Lasani, Rajasthan:
Just 23 km away from the government girls’ senior secondary school at Bhim in
Rajasthan where students organised a protest on October 2 last year over a
serious shortage in teaching staff, a survey conducted by the Mazdoor Kisan
Shakti Sanghatan (MKSS) and Rajasthan Patrika in eleven government-run schools
within the jurisdiction of the Lasani gram panchayat showed an equally pitiable
condition.
None of the schools surveyed had teachers appointed for all the sanctioned posts. Five of the eleven schools have no teachers for the English language.
To add to this, the most vital post of the school’s principal or the headmaster too had been lying vacant in eight of the eleven schools. For instance, at the only senior secondary school at Lasani, no principal has been appointed by the state government since 2006.
In what further throws light on the deplorable state in which the Rajasthan government has been running its schools, seven of the eleven schools – 63 per cent – have no taps and water connection installed in toilets which, as a result, have not been kept in working condition by the school managements.
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| Condition of the only girls' latrine at the government upper primary school, Samandada |
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| Girls' toilet at the government primary school, Talaab Ka Badiya |
The
senior secondary school at Lasani has no separate toilet for girls.
“We
have sent a proposal to the district education officer seeking funds to
construct a girls’ toilet and have sent reminders every year. But there has
been no response,” said Shantilal Kalal, acting principal of the senior secondary school in Lasani.
Four schools situated in the interior villages such as Talaab Ka Badiya, Samandada, Seem Ka Patiya and Gujaro Ka Badiya have not been provided with any safe water supply source by the government. The hand pumps located in the Gujaro Ka Badiya and Dhanka Chowda primary school premises, for example, run dry.
The survey is part of the Shiksha ka Sawaal campaign, a collaborative effort launched by the MKSS and Rajasthan Patrika, to assess the state of public education in Rajasthan and push the government to take corrective action. It was conducted by a group of ten volunteers and the findings are derived from visual surveysand interviews with school principals as well as some teachers and students.
The campaign was conducted over three days – April 8, 9 and 10 – on a pilot basis at the Lasani gram panchayat in Deogarh block of Rajsamand district.
Meetings were also held with ward panchs, Asha workers and members of the self-help groups to bring in their participation in the campaign.
In the meetings, residents were urged to file right to information (RTI) applications in their neighbourhood schools. The applications,filed by them at ten of the eleven schools, sought information on six basic questions which sought information on the school’s dropout rate, drinking water and toilet facilities and provision of a playground among other things.
It has been planned to expand the campaign to all the 295 blocks of the state in the coming months of May and June.
Many Lasani residents and teachers said that regular and clean water supply was a major problem plaguing their schools.
“If it had not been for the villagers who let us take water from the village community tank, our school would have not had any water. The government has not provided with any basic infrastructure,” said Sampat Soni, headmaster, government primary school, Gujaro Ka Badiya.
Most schools in Lasani also have insufficient classrooms and many of them leak during the monsoon.
For
example, the government primary school in Talaab Ka Badiya, had only two
classrooms no separate room for a kitchen to run the mid-day meal scheme. Food
was prepared in the corridor and utensils were stored in the classroom.
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| Mid-day meal being prepared in one of the two classrooms in the government primary school, Talaab Ka Badiya |
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| Chulha built in the school corridor to prepare mid day meals |
1.
Government upper primary school, Saamandada
2.
Government primary school, Talaab Ka Badiya
3.
Government primary school, Seem Ka Patiya
4.
Government primary school, Gujaro Ka badiya
*Schools
that have no water connection in toilets:
1.
Government upper primary school, Lasani
2.
Government primary school, Gujaro Ka Badiya
3.
Government upper primary school, Saamandada
4.
Government primary school, Talaab Ka Badiya
5.
Government primary school, Senva
6.
Government upper primary school, Dhankachowda
7.
Government primary school, Seem Ka Patiya
*Schools
with no English teachers:
1.
Government upper primary school, Lasani
2.
Government upper primary school, Lasani
3.
Government upper primary school, Saamandada
4.
Government upper primary school, Dhankachowda
5.
Government upper primary school, Kalaalonkiaanti
*School
with no Science teacher:
1.
Government upper primary school, Lasani
*School with no Maths teachers:
1.
Government senior secondary school, Lasani
*Schools with no Hindi teachers:
1.
Government senior secondary school, Lasani
2.
Government upper primary school, Saamandada
*Schools with no Sanskrit teachers:
1.
Government senior secondary school, Lasani
2.
Government upper primary school, Lasani
3.
Government upper primary school, Saamandada
*Schools with no history teacher:
1.
Government senior secondary school, Lasani
*School
with no P.T. teacher:
1.
Government upper primary school, Lasani
*Schools
that have no developed playground:
1.
Government upper primary school, Lasani
2.
Government upper primary school, Saamandada
3.
Government primary school, Talaab Ka Badiya
4.
Government primary school, Senva
5.
Government upper primary school, Dhanka Chowda
6.
Government primary school, Seem Ka Patiya