Poor sanitation plagues government schools

HYDERABAD: A common toilet without running water shared by 148 students and staff and shortage of potable water at a government primary school in West Marredpally is the sort of unwashed reality many government schools in the state live in. The Supreme Court directive to the state governments ordering construction of permanent toilet blocks by November 30 seems to be a target hard to achieve in the given time.However, if statistics are to be believed, only minor gaps exist in the urban regions with regard to sanitation facilities in government schools. In the rural areas, the construction of toilets in government schools is carried out by the Rural Water Supply Department in coordination with the village panchayats.“We focus on the urban districts where there is a minor gap,” said K Narayan Reddy, planning coordinator for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Andhra Pradesh.This year, the SSA has commissioned construction of an additional 195 girls’ toilets in the Hyderabad district at an estimated cost of Rs. 68.25 lakh.Further, 155 drinking water units were commissioned for the government schools located in urban areas. “Since the absence of toilets for girls is a major reason for parents’ unwillingness to send their daughters to school, the funds granted by the Centre were used for construction of 15,465 girls toilets in the rural areas as a special case. This will aid in retention of students in school in these regions,” added the planning coordinator.The lack of basic sanitation facilities in government schools is a major cause of concern, feels Paul Padmakar, project director at Project511, an NGO which works in coordination with SSA on the issue of sanitation. “The target set by the court seems difficult to achieve, given the current scenario in the 800- odd government schools in the city. The reason is that the number of toilets is not in keeping with the strength of schools,” he adds.Though initiatives by corporate houses and NGOs to make sanitation accessible at government schools have been around for some time, most of the schools lack the basic amenities as they are run at hired premises or lack water supply.In many cases, the existing facilities are barely enough for the numbers present. The ambitious target set by the state government for launching the Right to Education fortnight promises a facelift for the government-run education infrastructure.With various groups chipping in and the current directive in force, the condition of schools like the government primarily school might look up.