Tips for keeping your school clean and hygienic

Did you know that Student absences can lead to higher instances of drop outs? This is according to The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association.

Educational centres and schools are busy environments where student contact is inevitable, thus becoming the perfect environment for viruses, bacteria and infections to spread, sometimes uncontrollably. Lack of hygiene measures and cleaning routines can end up costing schools hundreds if not thousands in Rands due to teacher absenteeism.

Let’s look at ways that everyone can improve their cleaning and hygiene routines to lower the risk of spreading germs and viruses in the school environment.

Basic Classroom Cleaning

In South Africa most schools employ their own cleaners where private schools may employ a professional cleaning service to carry out the day to day cleaning. For smaller schools with smaller budgets cleaning tasks can be handed to the teachers and students. Cleaning of desk surfaces using suitable sanitising chemicals, sweeping and mopping of classroom floors can be done before lunch time or set aside a few minutes each day to organise and clean each classroom. This way the school classrooms can be kept dust free and sanitised.

Daily Sanitisation and Disinfection

There are some differences between sanitising and disinfecting. Sanitising may reduce germ numbers significantly, where disinfecting is to completely eradicate 100% of the viruses or germs. Most disinfectants guarantee 99.99% kill rate if the disinfectant is used correctly.

Teachers and cleaners should be wiping frequently touched surfaces regularly throughout the day. Surfaces such as desks, door handles, classroom toys, computers, keyboards and mice should be disinfected after use if students are sharing or frequently touching these items. As we head into winter in South Africa, the spread of flu and cold increases the risk of spreading infection when surfaces are not disinfected regularly. A thorough disinfection and sanitising programme in schools will help reduce the spread of Viruses and bacteria.

Create Awareness about the importance of cleaning

Everyone should be involved in the cleaning process no matter how small the task may be. Put up posters around the school to create awareness about the importance of keeping all areas clean. In the computer room put up signage informing students and teachers to sanitise keyboards and mice after use.

Restrooms are important areas that need to be cleaned regularly. Create a restroom cleaning checklist for the restrooms. The cafeteria or staff room should also create a cleaning checklist to ensure that these areas are being cleaned and disinfected regularly.

Hire a Professional Cleaning Service           

If all else fails, hire a professional! This may sound like it may cost more, but cleaning companies have the experience required to keep a school clean and hygienic and in the long run this does save time and money by reducing teacher absenteeism due to ill health caused by the spread of infections in the school. Not only does this save the school money but this creates a healthy environment for students to continue learning and in the long run reduce the amount of dropouts caused by long term absenteeism.

For Professional school cleaning services in Cape Town, contact us today.

Photo by Mira Kireeva on Unsplash