No play area, no ventilation, ghetto schools rule the roost
Students are crammed in small buildings which lack basic infrastructure
A number of schools in the city have completely disregarded the basic requirements for students. The ills include crammed spaces, insufficient lighting, poor ventilation, narrow corridors and no open playing spaces.
The premises are so crammed that there is very little space to move in class, let alone playing in a ground.
“Almost all smaller private schools are in poor condition. Though we are a metro, some schools do not even have proper sanitation facilities. They are cramming children inside the classrooms. Some of the play schools are functioning in dungeons. Take a look at Chaitanya School of Tarnaka, you will be horrified to see the pathetic condition in which they are running the school,” said Mr Venkat Sainath, joint secretary of the Hyderabad Schools Parents’ Associations.
“Some of these private schools are worse than cattle sheds,” said Mr Achyuta Rao, vice-president of an NGO for children. “Providing proper ventilation should be the prime focus for educational institutions. The Ravindra Bharathi School, Gowtham School and Loyola Model School in Vanasthalipuram are the worst. The Loyola Model School has a single entrance which is right on the main road,” he said.
Mr Rao said, “The authorities mention the number of students permitted per class but often don’t specify the dimensions of the classroom. The children are stuffed into these rooms, irrespective of the room’s dimensions.” Just gauging the risk factor attached to these classrooms, is scary. In an emergency, it would be impossible for the school’s management to evacuate the building.
“The children just cannot be evacuated on time in case of an accident. The authorities should take proper action regarding this. The government should not approve such institutions until they show proper documentation of the school’s infrastructure and student allocation per class, keeping in mind the dimensions of the class”, Mr Rao said.
“While giving permission, the government does not inspect the infrastructure. There are norms and rules to be followed by the authorities. There are designated officers to inspect food, but hardly anyone does it in case of educational institutions,” said a member of the managing committee of Hyderabad Public School in Begumpet.
Hyderabad Schools Parents Association executive member Aravinda Jata said, “When these schools apply for permission, there are several clauses that need to be looked into, like whether they have a proper play area and ventilation in classrooms. When you check out the schools, you realise only 30-40 per cent of the schools follow the norms. Parents keep in mind the child’s safety and transportation facilities before considering a school.”
No-objection certificates and permission from the government are given only when certain rules in terms of the size of the building and other aspects are adhered to. But some private schools appear to flout all such norms.
“There is no control on private schools. When a school does not have a playground, they should hire one. Nobody is checking about their functioning and some even run without any infrastructure. It is the responsibility of the government to look after these issues. We see incidents of a child stuck in a lift and other incidents, but nothing is done to prevent it. It is lack of control of government officials,” Mr Jata said.