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Friday, Jul 18, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka

How disabled-friendly are schools?

Chitra V. Ramani

Not very and therefore the students and staff make do with temporary arrangements

74.3 per cent of government elementary schools in the State lack ramps
Civil works, including ramps, to be completed in two years

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Lacking facilities: The problem of accessibility for people with disabilities is acute in many government schools, especially those in rural and backward areas of the State.

Bangalore: With many public buildings being made disabled-friendly, one often wonders if government schools in the State are heading in the same direction. However, in reality, with more than 45 per cent of schools in the State lacking basic infrastructure, making schools more disabled-friendly may take a while. While accessibility may not be much of an issue in Bangalore, the problem is acute in many other schools, especially those in rural and backward areas.

According to statistics provided by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), 74.30 per cent of government elementary schools in the State lacked ramps. Heads of government schools maintained that they are accommodative and take necessary steps to cater to the needs of the physically-challenged students.

V. Mamatha, in-charge headmistress, Government Model Higher Primary School, Geddalahalli, said that the school has had children with physical disabilities.

“There are no such students this year. Our school does have a ramp at the entrance that was constructed with funds donated by a charitable organisation. Last year, we had a student who was afflicted with polio. We did not want him to climb stairs as it would have been very difficult for him. To help him, we shifted his class to the ground floor,” she said.

B. Thontadarya, headmaster, Government High School, Palace Guttahalli, claimed that almost all schools in the Bangalore North district have ramps. “The ramps were constructed at the entrance of all schools in this district with funds from the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). When we have students with physical disabilities, we take steps to shift that particular class to the ground floor.”

Polling stations

Kumar G. Naik, Commissioner, Department of Public Instruction, admitted that the number of schools lacking ramps was high.

He, however, said that during the recent elections, polling stations were set up in more than 95 per cent of schools. To comply with directions from the Central Election Commission, ramps had been constructed in these schools.

M.N. Vidyashankar, Chief Electoral Officer, said that about 45,000 polling stations were set up for the Assembly elections across the State. “More than 95 per cent of the polling stations were set up in government school buildings. A rough estimate would be around 42,750 government schools,” he said.

The Central Election Commission had directed the States going for polls to take steps to enable the physically challenged citizens to exercise their franchise. “It was based on that instruction that we issued orders to the respective Deputy Commissioners of districts. The Deputy Commissioners ensured that the zilla panchayats concerned took up the task and constructed ramps in the polling stations,” he said.

Only temporary

However, most of the constructions taken up at the poll stations were temporary. Ramps were constructed with plywood. This means that the number of schools that are still disabled-unfriendly is high.

Eshrath Afza Begum from the Department of Welfare of Disabled and Senior Citizens said that the department does direct DPI and SSA to make government schools more disabled-friendly. “Just putting a ramp at the entrance of the school is not enough. The schools should have barrier-free toilets, classrooms and playground. The DPI and SSA have a lot of funds with which they can ensure that government schools are disabled-friendly. We cannot implement it ourselves, as we are a quasi-judicial department. We write to the DPI and SSA periodically and direct them to take steps in making schools more disabled-friendly,” she added.

Mr. Naik said that the department was focussing on improving infrastructure in schools in the State. “Allocations for civil works have been stepped up. We are keen on ensuring that there are no infrastructure deficits in government schools. Civil works, including construction of ramps and others, will be completed in about two years,” he added.

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