No drinking water at 31% of Maharashtra schools: Survey …… Puja Pednekar
A shocking 31% of schools in Maharashtra, a state that calls itself fifth prosperous in India, have to do without drinking water.
This is just one of the many shocking findings, revealed by the NGO Pratham’s Annual Survey of Education Report 2010 (ASER).
The survey also says that 45% of schools in the state do not have toilets, whereas, 55.8% of schools do not have separate toilet for girls.
While Mumbaikars were shaken by 15% water cuts, the recent survey found that a large numbers of schools in rural Maharashtra do not have access to safe and clean drinking water, one of the basic rights of students, under the Right to Education act.
The report based on a study of 902 schools in Maharashtra states that only 69% of schools have running water facilities and other provisions such as storage facilities like water tanks, water coolers or even earthen pots.
“Water crunch is faced by most of the schools in rural India. There is no hand pump or tap water available in these schools. Some schools have other storage facilities like a matka (earthen pot) where water can be accessed by students. These schools are in the hinterland, they do not have electricity and cannot install water coolers and purifiers,” said Nandakumar, state project head, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
He added that the state education department along with the rural development authorities, is working on projects to make water available in schools.
Moreover, the report brings to light the poor sanitary and hygienic conditions across schools in state. According to Unicef reports, lack of availability of toilets is one of the major reasons for girls dropping out of schools after standard VIII.
Echoing this point, ASER report states that only 45.2% schools have a separate toilet for girls, which are hygienic and usable. “We have already started many infrastructure building projects to create more toilets in schools. Most of these projects will be implemented in three to four years,” added Nandakumar.