CBSE to start school sanitation rating…….Anubhuti Vishnoi
While the academic performance of schools is rated annually by a number of private entities, the government itself is all set to step into the territory only these ratings will assess a schools performance not on academics but on sanitation indices. To be kickstarted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which is a key partner for the National Urban School Sanitation Initiative, the countrys online National School Sanitation Ratings will be launched this month. Schools that score high on sanitation will also bag awards to be instituted for the cause.
The ratings will assess a schools sanitation record on parameters such as washroom hygiene, water supply, water conservation, campus cleanliness, hygiene awareness amongst students, teachers and staff and innovative methods towards the same end. It will start as a voluntary initiative for schools and it is hoped that the ratings will catch the imagination of school managements, encouraging others to join in, said sources.
The award categories will include sanitation awareness generation amongst students, technical innovation and interventions, creation and conservation of green spaces, public private partnership. Selection parameters will include potential for replicability, innovation in use of technology and resources, networking, cost effectiveness of intervention, demonstrable sustainable success, participation in sanitation programmes.
The CBSE will hold an inaugural cricket tournament, Sanitation Cup, with public figures captaining four teams. The CBSE will also make it compulsory for its 11,000-odd affiliated schools to install innovative waterless urinals. It is estimated that the use of this technology in schools will help save 40 lakh litres of water per day.
The National Urban School Sanitation Initiative was launched earlier this year by the Union Human Resource Development Ministry and the Urban Development Ministry. Actor Aamir Khan is the brand ambassador for the initiative.
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