If the Central Board of Secondary Education effectively implements its School Quality Assessment and Accreditation (SQAA) scheme, poor sanitation may be a thing of the past in CBSE schools by 2017.
The aim of the initiative is to step up the quality of education and infrastructure in CBSE schools, including institutions in Kerala that lacked proper sanitation facilities. The Hindu had reported on October 2 that only 134 CBSE schools from the State figured in the list of 2,721 educational institutions that are listed under the national school sanitation rating. In Ernakulam district, only 30 schools had applied for the sanitation rating.
Vineet Joshi, chairman of CBSE, exuded confidence that the compliance would go up as the accreditation manual has clearly outlined the number of toilets and related facilities to be available in each school.
“The accreditation is compulsory. We began the process this academic year. Schools that fail to get the accreditation within the mandatory three years would be given one more year to complete the process,” he said on the sidelines of the 21st National Annual Sahodaya Conference at CIAL auditorium here on Friday.
Referring to the ongoing efforts by the board to improve sanitation in schools, Mr. Joshi said that the online sanitation rating was the first step in this direction. “We are also organising different competitions for students to change the mindset of adults. We can make the change once the children take up this initiative,” he said.
The National School Sanitation Manual recommends one toilet for every 80 students, taking into consideration queuing time, peak hours (lunch/break time) and strength of the school.
For day schools, it recommends one toilet for 40 girls and a female teacher with one urinal for 20 girls. Schools must have one disabled-friendly unit in each toilet block. There should be one wash tap in each toilet and one hand wash tap per 20 students.
