Maingi champions dignity and safety through modern school ablution blocks

Mwea MP Mary Maingi has highlighted the importance of safe and dignified sanitation in schools, saying every child deserves to learn in an environment that promotes health, comfort and confidence.

Maingi said some schools in Mwea previously struggled with inadequate and poorly equipped sanitation facilities, with pit latrines posing particular challenges for younger learners.

She noted that for young children, poorly maintained or unsafe toilets can be intimidating, difficult to use and challenging to keep hygienic, while inadequate numbers of facilities can result in congestion and compromise sanitation.

“There was a time when a decent ablution block in some of our schools felt like a luxury,” Maingi said.

The legislator said the situation underscored the need to treat sanitation as an essential component of education infrastructure rather than an afterthought.

She said every child should have access to a school environment where they feel safe, comfortable and treated with dignity.

Against this backdrop, Maingi said she has supported the construction of **34 modern ablution blocks across schools in Mwea**, aimed at improving sanitation standards and creating safer spaces for learners.

The projects, she said, are intended to address both the practical and human aspects of school sanitation by providing learners with cleaner and more appropriate facilities.

For younger pupils in particular, modern ablution blocks can make the school environment less intimidating while helping teachers and school administrators maintain better hygiene standards.

Maingi said the investment also provides reassurance to parents, who want their children to spend their school day in facilities that protect their health and wellbeing.

The Mwea MP said improving school infrastructure should not be limited to classrooms, laboratories and other learning facilities, but must also include basic amenities that directly affect learners’ daily experiences.

She argued that a child’s ability to learn can be affected by the quality of the environment in which they spend much of their day.

“Every child deserves to learn in a school where they feel safe, comfortable and dignified,” she said.

The construction of the ablution blocks therefore forms part of a broader approach to improving the learning environment in schools across Mwea.

Maingi said the initiative reflects her belief that development should address the everyday needs of families and learners, including facilities that may not always attract the same attention as major infrastructure projects but remain essential to children’s welfare.

She also linked improved sanitation to the dignity of learners, saying children should not be expected to endure unsafe or inadequate facilities as part of their education experience.

The projects are expected to provide schools with better-equipped sanitation spaces while reducing pressure on existing facilities where the number of toilets has previously been insufficient for the learner population.

Maingi said the needs of the youngest learners deserve particular attention because they can be more vulnerable to unsafe and unhygienic sanitation facilities.

She maintained that providing appropriate ablution facilities is not about luxury but about ensuring that basic standards of dignity and safety are met in every learning institution.

“Because dignity in our schools is not a luxury. It is a basic need,” she said.

Her message places sanitation alongside other essential investments needed to create supportive learning environments, while highlighting the importance of listening to the practical needs of schools and communities.

For parents, improved sanitation means greater confidence that their children are learning in cleaner and safer surroundings.

For learners, the facilities represent something equally important — the assurance that their comfort, safety and dignity matter.

Maingi said the work of improving school infrastructure must therefore continue, with the welfare of learners remaining at the centre of development efforts across Mwea.