KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 29 — SK Tanah Hitam in the town of Chemor, Perak, was recognised as the primary school with the cleanest public toilet this year with its Touch N Toilet concept that keeps track of students entering the loo through a scan of their identity cards.

The high tech concept introduced Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology last year for the male toilets, where students are required to tap their identity cards and have them scanned each time they enter and exit, Utusan Malaysia reported today.

SK Tanah Hitam’s principal Halimatus Sadiah Mohd Sharif said a special software could analyse the frequency of students’ visits to the toilets, based on the scanning of their identity cards.

“This initiative by the school will indirectly avoid students from playing truant (loitering in the toilet for too long) besides overcoming the problem of vandalism or bullies in an enclosed space such as the toilets,” she was quoted as saying.

She said the system could be emulated by other schools as it emphasises on security, cleanliness and cheerfulness in toilets.

According to Utusan Malaysia, students are further required to remove their shoes outside the toilet and wear the slippers provided inside.

The Malay daily added that the toilets for male students are equipped with faucets with infra-red technology to save water, close-circuit television cameras have been installed outside the toilet where a prayer for entry and exit of toilets is also on display.

In a separate report by Sinar Harian, the Touch N Toilet system was implemented following discussions from all teaching staff at the school.

Sinar Harian said only two out of nine toilets (four for male students, four for female students, and one for the disabled) are currently using the Touch N Toilet system.

Sinar Harian said it sighted video clips in the toilets that provided tutorials on the correct way to wash hands, as well as how to tap in and out of the toilets using the chip-embedded cards.

The paper said the award was given to the school last Saturday in conjunction with World Toilet Day celebrations at Stadium Indera Mulia in Ipoh, Perak.

World Toilet Day, which the United Nations’ website says is intended to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis, falls on November 19 every year.

It is unclear if the Touch N Toilet concept is a spin on the Touch ‘N Go concept, including cashless systems which among other things involve users tapping their cards to pay for toll and parking.

The company Touch ‘N Go was last year reported to be seeking to pilot the use of RFID technology through stickers placed in cars for cashless payment of tolls, replacing the current card-based system of SmartTAG.