All you need is just two rooms to start a school

Updated on: Thursday, September 08, 2011

Tucked away in a commercial complex on Malleshpalya Main Road in east Bangalore is a school run by a private trust. Claiming to enjoy government recognition, the school is in a two-floor building on a small plot. It has classes up to the Standard 5 and admits about 25 students in each class. The fee is Rs. 500 a month. A dimly-lit classroom in the basement doubles as the office.

A visit to the school raises serious questions over the stringency exercised by the Government as far as maintenance of minimum standards of school infrastructure is concerned. There are several such schools that have sprouted up in the city, especially in the suburbs.
Basic amenities

The Right to Education Act (RTE) 2010 (yet to be implemented) stipulates basic infrastructure for running a school. These include at least a playground, library and toilets. But many schools are without these basic amenities.

In a private school at Yarabnagar in south Bangalore, students were seen seated on the floor during classes. Another school in Cambridge Layout, near Ulsoor, which has classes from 1 to 10, is run in a two-floor building which was formerly a residence.
Accidents

Accidents have occurred due to poor infrastructure. In August this year, a 15-year-old student suffered near-fatal electrocution when the metal rod he was playing with breached the electric field generated by a high tension wire dangling close to the school's four-storey building at Ejipura. The high tension wires were just out of hand's reach from the grills on the fourth-floor terrace, which served as play area for students.

Supervision has become an issue as the number of such private schools has seen a steady increase, said child rights activist Nagasimha G. Rao. “I don't think there has been a census in recent times,” he said.
Parents' preference

A senior official of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) said the Block Education Officers were responsible for granting permission for schools based on demand in the area. Parents' preference for private schools over government-run institutions has also been touted as a reason, as was seen when nearly 500 government schools were shut down across the State in 2010 due to lack of students.

When asked what the State Government was doing about the issue, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri said schools had already been directed to adhere to the rules.

“If we receive a complaint, we will definitely take action,” he said. The strictness of action will depend on the seriousness of violation, he added.

All you need is just two rooms to start a school

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