Is Toilet Training Needed at Elementary School?

Toilet training is one of the activities included during MPLS program. Toilet training is a stage where children are ready to learn about toilet etiquette just as adults. Defecating independently and correctly in the bathroom is not easy for children. A learning process is needed to make children recognize the body’s need to excrete urine or feces in the proper place, that is the toilet.

According to the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI) there is no definite age for starting toilet training for children. Toilet training readiness is seen from physical and psychological maturity which generally occurs around the age of 18 months to 2.5 years. However, in some cases it is still found that children are not able to go to the toilet independently at school age, even up to elementary school age.

As reported by IDAI, the toilet training stage includes explain the purpose of urinating, how to remove clothes or trousers, defecating in the toilet, cleaning body parts around the urinal area, putting clothes back on, flushing the toilet, and washing hands.

Toilet training in Islam is closely related to the thaharah and purification. It is about small hadats and large hadats. Urination and defecation fall into the category of small hadast, so it is mandatory for us to clean them first before worshiping Allah SWT.

Ustadzah Rumaya Dewi from the first class teacher explained that the purpose of toilet training activities in the MPLS is to find out the child’s completeness in toilet training. The school invites parents to work together for the children who have not yet passed toilet training at home. Hopefully the students at early elementary school have passed toilet training.