The New Times, the Hygiene and Sanitation inspector at KCC, Capt. Richard Biseruka said that they had put in place a programme to train people in different schools in on different methods of keeping school environment clean and called upon schools to utilise the chance.

"We are going to train people how to spray and recommend to them effective disinfectants because most of them think that they are so expensive which is not the case,” Biseruka explained.

According to him, KCC has a set of instructions regarding hygiene and sanitation which every school is expected to follow but most schools don’t abide by them thereby creating such situations.

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