Author Archives: Jasneet Samrai

School toilet access in lessons is an issue that I, as an individual, am very passionate about. Not being allowed to go to the toilet, due to a teacher saying no as a blanket school policy; is something that I have spoken out about publicly on my social media platforms, as seen here. Not only am I a member of the party, but I also hold a role at Centre Think Tank and have been researching this issue as part of my work. While I do have some questions about the origin of this campaign, this isn’t the reason as to why I wouldn’t say I like this parliamentary Bill. Instead, my hesitations come from the serious practical issues this Bill will encounter, both in terms of its implementation in schools and its ability to be passed into law.

The current Bill itself isn’t designed to change the law and each curriculum, but instead act as a ‘show-motion’; which is one that carries weight and can shape opinion on this issue, yet doesn’t actually make letting students go to the toilet during lessons mandatory. Instead of giving students the ‘right’ which has been spoken about, a lot by the party on social media, this Bill does the opposite. The Bill itself even says that it relies on teachers ‘common sense’, which means that students aren’t legally protected. The power to decide whether students are allowed to go to the toilet during lessons still relies on teachers; this Bill doesn’t change the current issue of teachers not allowing their students to go to the bathroom. This has obvious consequences, such as students bleeding through their clothes when on their period (as happened with me) or even students being in pain due to holding their pee, perhaps even wetting themselves in some circumstances.