NCPCR report shows that 22% of the schools across 12 states run in dilapidated buildings

Vinod Kakumanu
Aug. 4, 2020, 1:43 p.m.

In a report on ‘Safe and Secure School Environment’ the child rights body National Council for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) state that about 22 per cent of school building of operational schools in the country are dilapidated.

The report is based on the survey covering 12 states reported on the conditions in 26,071 schools in these states in terms of safety and security of the children using different indicators.

The states covered in the survey include Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Rajasthan, Odisha, Mizoram, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Jharkhand and Chandigarh.

It has been reported through the survey that around 22 % of the schools examined were operating in rundown buildings and around 31 % were found to have cracks in their structures.

Other discrepancies were noted in the survey, for instance, 19 % of the schools were found to be in the vicinity of the railway tracks and only 1% had proper zebra crossing sign.

In another glaring indication, 26 % of the schools were found to have no in-built running water facilities in the toilets.

Other findings were, 51 % of the schools did not have disabled-friendly toilets and only 57 % of the children were found satisfied with the quality of food served under the mid –Day –meal scheme.

The report findings indicate a lacunae in terms of inclusiveness, protection and safety of children with special needs (CWSN) at the school. It has been found that 60% of the schools did not have classrooms, play areas and toilets that are accessible by wheelchair. The provisions for visually challenged students were found in only 32 % of the surveyed schools.

The percentage of schools with electricity is also not 100 and out of the schools that have electricity just 77 % have full-fledged electrical fittings in classrooms and corridors.

Another area that was dwelt upon was cyber safety in schools. Although not all schools that were surveyed had computer labs. Only 55 % of the schools have computer devices out of these only 44 % had security systems to restrict internet usage and 42 % had blocked social media access.