Chairperson of the Andhra Pradesh State Child Rights’ Protection Commission G. Hymavathi on Thursday went on a surprise visit to RCM High School at Chittinager in the city and expressed displeasure over the dismal scenario on the campus.
To assess facilities and other conditions in the school, she went around classrooms and enquired about the facilities and difficulties, if any. Her focus was on the condition of the classrooms, quality of the mid-day meal served to the children and safety on the campus.
Only seven toilets
Ms. Hymavathi was upset over absence of safety norms in the four-storeyed building housing LKG to 10th class. The school has only seven toilets for around 800 students, which are not clean; there is no clean drinking water supply and the fact that the children are made to sit in the hot sun for mid-day-meals upset her. Lack of cleanliness in classrooms and outside and the fact that the walls had not been painted in last seven years are other issues that bothered her.
When encouraged to speak up, the students informed her that they were happy with the teaching but faced problems in summer due to excessive heat because of the asbestos sheets used as the roof of the classrooms. They also complained about corporal punishment and said they were made to stand on the bench as punishment besides being denied the playground facility.
Water tank cleaning
Ms. Hymavathi expressed anger at the staff when informed that children were made to clean the water tank on the fifth floor. She told the students to keep away from such activities and focus on their academics. If anybody tried to force them, they could inform the Commission through mail ( cp.apscpcr2017@gmail.com ) or personally visit the Commission office at Chinakakani in Mangalagiri and lodge a complaint.
She said while the government was designing innovative schemes to ensure good health, education and safety for children, staff and managements of some schools displayed utmost disregard to child safety and their other rights. She warned that any negligence or compromise on children’s safety would not be tolerated.
Mandal Education Officer K. Ravi Kumar and other staff accompanied the child rights’ panel chief.
