Students of over 60 per cent State-run Adi-Dravidar welfare schools in Tamil Nadu are forced to do menial work, according to a year-long sample survey conducted by a child rights outfit. The survey Samakalvi Iyyakkam-Tamil Nadu did - with support from Child Rights and You (CRY) - in 90 select Adi-Dravidar schools in six northern districts of the State, found that children, besides studying, had to sweep the classrooms and clean the loos because of lack of manpower.

It also found that over 50 per cent of the schools have just one classroom, which can be quite chaotic for both teachers and students. About 29 per cent of these school buildings were in a very poor state and require immediate attention as they pose a threat to students, while 56 per cent of the concrete buildings were of moderate quality.

The study, conducted in 17 schools in each of the six northern districts, also found that they lacked proper toilets, playground, furniture, drinking water, quality noon-meal or kitchen facility.

Close to 50 per cent of the schools had no furniture and children were made to sit on damaged floors. In another 18 per cent of schools, students were made to sit on dirty mats.

“Though all the 90 schools had electricity supply, most of the buildings did not have enough fans or lights. Most of the classrooms were not properly lit while fans and lights were provided only for teachers,” the report said.

About 30 per cent of these schools don’t have a toilet. In the ones that had loos - 55 out of 90 - most of them were not usable as they neither had doors nor water supply to keep them stench-free. Toilets of some schools were quite far away from the classrooms, which made them unsafe for girls.

Scope for extra-curricular activities in these schools were limited as over 60 per cent of them did not have a playground. Even some of those that had high school status lacked proper playgrounds. Besides, many schools were surrounded by thorny bushes while some had been encroached upon, the report said.

Source :: The New Indian Express