Student forced to urinate in class

A disabled polytechnic student has been forced to urinate into a bowl in the corner of a classroom because his wheelchair did not fit in the toilet.

It is understood the student, who started an electrician course at Unitec Institute of Technology in Auckland last week, did not want to cause a fuss because he was trying to retrain as an electrician to get a job, rather than claim ACC.

But president of Unitec's student association Greg Powell said it was unacceptable that the polytechnic had not provided the infrastructure needed for the student to attend classes and go to the toilet by himself.

The student cannot access the bathroom on the first floor as his wheelchair is too wide. On Tuesday he was left no choice but to look for a corner of the classroom he was in and was passed a bowl to urinate in.

Classmates had been carrying the student and his wheelchair up the stairs to attend lessons.

"I find this disgusting," Mr Powell said.

The bathroom is now being altered but Mr Powell said it should have been done much earlier.

"If a student is accepted into a course and their needs and disabilities are exposed we would expect these needs would be met and they could study with dignity," he said.

Unitec media manager Lenny Kumitau said the incident should never have happened and Unitec was disappointed and concerned that it had.

"Unfortunately, the student had to urinate into a container in the building and while he was doing so, a concerned staff member approached him to see what was happening. We acknowledge that this would have been very uncomfortable for the student," he said.

Mr Kumitau said the student had told the polytechnic he had a disability in his application form but an oversight meant that was not picked up until he started the programme. It was the first time a student with this disability had studied on the programme.

Mr Kumitau said disabled toilet facilities would be installed by the end of next week and a mobility lift was being added. In the meantime there was a roster for staff and students to help the student up the stairs.

Mr Powell said he had never heard of anything "this drastic" happening at Unitec. The student association would be asking some hard-line questions, he said.

The Building Act 2004 and the Building Code require all buildings to which the public are admitted to have reasonable and adequate facilities for disabled people to visit, work and carry out normal activities.

David Nicholson, director of the tertiary network, said the Government contributed specific funding to assist tertiary education institutions in meeting the needs of students with disabilities, based on the number of full-time equivalent students.

How this funding is managed year to year is the responsibility of the individual institution.