Southland father furious daughter had to find teacher to use school toilet

  • 27/03/2018
The man says it is "absolutely wrong" his daughter had to find a teacher to unlock the toilet for her.
The man says it is "absolutely wrong" his daughter had to find a teacher to unlock the toilet for her. Photo credit: iStock

A Southland father is furious saying it is "absolutely wrong" his daughter had to find a teacher at her school to unlock and let her into the toilet. 

The man's 11-year-old daughter narrowly escaped a "nasty accident" at Invercargill's Aurora College in Southland after she desperately searched for a teacher to unlock the toilets, Stuff reports.

The only teacher the girl could find did not have a key. Eventually another teacher was found to unlock the toilet for her, the father said. 

"To have all the toilets locked and having to ask for a key is absolutely wrong. How dare the school impose such a breach of human rights on our kids," the father said.

"We all know that sometimes kids just can't hold on and need to go when they need to go. This is so wrong."

Aurora College principal Robyn Hickman said the school stood by the practice as locking the toilets was necessary to prevent toilets being mistreated so they remained in a fit state. 

"It is implemented if there has been a spate of vandalism, graffiti, or use of the toilets as a smoking area and is designed to remind students to treat the toilets responsibly," Hickman said. 

The practice is implemented school-wide except for the toilets in the student services area in the administration block. 

Ms Hickman said all teachers had keys for the toilets in classroom blocks and access was usually easily provided.

"This is the first time we have been made aware of it being difficult for a student to gain access. We regret a student finding herself in this situation." 

The Ministry of Education's Katrina Casey said there was not a specific policy on locking toilets but schools are asked to follow a national guideline. 

Ms Casey said the Ministry had heard from the father about the incident. 

In a statement Ms Casey said "We have spoken with the school and confirmed with them that they are following up on this complaint. We are confident the school can resolve this promptly." 

The father claimed he had not had any response from the Ministry or Aurora College after he complained by email on Friday.

Newshub.