An anguished court on Tuesday told the authorities to take immediate steps and file the compliance reports before the deadline.
Disgusted with the utter neglect shown by different state governments towards basic amenities in schools, the Supreme Court has directed them to provide toilets, particularly for girls, in all government schools by the end of November.
An anguished court on Tuesday told the authorities to take immediate steps and file the compliance reports before the deadline.
“It is imperative for the governments to provide toilet facilities to students. Parents would not their send girl child to school if there is no toilet,” the court said while hearing a PIL filed by lawyer Ravinder Bana seeking directions to the governments to ensure that children are given education in hospitable and safe conditions.
In a judgment earlier, a bench of justices Dalveer Bhandari and AK Ganguly stressed the importance of education for all and said children availing of primary education in government institutions in different parts of country must be provided with basic facilities that are essential for human life.
“This has become imperative because free and compulsory education has now become a fundamental right under Article 21-A of the Constitution,” the court said.
It also asked all the district magistrates in the country to file comprehensive affidavits regarding availability of basic facilities such as potable drinking water, toilets — both for boys and girls — electricity, boundary walls and mid day meal in the primary schools.
India has about 688,000 primary schools and 110,000 secondary schools. According to statistics, two third of the school going age children are enrolled in schools. But the figures are deceptive as many don’t attend schools regularly. At least half of all students from rural areas drop out before completing their school education.
In an affidavit filed in May last, Maharashtra said there are 97,157 primary schools in the state; of them 89,338 schools have drinking water facility for the children.
It also revealed that 71,612 schools are connected with electricity, 55,171 schools have boundary walls and 29,628 schools have common toilets. As many as 69,053 schools have toilet facility for girls, 63,143 schools are having ramp facility and 30,568 schools have kitchen sheds.
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