No Child Should Have To Hold It In The Silent Crisis Facing 1 In 3 Learners

Imagine being seven years old, sitting in a classroom trying to learn your alphabet — but instead, your entire focus is on one thing: holding it in. You need the toilet, but you’d rather endure the discomfort than face the filth you know awaits you. You’ve seen the floor. You’ve smelled the stench from down the corridor. You’ve felt the fear. So, you hold it in. You tense your muscles. You stop drinking water. You wait for the school bell to ring.

For 33% of South African learners, this is not imagination. It is their every day.

According to global research conducted by Domestos, 1 in 3 children avoid using their school toilets because the facilities are dirty, unhygienic, or unsafe — a statistic that demands national attention.

A shadow health crisis

For children who spend six to eight hours a day at school, “holding it in” isn’t just uncomfortable — it has consequences. Chronic toilet avoidance can lead to urinary tract infections, digestive issues, and dehydration.

But the impact goes far beyond physical health.

South African child psychologists note that this behaviour is often rooted in anxiety. When children must choose between using an unsafe toilet or enduring the pain of holding it in, their sense of safety erodes. They become hyper-aware, stop drinking water, or constantly monitor the clock. Their brains shift from learning mode to survival mode.

This isn’t about dirty floors. It’s about protecting a child’s dignity, confidence, and right to feel safe in their learning environment.

The power of partnership

The scale of the sanitation crisis cannot be solved by one organisation alone. While the Department of Basic Education (DBE) faces the big task of maintaining infrastructure across thousands of schools, school sanitation is a shared social responsibility.

For 15 years, Domestos has been committed to tackling unsafe sanitation and poor hygiene in South African schools. In 2017, this commitment grew into a formal partnership with the DBE — enabling programs such as Cleaner Toilets, Brighter Futures and the National Schools Hygiene Programme, which have reached over 10 million learners nationwide.

Within this, the Cleaner Toilets, Brighter Futures initiative has directly impacted more than 900,000 learners with improved infrastructure, hygiene resources, and — critically — training for the often-unsung heroes who maintain school toilets: cleaners and teachers.

By empowering them, Domestos helps prevent toilet avoidance and restores dignity where it was lost.

You shouldn't have to choose between health and education

Domestos’ mission is bold yet simple: 10 million more learners with access to clean toilets by 2030.

And the power to achieve it lies with all of us — in our homes, in our communities, and even in our shopping baskets.

Through the Back-to-School campaign, every bottle of Domestos purchased contributes directly to improving school sanitation. It is one of the rare moments where cleaning your own bathroom helps restore dignity in a school bathroom far away.

Consumers also stand a chance to win one of ten R5 000 toilet hygiene toolkits for a school of their choice — a powerful way to look at the school in your neighbourhood and say:

“Not on my watch.”

No more holding it in

We often debate pass rates, tablets, and curricula. Yet we rarely talk about toilets — even though they directly influence a child’s ability to learn.

A child who is focused on their bladder is not learning; they are surviving.

Safe sanitation is not a luxury. It is a fundamental right linked to health, safety, dignity, and quality education.

It’s time to stop treating school sanitation as a “dirty secret” or someone else’s problem. It is a national priority — one that affects every learner, every teacher, and every community.

Support the movement by choosing Domestos. Visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkI2jvM-Pgk   to learn more about how your purchase helps keep South African learners in class and out of discomfort.