1,828 without toilets

Supreme Court has ordered a survey as per ASCI guidelines

What ASCI says...

• A toilet for every 20 students
• A pipeline connection for every 20 students
• A 500-litre water tank should be there as reserve
• Each student should be assured 5 litres of drinking water daily

Less said the better about govt schools

• Only 583 out of the 2,127 toilets in 1,000 government and aided schools in the city are in a working condition

Hyderabad: No drinking water, no toilets and no electricity! There are 2,544-aided and private schools in the twin cities, out of which 1,828 schools do not have toilets in proper working condition and 1,042 lack drinking water. These schools that rake in huge money in the form of fees hardly pay a pittance towards upkeep of basic infrastructure.

These staggering figures have come to light following a survey conducted by the Education Department under a directive from the Supreme Court. The department was asked to compile a list of schools across the city which did not comply with guidelines set by Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI).

According to the survey 1,619 private and 209 aided schools lack toilets. And 932 private and 110 aided schools don’t have drinking water.

The ground report of the infrastructure in schools gets more pathetic if dug deeper. Most schools don’t have pipelines that supply drinking water. Neither do they employ scavengers to clean toilets nor do they have enough toilets. In schools that are being housed in apartments, over 300 students use one toilet.

According to the guidelines set by ASCI, there should be a toilet for every 20 students. There should be a pipeline connection for every 20 students along with a 500 litre water tank as a reserve. Every student has to be assured of 5 litre of drinking water, every day.

Sadly, these guidelines are hardly implemented, and the officials who have to ensure these facilities in place are in an eternal stupor.

Many parents are under the impression that private schools, which look glossy on the exterior, are devoid of any problems, but they are not aware of the fact that the management of these schools are more inclined to filling their pockets.

The state of government schools in the city warrants an emotional outburst. They remain appalling due to lack of basic infrastructure. For many schools drinking water and toilets are a luxury. A survey done by the Rajiv Vidya Mission (RVM) says that only 27 per cent of the toilets in state-run schools across the city are usable.

Only 583 out of the 2,127 toilets in 1,000 government and aided schools in the city are in a working condition and to make matters worse the construction of new toilets in the city is progressing at snail's pace, with just 30 out of 632 toilets approved by RVM are being constructed.

"Parents prefer unrecognised English medium schools to government schools which is worrisome. People from poor sections of society do not send their children to schools at all. Majority of girl students drop out of school due to lack of toilets," said R Venkat Reddy, director, MV Foundation, which mapped toilet and drinking water facilities in state schools.

The RVM provides a pittance of Rs 500 per school a month for their upkeep for which they have no takers. In most schools there are no sweepers either. Children take turns to clean up the place themselves. The mess left after the mid-day meal can only be believed if seen. Of course, the little ones have to do the mop-up act. The absence of water facility is another reason why toilets cannot be used. In some schools the Water Board has disconnected supply for non-payment of bills.

Government High School, Golconda, is a case in point. The government school at Mallepally also has no water connection and depends on a borewell even for drinking.