Four years after the Tamil Nadu state government pledged to enforce school safety norms following the devastating Kumbakonam school fire tragedy in 2004 which claimed the lives of 92 children aged between seven and ten, safety regulations continue to be observed more in the breach in government and private schools in the state. A recent incident in C. Kalyanapuram High School (CKHS), Vyasarpadi, run by the Chennai Municipal Corporation, has once again highlighted the apathy of school managements and bureaucrats in the education ministry in ensuring that schools are safe for children.On July 5, five teenagers and a football coach were badly injured when the sunshade of CKHS fell on them as they were playing football on the schools playground. The injured students were admitted to the Government Stanley Medical Hospital and four boys who sustained head injuries are yet to fully recover.
The accident has shocked and angered parents in Vyasarpadi, a poor neighbourhood mainly inhabited by daily wage earners and casual labour, and has also incensed volunteers of the Slum Children Sports, Talent and Education Development Society (SCSTEDS), an NGO which encourages participation of government school children in sports, and maintains the only school playground in the Vyasarpadi area. N. Umapathy president of SCSTEDS who witnessed the accident accuses the corporation authorities of negligence. According to him, repair work in the 45×85 metre playground was suspended during the monsoon last year and was not resumed thereafter. Though the low-lying playground was raised, its uneven surfaces have rendered it unsafe for play.
The indignation of local residents has been fuelled by the fact that this is the second incident of gross neglect of safety norms by the CKHS management. In June 2006, around 29 children of the primary school which has a student strength of over 1,000, were taken ill and briefly hospitalised after they consumed their mid-day meal. A dead lizard was found in the meal served to them. Following this incident, the Chennai Corporation had renovated the schools kitchen, but had deferred other major repairs to the school building and playground.
According to educationists and child rights activists in Tamil Nadu (pop. 62.1 million), the best that educrats in the state government can do is offer piecemeal solutions without addressing graver safety issues rooted in the fundamental inadequacies of the government school system. The Tamil Nadu Child Rights Protection Network, which conducted a survey of six districts of the state in July-August 2004, found that 13 of 171 schools surveyed were operating without government sanction. In Thiruvarur district, 30 of 36 schools were roofless after a government order decreeing removal of thatched roofs following the Kumbakonam fire tragedy. Of 32 schools surveyed in Madurai district, nine didnt have a playground, six had no toilet facilities and potable water was not available in 12 schools.
Not surprisingly, accidents are waiting to happen in the great majority of Tamil Nadus 51,648 public and private schools. The Chennai Corporation collects an education cess aggregating several crores per year for maintenance of school buildings, but the sorry plight of many of the 350 schools under its supervision clearly indicates that the money is being diverted for other purposes. Though numerous reports have shown that a majority of schools in the state do not comply with safety rules and legislation enacted by government, not a single school has had its recognition revoked, says Ossie Fernandes of Human Rights Advocacy and Research Foundation which was a partner in the survey.
Unsurprisingly, the recommendations of the Justice K. Sampath Committee which investigated the Kumbakonam fire tragedy are gathering dust. The committee which visited 2,661 schools across the state has set out guidelines on location, construction and safety of school buildings. It has suggested that a state-level committee headed by a director should make surprise checks and recommended regulation of the mid-day meal scheme, drinking water supply, toilet facilities, playgrounds and transport arrangements. It makes it mandatory for managements to submit a certificate of stability from a building inspector, a no objection certificate (NOC) from the fire brigade, certificate on sanitation from the health inspector and building clearance from the tahsildar. It has also suggested that permanent recognition be granted for three years after which renewal be granted on compliance with these preconditions after verification.
However, the recommendations have been largely ignored by education bureaucrats, to the extent that even in Chennai, corporation schools hold classes without providing basic amenities and show scant regard for the safety of 130,000 students from the poorest sections of society. The Chennai Corporation does not have a separate department for education or staff to administer its 350 schools, and a single joint commissioner supervises conservancy and education.
Nor is there serious talk of real reform or upgradation of government schools characterised by crumbling buildings, unsafe environments and lacking the most basic amenities. More accidents like the one in Kumbakonam and Kalayanapuram are waiting to happen.
Hemalatha Raghupathi (Chennai)